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After enjoying our delicious breakfast at El Mesquite, Rodolfo asked us if we wanted to tour a factory, where furniture is made by hand by two skilled craftsmen. When I asked Rodolfo how he knew about the place, he smiled and replied that he knows everything about the state of Tamaulipas, and besides, some of the furniture that he furnishes his restaurant, Sandry's, in the town of Lucio Blanco, has been purchased from this factory. That was enough for us, and Jerry and I jumped at the opportunity.
Photo: The friendly lady who owns this no-name roadside furniture vendor, directed us to the factory where the furniture she sells is made. If you're planning on purchasing furniture, you'll actually get a better price from the roadside vendors than direct from the factory. Upside down franchises or something like that? As you drive south of Llera de Canales, on Mexico Federal Highway 85, you'll notice several roadside vendors selling handsome furniture, and upon a close inspection, you'll notice something in common with all the vendors: Despite the individual store where the furniture is sold, it features similar construction. The reason the furniture looks similar is that all furniture sold in roadside stands near Llera de Canales is made at the factory, aptly named Muebles Rusticos, located about 3 km south of Llera de Canales. By the way, the name of the factory, Muebles Rusticos, translates into English, somewhat loosely as "rustic furniture," and that's an appropriate name, as the beautiful furniture that the factor produces is totally made by hand, and very rustic in nature.
Photo: I relax in a rocker, and flash the peace sign as Jerry takes my photo. Note Federal Highway 85 in the background of the photo. We stopped at a roadside store, which featured a huge display of rustic furniture outside of the store, located at the intersection of Mexico Federal Highways 85 and 81, just to admire the quality of the rustic furniture. The friendly girl that operated the store told us that the furniture that she sold was made at Muebles Rusticos furniture factory, just a couple of miles down the road, and Rodolfo said he knew where the factory was located. Rodolfo mentioned to Jerry and I that we'd be in for a real treat to visit the factory where this beautiful furniture is made, so Jerry and I readily agreed, as we're always interested in new experiences in Mexico, and the state of Tamaulipas.
Photo: Ruben Cervantes at work, in his adobe factory. Note the raw canasa logs in the foreground of the photo that Ruben and his helper fabricate beautiful furniture from. If your idea of a "factory" is a large, steel, pre-fab building, located in a busy industrial park, with a railroad siding and hundreds of containers coming and going, then Muebles Rusticos might be somewhat of a shock to you, as their located along Highway 85, just a few clicks south of Llera de Canales, in a small, dilapidated, adobe-walled building, with a corrugated steel roof, which make for humble "digs," indeed, especially for an enterprise that is billed as a "factory." In keeping with many buildings in the eastern state of Tamaulipas, the factory is open on two sides, so as we walked up, we were free to observe the process, and take photos at will. Unlike "factories" north of the border, visitors are welcome to... well... visit, as lawsuits, insurance settlements and the like don't apply in a small factory such as Muebles Rusticos. For us, that's a good thing, as we can take photos, observe the operation, and get to know the skilled craftsmen who actually make the rustic furniture.
Photo: Ruben Cervantes, his helper, and Rodolfo admire the factory. Ruben's helper seems to ignore the photo, as he's very busy crafting a beautiful chair out of raw logs. According to the owner of the business, Ruben Cervantes, Muebles Rusticos has been at the same location since 1961, and in the same adobe-walled building with corrugated steel roof since that date. The business was founded by his father in 1961, and he started working in the business when he was just a lad, and has been operating the business ever since his father retired a few years ago. Dad is still around, but unfortunately he suffers from dementia, and other problems, and is now reduced to a spectator, who just shuffles around the place with a permanent grin on his face. If you're looking to see a production line, computerized robots, you've come to the wrong place, as Muebles Rusticos operates out of a 900-square-foot adobe building, with a tin room and a dirt floor, and if you're looking for electricity, or other modern marvels, you'll have to look elsewhere, as Muebeles Rusticos is about as low-tech as it gets, in late 2006. As we walked into the factory, we noticed the owner, Ruben Cervantes, and his co-worker hard at work, making rectangular pieces of wood from raw logs. Ruben looked up from his work, and greeted us warmly, and welcomed us to his business, and promised to answer the many questions that we would ask. This factory is like none other that I've ever had the pleasure to tour, as the rubber truly meets the road in this place... you can watch Ruben and his helper turn raw canasa logs into rustic, smooth, beautiful furniture, right before your eyes.
Photo: Ruben shows the photographer how a piece of wood is "sanded," sans sandpaper, and made silky smooth with only the aid of a very sharp knife. To the uninformed, Muebles would seem quite dysfunctional, as logs, shavings, sawdust and junk are strewn all over the floor, and the walls are just plain adobe, with lots of bare spots exposed for the eye to see. Electricity is non-existent, as all production work is accomplished using hand tools, such as a hand, cross-cut saw used to cut the canasa logs to the approximate size, hammers, and a brace and bit, lubricated by spitting on the drill bit, before drilling the holes. Sandpaper is non-existent, and can't be found at Muebles Rusticos, as all fine finish work is done by a huge, knife, that is so sharp that you could shave by it, but it's big enough to cut down a small tree... All of the finely-crafted furniture is made by hand, out of locally-obtained raw materials. We had the pleasure to watch Ruben and his helper morph logs into a finely-made component of a chair, drill holes by hand, using spit as a lubricant, and drilling holes with a brace and bit. We also watched them take a raw piece of canasa wood, and using a hand saw and a very sharp knife, turn it into an armrest, for a beautiful chair in the making. It's fascinating to watch a couple of craftsmen at work, who turn raw logs into beautiful furniture, using only primitive hand tools.
