It’s Christmas Day every day at the ‘ornament village’ in Mexico
‘We almost don’t like Christmas anymore,’ says worker after making festive ornaments for 50 years
Sweat runs down Adan Marin’s wrinkled face as he blows into a blob of molten glass, creating a perfect, delicate sphere within the blue and orange flames of his torch.
Marin is one of the godfathers of the glassblowing trade in the Mexican village of Tlalpujahua, which makes tens of millions of ornaments each year to decorate Christmas trees in American and Canadian homes.
Even mid-winter, the sun shines strong in this village in the western state of Michoacan. But it might as well be the North Poll.
Shops with names like “Santa’s Workshop” and “The Christmas House” line the colonial village’s cobblestone streets. And Christmas lasts all year for its 28,000 residents.
For more than 50 years, Tlalpujahua has been known as the Christmas ornament capital of Mexico, making blown-glass decorations that range from the traditional globes to sports team logos and Pokemon.
The booming cottage industry generated 1,000 jobs and US$3.4 million in income last year for the village, which sold some 20 million ornaments, according to the local government.