“As I was sitting in the house of an old Californian today, conversing very quietly about the condition of the country, I felt something break on my head, and, starting around, discovered two large black eyes, lighted with their triumph. It flashed upon me, that the annual egg-breaking festival here had commenced.”
— William Colton, U.S. Navy Chaplain and First American Alcalde of Monterey, CA, January 6, 1847.
A Bit of Background
To set the stage for the account quoted above, you need to know a couple of important dates and details:
On June 14, 1846, a group of settlers raised a Bear Flag over Sonoma, CA, proclaiming the independence of the California Republic. (No one who lived in California at the time had been entirely happy with the governance emanating from Mexico, but that’s another story.)
On July 7, 1846, Commodore Sloat of the U.S. Navy raised the U.S. flag over Monterey, the capital of California, claiming the region for the U.S.
Three weeks later, William Colton was appointed as the first American Alcalde of Monterey by the Navy, a role that combined mayoral duties with those of a judge and peace-keeper. The citizens of Monterey elected him to that same office in September.
Culture Shock
Colton used his training as a minister of the gospel to fit tactfully into this new culture. The “Californio” lifestyle was a mixture of Spanish, foreign and Indian cultures quite unique to California. One small item mystified him, however, and he recorded it in his daily journal. (It was published in 1850 under the title, Three Years in California.)
image credit: pixabay.com
When he moved onshore, he had rented a house. One of the rooms held the belongings of the previous tenant. They were finally removed in October. Colton noticed among them a curious basket of whole, empty eggshell (cascarones in Spanish). They had been pierced at each end to remove the contents, but why?
He obviously asked around, because he then reports the following:
“They had been prepared, it seems, for the festivities of the carnival. On this occasion they are to be filled with scented water or tinsel, the apertures closed with wax, and then broken, in merriment, over the heads of guests. This liberty with caps and wigs is warranted only where some intimacy exists between the parties. Where this is found, the eggs fall thick as hail. The young and old float in lavender and cologne.”
– October 8, 1846
An Old Tradition
Finding this delightful account in Colton’s journal made me curious. A quick internet search yielded a number of hits, all tying this tradition to “Cascarones.” Every source said it was ancient. Marco Polo had brought it to Europe from China in the late 1200s. It apparently became quite the craze in Spain. The sources also said it only came to Mexico in the 1860s with Emperor Maximilian’s wife, Carlota.
(Maximilian was an Austrian prince appointed by Napoleon III to rule Mexico briefly during the French occupation. His wife was a princess from Belgium. It would have been odd for her to bring a Spanish tradition with her to Mexico, though she may have popularized the practice while she was there.)
Wikipedia was the only source that cited an 1855 article from the Los Angeles Star, establishing the practice nine years earlier. Colton’s first-hand account of egg-breaking dates even further back.
If you know your history (as many folks don’t, sadly), it only makes sense that whatever was in vogue in Spain would be carried to the Spanish colonies as well. The practice in Europe dates from Marco Polo’s time. The Spanish colonies had their roots in Columbus’ 1492 voyage. It seems logical that cascarones had a deep history in the Americas as well.
That theory is supported by Colton’s remarks from February 16, 1847: “The origin of this egg-breaking custom I have not been able to learn. It seems lost in the twilight of antiquity.”
Game Rules
Nevertheless, Colton quickly learned the rules of engagement.
- “The rules of this frolic do not allow you to take offence, whatever may be your age or the gravity of your profession: you have only one alternative, and that is, to retaliate if you can.”
- “You have not to encounter the natural contents of the egg–these are blown out; and the shell is filled with water, scented with cologne, or lavender; or more often, with gold tinsel, and flashing paper, cut into ten-thousand minute particles.”
- “The tinsel is rubbed by a dash of the hand into your hair, and requires no little combing and brushing to get it out.”
- “The antagonist is always of the opposite sex.”
- “You must return these shots, or encounter a raillery, which is even worse.” (A raillery is a hefty dose of good-natured ridicule.)
