About Us!
Yes, there really are three Rebecas! Names in Latino families are passed down as often as family recipes. My grandmother, Rebeca García Caballero was born in 1889 in Laredo, TX. My mom, Rebeca Caballero Barrera was born in 1912. I'm the third Rebeca, and Tres Rebecas is where Mama Rebeca's ancient Mexican traditions crash head-on into today's trendy jewelry, textiles, yarns, and books.
Summers in Laredo were filled with grown-ups passing on the traditions of knitting, beading, embroidery, or sewing. Somewhere in the back of my closet is a box with my first feeble attempts to embroider the words domingo, lunes, martes, etc. on dishtowels. All my cousins have remnants of these days learning to knit, crochet, embroider, and bead with Tía Chena and our moms.
Today the talented artists at Tres Rebecas do the same, guiding children and adults to bead a jean jacket, knit a sassy scarf or transfer digital images onto blinged-up t-shirts or party balloons.
My mom and I have spent years wandering the streets in México and Latin America to find handmade items that represent some of the old traditions as well as new favorites. We have found some of the best treasures in hard-to-find villages at the end of a long drive. Among my favorites are the hand-blown Christmas ornaments from Tlapujahua, the rebozos from Santa María del Rio, and the frivolité (tatting) from San Juan de los Lagos. No one can resist the vintage jewelry by the silver masters of Taxco or the exquisite jewelry featuring pre-Columbian symbols fashioned by Francisco Sánchez Sahagun.
Tres Rebecas welcomes you to a shopping experience that is loaded with Latino culture. Every item has a story and we can't resist telling the stories. You might get a slide show about how the women of Y'amuntsi in Hidalgo, México harvest the fiber of the maguey plant to make ayates (washcloths) or a story about how the tagua nut is harvested in the rain forest. You'll see how ancient traditions find their way to contemporary living through quinceañera scrapbooking kits and embroidered semanarios (kitchen towels for every day of the week). Sometimes you get a recipe for mole or ceviche as a bonus. Either way, you can't leave without a taste of culture.
A tortillera, molcajete, and cookbooks in English or Spanish will remind you of abuela's cooking, while just around the corner peeks a table laden with exquisite silk products from Mexican designers Cristina Pineda and Ricardo Covalin. And, you won't be able to resist the cotton textiles with images of loteria, calaveras, Frida, and the Virgen de Guadalupe. While you're filling your mercado tote, don't forget to pick up a pair of super sharp Fiskar scissors and some bottles of Jaguard paints for your sheets of papel amate, a Mexican paper still made by the Otomi in Puebla.
We are big belivers in cultural roots, and our books tell the story. Our collection of children's books include the top Latino authors and illustrators. Whether they are written in English or Spanish or are bilingual, you can count on them to be culturally authentic, with illustrations in many styles that are true to the culture. Books by San Antonio's most popular authors are always available.
Books for young adults deal with many issues faced by today's teens, with plenty of emphasis on living in a diverse world. A selction of fiction and non-fiction books about Latinos complements this section of the store. Review the list of books on-line in the section "Go Shopping".
Store Hours:
While we are in the process of creating our new store, you can shop online or call for an appointment.
(210) 391-3375
email: rebeca@3rebecas.com
Rebeca (Mom) learns from Jacobo Angels about the carving and painting of "alebrijes" in Oaxaca. Jacobo uses only natural dyes mixed with the resin of the copal tree to paint his wood carvings.
