Trump piñatas a hit across cultures

CHICAGO - Three years ago, when the Donald Trump pinatas began appearing in the windows of Mexican candy shops around Chicago, it was reasonable to assume the Donald Trump pinata was a flash in the pan, flimsy by nature and, considering the competition, too off-putting to be taken seriously. It was bitter looking, somewhat orange; the hair was all over the place, either a flat yellow helmet or a raging brush fire. He wore a red tie that seemed a little too long. And though these papier-mche Donalds varied stylistically from shop window to shop window, their mouths always held a fixed scowl.

Standing amid the usual smiling, agreeable candidates for children's birthday parties - alongside Disney princesses, superheroes and cartoon pooches - the Trump pinata looked too angry and ephemeral to have staying power.

Then the people spoke.

"This father came in the other day with his 12-year-old daughter and she wanted a pinata for her birthday," said Mike Massel of Dulceria Mexicana in Rogers Park, "and what did she want? A Trump pinata. During the (presidential) campaign I think we sold at least 500 of them, and I guess it's