MEXICO: Too Many Customs

Fiesta-minded Mexicans start celebrating the Christmas season in mid-December with an old Spanish custom (candlelight processions symbolizing the search for shelter by Mary and Joseph). They conclude it on Jan. 6 with an old Italian custom (giving gifts to children for the Festival of the Three Kings) and an old French custom (cutting up a cake containing a figurine of the Christ Child). Between times, they observe an old Franco-Spanish custom (displaying crèches showing Christ in the manger), an old European custom (hanging stockings), an old English custom (sending cards), an old German custom (decrating Christmas trees), and an...