Sara Garcia was just 39 when she decided to become an “elder” so she could take on roles she was younger for. This is how he solved tragedy and achieved fame. (YouTube recording)
orizaba It is a magical city, nestled in the mountains of the central zone of Veracruz, considered the most cultured in the country during the Viceroyalty period and was one of the most important commercial locations in New Spain, since it was an obligatory stopover in the transit between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz.
And in this city, guarded by the spectacular and snow-capped Pico de Orizaba volcano, two greats of Mexican cinema and gastronomy were born to agree on a benchmark of our popular culture: Sara Garcia and Grandma Chocolate.
Traditional packaging of Abuelita chocolate.
Grandma from Mexico
Sara García (1895–1980) was one of the pre-eminent actresses of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema., that she wasn’t afraid to play old women when she was about to turn 40, even taking risks, such as having 14 teeth extracted to get the character in the play Mi abuelita pobre.
The same process of removing bits of tooth was repeated for the film Allá en el trópico. According to a legend, he also broke his knee to make his performance more convincing with his painful gait.
Truth or myth, Sara García has earned the title “Mexico’s grandma.”because from that moment she has the characters of elderly people in films such as “My grandmothers… only!”, “Las señoritas vivanco”, “There is the detail”, “Why was I born a woman?”, “School for Singles” and others.
But it was director Ismael Rodríguez who introduced us to fiction’s funniest, most energetic, most feared and adored grandmother: “Doña Luisa García, widow of García”, who always has to keep her quarrelsome grandchildren “José Luis” (Abel Salazar) with her bay), “Luis Antonio” (Pedro Infante) and “Luis Manuel” (Víctor Manuel Mendoza).
Emilio García Riera, a film critic, felt that the film helped solidify the monolithic character of García’s omnipotent mother. “With a cigar in his mouth, a stick in his hand and a crucifix on his chest and soul, he is not only the tutelary god (…), he is both flattering and reassuring.” the embodiment of supreme authority in an old woman who issues unimpeachable devotional commands (“Mass first!” he shouts to his grandchildren), hands out blows with a cane, and admits that it takes violence in men to neutralize its effects. She is an essential grandma. A grandmother where the love of the family flows together and whose decisions are followed and respected.”
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A chocolate for Mexico and the world
chocolate granny is one of the oldest brands in Mexico and possibly one of the best known and most consumed on the market: by 25,000 tons produced per yearAccording to Nestlé, 8,400 of these are exported to the United States.
Its history begins in 1917 with Antonio Zgaip and Alfonso Arana, who founded the La Azteca chocolate factory in Orizaba, which they sold two years later to the brothers Francisco and Raymundo González Barragán. They created products such as the famous Carlos V, Nupcial, El Popo, Azteca Conasupo, Chocolate Presidente and Chocolate Escudo de Orizaba.
A decade later, the González Barragán brothers moved all operations to Mexico City and were doing very well.
In 1939 (when Sara García had been toothless for a few years), La Azteca created her other star product, one that could be on the table of any Mexican home: Chocolate Abuelita: “the chocolate that everyone likes. Her purity and…”delicious flavor are compared to the little grandsons’ devoted affection for the grandmother,” the ad reads.
But the old woman who first appeared in the product wasn’t García, but a peaceful woman in a pink shawl who turned out to be a relative of Francisco González Barragán. This image persisted for a little over three decades.
In 1973, when La Azteca passed into the hands of Grupo Quaker Oats Company, she was invited Sara García is to be the official face as she is considered “a Mexican icon who represents the main attributes of the brand’s personality: apapachadora, warm, homey”., as read on the official site. The painting was sold on a permanent basis, thus ensuring the well-being of the whole family.
New changes came in 1995 when Nestlé acquired La Azteca’s chocolate brands, including Chocolate Abuelita, which is currently manufactured in factories in Toluca, Mexico state.
Without giving up her role as an elderly woman in both film and television, Sara García delighted us again as a delicate old woman with “Tomasita” in the telenovela Mundo de juguete opposite Graciela Mauri. He died in 1980 as a result of irreversible cardiovascular arrest, pneumonia and respiratory failure.
READ | The great tragedy in the life of Sara García, the actress who at the age of 39 became the “grandmother” of Mexicans
“You have seen me tender in La gallina culeca, tearful in Cuando los hijos se van, sweet as in El baisano Jalil and energetic and dominant and at the same time loving in Los tres García. You saw me very much alive and very dead,” she once said of her roles as an old lady.
But for many, she will always be the grandmother of chocolate.