Opening Salvos
It was in this context that Colton found himself at a friend’s house, on January 6, 1847. It was “El Día de los Reyes,” the twelfth day of Christmas when the Magi visited the Christ Child. Apparently, it was also the beginning of Carnival in the Californio culture. His friend’s little daughter had just broken an egg on his head, and he was honor-bound to do something about it.
“Having finished my chat, I bade my good old Californian friend, and his daughter, my eggshell opponent, good morning; but turned into a shop, procured an egg or two, and re-entered the mansion of my friend by a side door, where I watched for my victim. A few moments brought her along all-unconscious of her danger. I slipped from my covert, and, unperceived, dashed the showering egg on her head. Her locks floated in cologne. I was avenged, and now stood square with the world, so far as egg-breaking is concerned. This seems like children’s play; but here you are forced into it in self-defense.”
“Going to a fandango,” Pictorial History of California, John Frost, 1852. Public domain via Library of Congress. Cropped, colorized, 2018 by Carolyn VanGorkom.
Fiesta Battles
Colton participated in the egg-breaking on at least two more occasions: February 16, 1847 and February 16, 1849. Both were End-of-Carnival fiestas. All the eggs had to be broken by midnight, when the season of Lent began. In 1847, he reports, “This being the last night of the carnival, everyone has broken his last egg-shells. But few of them contained cologne or lavender; nearly all were filled with golden tinsel. Ladies and gentlemen too are covered with the sparkling shower, and the lights of the chandeliers are thrown back in millions of mimic rays. … I had eggs, and came off pretty even in the battle.”
Even more fun was to be had in 1849, his last year in California. He again went to a party at his friend’s house, and a riotous boys-vs-girls battle broke out. Several small egg-volleys were exchanged at the onset of the fandango, but the main battle broke out after a certain young general and a certain young lady (a doña) conspired against each another. Each had brought a goose-egg filled with cologne, determined to break it on the other’s head at the first opportunity.
Being on their guard, however, neither gave the other an open shot. Finally, the general turned his head. The doña rushed in. He parried. She held her ground. Finally, she got her shot in and dashed her goose-egg on his crown. At the same instant, he crushed his own goose-egg on her coifed hair. “Both were drenched in cologne; both victors in defeat.”
A shout went up, which shook the rooftop. Both sides had been waiting for this moment. Guys and gals lined up against each other with their flimsy ammunition. Some opted for single combat, while others lined up in platoons, sending one volley of eggs after another. But as the battle raged the thickest, the men seemed to run out of cascarones! Sensing their advantage, the ladies doubled their efforts, sending cascades of confetti and cologne to seal their victory. Colton’s journal summed up how he felt about the battle:
“The bell tolled the hour of midnight, and Lent came in with her ashes to bury the dead! They may trifle who will win this field; but there was more in it worthy of a good man’s remembrance than half the fields fought from Homer’s day to this.”
Modern-day Cascarones
By all reports, the practice of egg-breaking passed out of favor by the turn of the twentieth century. Citizens of San Antonio, however, brought it back in the 1960s for the Fiesta of San Antonio. The Fiesta celebrates the Battles of the Alamo and of San Jacinto, which clinched the war for Texas independence. If you go there in April, be sure to buy your cascarones in advance or make your own.
Other sources report cascarones as a modern, Hispanic alternative to Easter eggs. Either way, it sounds like a whole lot of fun.
(Note: Carnival is a festive season before Lent, the period of fasting and prayer for 40 days before Easter. Because Easter is celebrated according to Hebrew (lunar) dating, the dates vary yearly. The above-mentioned dates may not correspond to the exact liturgical calendar for 1847 and 1849, but they do represent the actual celebrations in Monterey on those dates.)
If you enjoyed this post, there’s more! The whole reason I read Colton’s 1850 journal, and many other old books, is because I’m writing a book and online course about California’s History. (A good novelist is never happier than when she’s writing a book, lol!)
Want to know when it will be ready? Be sure to sign up for my email list with ANY of the invitations that pop up. Don’t worry, my email provider won’t count your address twice no matter how many freebies you sign up for. I promise never to spam you, and I’ll be sure to send you an update. Thanks for reading!
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