Happy Cinco De Mayo!!!!!!!! (was forum=69)Follow

Everyone knows that May 5th is Cinco De Mayo but not very many people know why this day is celebrated or what it stands for.

Most people think that Cinco De Mayo simply means “May the Fifth” but that’s just a coincidence – Cinco De Mayo is actually a holiday commemorating the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915.

You see, with WWI raging, there were many commodities from Europe that were in short supply in North America – mayonnaise was one of them (Kraft didn’t start producing mayonnaise until the 1920). While it did have some following in the states, it was extremely popular in Mexico, practically being the national condiment at the time.

The Lusitania was heading from Europe to North America with a huge shipment of mayonnaise when it was sunk by a German U-boat on May 5th 1915 (yes, I know that many sites list the sinking as having occurred on May 7th, but that was actually the day that the sinking made the American news papers). Since there was only one Mexican company importing the mayonnaise and all of their money was tied up in the Lusitania, the sinking put them out of business and cut off all supplies of mayonnaise to Mexico.

The desperate Mexicans attempted to create their own version of mayonnaise and that’s how sour cream was invented. The sour cream met with some resistance at first, but then the government started a campaign calling it “Mexican mayonnaise” and nationalism overrode taste and it took off.

By the time the war was over and new companies stepped in to fill the void the Mexicans had fully embraced sour cream and mayonnaise was dead as far as south of the border condiments went.

To commemorate the sinking of the Lusitania that resulted in the creation of the new condiment, the president of Mexico declared that May the 5th would be a day of festivities celebrating the sinking of the mayonnaise or “sinko the mayo” in Spanish. As time passed, people got a bit confused and ended up bastardizing it into Cinco de Mayo, meaning literally, May the Fifth.

Here’s a rough translation of the official drinking song –

Sinko the Mayo
Sinko the Mayo
Its at the bottom of the sea!
Sinko the Mayo
Sinko the Mayo
No more mayonnaise for me!
Sinko the Mayo
Sinko the Mayo
We invented sour cream!
Sinko the Mayo
Sinko the Mayo
And guacamole which is green!

That’s the history of Cinco De Mayo so grab yourself a taco, smother it with sour cream and enjoy this traditional Mexican celebration of the sinking of the mayonnaise and the birth of sour cream!

I don't know if this is accurate or not, it seems a bit far fetched. But it was surely amusing.

I'll have sour cream over mayo any day.

Rate-up for you. I can only assume you were sub defaulted for posting in the wrong forum.

Americans, always preoccupied with themselves.