Photo: Ruben's helper shows the digital camera how to turn canasa logs into a beautifully-crafted rustic chair, using only simple hand tools, and no sandpaper. Muebles Rusticos displays many examples of their work in front of the factory, obviously for advertising purposes, and Jerry pointed out that some of their displayed inventory, normally rocking chairs, have a curved foot print, so how do you get a curved footprint out of a raw, straight piece of canasa wood? When the question was asked to Ruben, he grinned, and offered to show us how they do it, as the act was performed behind the main factory building. Like the troopers that we are, we accepted his kind offer to view how they take a straight piece of wood, and form it to a permanent bend, to form the rockers of a rustic rocking chair.
Photo: This skilled worker uses a hammer to pound tacks into the wood, in the construction of the chair. The wood is fairly thin, and I wonder how he keeps it from splitting? Behind the factory, there is a storage area canasta logs, which are cut to a length of about four feet, and loosely stacked in a pile, awaiting to be transformed into rustic furniture. But there's more behind the factory, as there is a fire pit, and a jig that uses a tire, you read this correctly, a rubber tire that is used to shape the raw wood to the desired curve. So how do you make a perfectly curved rocker for a rocking chair? We asked that question to Ruben, and he showed us their method. He explained to us the following:
Photo: Ruben notches a piece of wood, that will be used for a couch, under construction. Watching him perform his job makes me wince, as it looks like he'll cut himself with every stroke. But he has no cuts or scars, as this skilled craftsman knows what he's doing. 1)
Using a hand saw and a knife, cut a piece of wood to about
four feet long, by two, by two inches square.
Photo: Ruben shows us the jig that helps to curve the wood, to the left of the photo, the tire that's used to curve the wood, and the fire pit, piled high with canasa wood shavings, ready to burn. Muebles Rusticos is a member of the "green team" as all of their shaving, kindling, and scrap wood is used to light as firewood, to keep the fire going, when necessary to shape pieces of their wood into gentle curves. Probably I shouldn't give them credit, as I'm quite sure they "recycle" the scarp pieces of wood for purely economic reasons, rather than to their part in halting the spread of global warming. I'm sure the great "green thumb," none other than Al Gore, would be proud of Muebles Rusticos's operation as a factory that fights global warming, and who knows... he might even buy a piece of their furniture to decorate his elegant Tennessee mansion.
Photo: The adobe building that houses Muebles Rusticos, is in the center background of the photo. Note the tree trunk that helps keep the building standing. The jig, with a few pieces of wood undergoing the bending process, and the tire, are in the foreground of the photo. The ground is littered with canasa shavings from the factory. Of course it doesn't always go that easy, Ruben explained, and in some quite stubborn cases, they have to leave the wood attached to the jig for 24 hours or so, until the wood is dry and the curved bend is a permanent fixture. It's amazing to see the end product of Muebles Rusticos, after watching Ruben and his helper fabricate the furniture and to realize that their beautiful furniture is made by hand, under very low-tech, yet-we-dare-say? ... primitive conditions? Yet the furniture that they produce is earthy, beautiful, and very rustic, and makes the perfect furniture for a mountain cabin, or any informal setting.
Photo: Mr. Cervantes, founder of the business, is retired, and sort of just "hangs" around as an advisor, or "tech support." Here, he proudly shows us a beautiful, hand-crafted rocking chair. After touring the factory, and watching Ruben and his helper in action, you come away with a feeling of "My goodness, this furniture is awesome, and these guys make all of this beautiful stuff from hand, using hand tools, in an adobe-walled factory with a dirt floor. How do they do it?" Yeah, that's what I thought, even after getting the free tour from Ruben. Ruben and his co-worker are true craftsmen, who fabricate a smooth, rustic product, utilizing very old-school techniques coupled with hand tools, yet their furniture is as pretty, and as rustic as it gets, and they seem to have a brisk business going, as their furniture can be found all over the state of Tamaulipas, and beyond. It's truly amazing to watch these guys at work... Oh yes, they have a fine array of their furniture on display, for sale, in front of their shop. Ruben told me that the furniture in front of the factory is only a generic sample of their works, as they're happy to make custom-made furniture, made to the customer's specifications.
Photo: Ruben shows Jerry and Rodolfo some of the beautiful furniture on display, and for sale, in front of the factory. Rodolfo has decorated one of his restaurants with furniture hand crafted at Muebles Rusticos. I
would have LOVED to take a piece of their furniture
home with me, but considering that I was flying from McAllen,
Texas, to Sacramento, California, taking home a chair or two
was out of the question. Maybe the next trip when we drive?
If you're visiting Llera de Canales, Tamaulipas, Mexico,
a trip to Muebles Rusticos will be both interesting and
fascinating, and you'll be treated to a tour of a unique furniture
factory by owner and worker, Ruben Cervantes. Muebles
Rusticos
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