4 thoughts on “El Atalaya de la Misión Mexicana, February 1939”

1. Hmm. No comments? This is really interesting, as it uses Aztec historical benchmarks and language without a trace of English, or Utah/Mormon culture. I’ll at least leave a translation and a little context.

   The title “In Youtlapixque” is really obscure. It’s Nahuatl (Aztec) rather than Spanish, and the only online dictionary is French. Translation: The Sentinel

   The subtitle “El Atalaya de la Mision Mexicana” is “The Watchtower of the Mexican Mission” Interestingly, today, the main Jehovah Witness periodical in Spanish is titled El Atalaya.

   The caption describes the sculpture as “The central grouping displayed by the Latter-day Saints at the “Century of Progress” World Exhibition in Chicago. [Google says it was held 1933-34].

   The dates and art in the top corners reference the founding of Mexico City (at left) and the founding of the Mexico City mission home (at right). Mission headquarters moved from Los Angeles to Mexico City in 1937, which matches the volume 3 number 2 working backwards Feb 1939 issue.

   I wonder if the editor was sympathetic–or at least sensitive to–grievances of the 3rd convention. In any case it’s interesting for the lack of Utah-ism.

2. Thank you, TOClark! That’s fantastic, and much appreciated.

   The letterhead used by members of the Third Convention had a sort of watermark (actually pale printing rather than a true watermark) with some Aztec art, right in the middle of the page so that it underlies the typing or handwriting of their letters. I think there could have been little overt sympathy between the accepted Church organization and that of the Third Convention, but obviously the people were all connected to their heritage and interested in laying claim to it.

   I’ve set up a few more covers from this publication for posting here, and look forward to anything you might be able to add about them.

   This really is a wonderful, helpful description.

3. Hey, I commented last week. It’s gone.

   As Clark said, Atalaya means watchtower. It was the name of the Jehova’s Witnesses publication that we saw all the time in Argentina. In fact, one area in our mission was called Atalaya because there were so many Jehova’s Witnesses there that named the town.

4. Something must have gone wrong when you commented, Carol — I find nothing in the spam or moderation queues. I’m sorry! It wasn’t deliberate.

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