Tequila, Ethnic Mexicans, and the Codes of Cultural Consumption

In this individual paper presentation, I trace the introduction and evolution of tequila in the American marketplace as a means of exploring the codes of cultural consumption employed by ethnic Mexicans living in the United... [ view full abstract ]

In this individual paper presentation, I trace the introduction and evolution of tequila in the American marketplace as a means of exploring the codes of cultural consumption employed by ethnic Mexicans living in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Analyzing the content of newspaper ads and articles from Spanish and English language newspapers of this era, I argue that ethnic Mexicans valued and used tequila as a culturally significant symbol of pride, belonging, and resistance. At the same time that ethnic Mexicans were buying, selling, and drinking tequila, it was also being introduced to the mainstream American public. Because these populations frequently interacted—with Anglos as the dominant population and ethnic Mexicans as a minoritized community—I discuss how Anglo Americans likewise interfaced with tequila during this period. Incorporating English language newspaper reports and government documents contextualizes the social climate and cultural backdrop in which ethnic Mexicans navigated their commercial aspirations. As I show, tequila’s significance meant different things to different people: Anglos focused on its medicinal and, later, toxic properties, while ethnic Mexicans steadily incorporated it into their ritual practices and affirmatively expressed their identity through its consumption. Despite, or perhaps because of tequila’s freighted meaning as an emblem of Mexican deviance in Anglo society, ethnic Mexicans utilized tequila as an emergent symbol of mexicanidad (Mexicanness). Following tequila’s textual travails casts important light on the dynamics of nascent consumer economies and deepens our understanding of the challenges that ethnic Mexicans encountered as they reckoned with popular racial discourses of the period.