Saltillo or Mexican tile is manufactured in several different ways in today’s world. Years ago however, all of these tiles were created in the same manner which was by packing clay into wooden framed cut-outs in mexican fields. Once packed, the clay would bake in the sun until dry. This is why Saltillo is so brittle and subject to the elements prior to being sealed. The firing temperature was nothing more than sunlight.
I have had the occasion to visit many of these fields over the years due to the generous nature of one of Mexico’s most established tile plantation families. Each year I visit the Barrera family in late July and hear stories of tile plantation life.
The best story is told year after year and is known as the family feud and wild dog years. It seems that some time ago all of the families destroyed any Saltillo tile product with dog prints in tile clays. One year in the late 1980′s was especially bad when it came to dog prints resulting in substantial losses to Barrera’s who owned a majority of the culprits as pets. It is rumored that the Barrera’s cared for as many as 60 Chihuahua’s during this time. Unwilling to part with even a single of their beloved dogs, the Barrera’s simply did the best that they could to reduce damaging the tiles. Unfortunately, for a neighboring tile family, on a holiday honoring the dead, fireworks and children’s laughter frightened a stamped of tiny dogs across fields of tile that were just a hint too soft to support the trot of countless 3 pound dogs. Losses for the neighboring family quickly escalated to threats of feud unless the paw marked tiles were paid for by the Barrera family.
Being a man of honor, Mr. Barrera purchased almost 1500 paw marked tiles and stacked them neatly by various drainage ditches throughout the village with the intention of crushing and placing them in the path of water flow in order to prevent vegetation erosion.
On the day prior to scheduling his sons to destroy the tiles, both tile plantation families were visited by a representative of a newly formed company that was purchasing Saltillo tile in great quantities. Apparently, consumers in this corporate buyers country were thrilled to lay tile that occasionally bore the mark of a dogs paw on it’s face. So much so that Saltillo brands rumored to contain print marked tiles were flying off the shelves and being re-sold at inflated prices.
The gentleman tile buyer explained that his corporation would pay unbelievable prices for tile where each pallet was guaranteed to contain at least two unique dog paw printed tiles. The subsidiary or Home Depot still buys tile from the Barrera’s today and from the same American tile buyer.
Tile-Jim
*Be sure to visit my good friend Robert at his new re-done tile cleaning website.
