We did not observe the traditions of Southern Mexico of making altares, but we did have the tradition of honoring our dead ancestors. The preparations started by going as a whole family and taking a hoe to clear weeds, a bucket to haul water, and maybe an evergreen to plant. In Robstown when I was growing up there were two cemeteries--one for the dead anglos and the other one for the dead Latin Americans (that was the term of the day). Today, there is a third cemetery (it allows any dead people) which is perpetual care, but not so in the old days. November 2nd was a holy day of obligation to attend mass in the morning, and then take fresh flowers to the graves of family members who had passed away.
In the book Hecho en Tejas, there is a chapter by Cynthia L. Vidaurri on the cemetery art in Robstown. She captured the scene very well.
Below is Dad's ad in the Robstown Record for mid October 1950. If you click on it you can read some of the other "news" going on in Robstown. A bunch of flowers sold for 50 cents! The bunch was a generous amount of chrysanthemums and/or marigolds, about 24 stems-mas o menos. I especially loved the colorful display of the flowers at our store before they were sold. At the cemetery the graves were adorned not only with the fresh cut flowers, but with other adornments, too. But it is the bright oranges and yellows that have stuck in my memory.
A couple of weeks later this ad ran during the first week in November 1950. He still had some of the flowers, it seems, but the featured items are green beans at 12 cents a pound. Apples are not a bad buy at 10 cents a pound.
Fresh cut flowers are prohibitively priced these days. The last time I took flowers to the cemetery they were silk flowers. The silk or plastic flowers don't require water, and I guess that's a plus, because we also have memories of the mosquitoes in my home town. But that's another story for another day . . . . .
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