El Antiquario

Title: El Antiquario
Type of website: Website
Excellent source of...: information about Mexican history disguised as promotion for a magazine dedicated to the Art, Folk Art and Antiques of Mexico.

Oooh, this website is delicious! It's not well designed and it isn't even well maintained. But it has some tantalizing information for anyone interested in Mexico's fascinating past.

There seem to be these sections: Folk Art, Antiques, Art and Travel. There is a way to Subscribe to the magazine. There is a Bulletin Board with classified ads about art for sale and art being sought. And of course, the usual Contact and Links pages. There is also a listing of the articles in each volume of the magazine. I see no indication about how often the magazine comes out.

The tantalizing part, of course, are the sample articles that are reprinted on the website. One of my favorites (so far...) is the one about "Mr. Acapulco", a musician who traveled Europe in the 30's recording Big Band music and then settled in Acapulco in 1943, helping put that resort community on the global map. "Mr. Acapulco" established the first nightclub in Mexico City "that you could take your wife to" and the first swimming pool in Acapulco. He organized the famous Acapulco cliff divers to do shows at night, he dated movie stars and entertained presidents. He even married Hedy Lamarr (briefly)! It's a fascinating interview, and just one of many magazine excerpts on the website.

As I mentioned, the website isn't particularly well designed. And the listings for art and folk art are very heavily weighted towards the Jalisco area, since that is where the magazine is published. Ni modo, as we say here. It doesn't matter. It's still a website with a lot of great information for those of us who love Mexico.