Calaca figures to celebrate the Day of the Dead
© PvE/Alam
A party for the departed. Celebrating the Day of the Dead
Whether made of wood, clay, or even candy, Day of the Dead skeleton figures, called calacas, share one common trait: They’re having fun. The reason for the whimsical portrayal of death is a holdover from the Aztec influence on Mexican culture. According to traditional beliefs, the dead don’t want to be remembered with sadness, but rather with the joy they brought to the world when they were alive. Today is the height of the three-day celebration, which begins with All Saints' Eve on October 31, continues with All Saints' Day (today), and ends with All Souls' Day on November 2.
Related Images
Jackie Robinson signs autographs at spring training in Ciudad Trujillo, now Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on March 6, 1948
Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee
People looking at the crowded Avenue des Champs-Élysées from the Arc de Triomphe on May 8, 1945, Paris, France
Women's suffragists who walked from New York City to Washington, DC, to join the National American Woman Suffrage Association parade on March 3, 1913
Giant puppets for Carnival in Olinda, Brazil
'Mapping Courage: Honoring W.E.B. Du Bois & Engine #11,' a mural by Willis Humphrey, Philadelphia, PA
The front line of demonstrators during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963
Jim Henson, along with Ernie and Bert, rehearses for an episode of 'Sesame Street' in 1970 in New York City
Today Bing
Uummannaq, Greenland
Nov 01, 2017
Mural of sugar skull (calavera) in Oaxaca, Mexico
Nov 01, 2016
Day of the Dead calaca figurines
Nov 01, 2015
