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- Tocumbo
This is a sad story. La Michoacana — the logo drawn up by a young marketing executive from the town that invented the fruity paleta — is changing its name because the state of Michoacan is too associated with violence.
Alejandro Andrade, a great guy, who I interviewed several times in Tocumbo, Michoacan, years ago, said he’s changing the name of the little Indian girl that has been the national logo for the ice cream shops invented and perfected by Tocumbans over the decades.
The new name will be La Tucumbita. Michoacan is just too violent a name to associate with a sweet thing like ice cream and popsicles, he’s quoted as saying.
In my first book — True Tales from Another Mexico: The Lynch Mob, the Popsicle Kings, Chalino and the Bronx — I told the story of the folks from Tocumbo who invented the Michoacana popsicle shops that are ubiquitous throughout Mexico.
The photo is from the years when the state was known for other things besides insane violence, beheadings, and wacko Catholic drug cartels. Above is a photo of Alejandro from happier times, and the popsicle monument that stands outside the town.
