El Coqui: The Frog, The Legend:     Top

El Coqui (pronounced ko-kee) is a tiny tree frog from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican folklore and even some scientists believe that El Coqui is endemic, that is, it can only live in Puerto Rico.   

I remember in sixth grade, my history professor told me that some scientists had taken El Coqui out of Puerto Rico for reproduction in other warm-climate countries...and it  died every time.

Whether El Coqui is endemic or not we do not know for sure. What I recall are the fresh evenings in the country, the soft trade winds blowing, dark skies with bright stars, sitting on a veranda and listening to the sweet music: co-qui, co-qui, co-qui.  It seemed like the whole world had stopped just to let the coqui sing.

The legend goes that once upon a time, Ignacio, the native Puerto Rican parrot and  King of the Forest, called all the animals for a meeting.  He thought that the animals had gotten lazy from enjoying the Trade Winds and getting suntans.  He called for a race among the best of each animal with the winner receiving a special gift.  All the animals kept lounging around except the tree frogs.  They were training and working hard, encouraging Pepito, their leader,  with their silent cheers for tree frogs could not emit a sound.   They knew that since they were the smallest animals in the forest, it was going to be hard for them to win.  Well, Pepito won the race...and Ignacio blessed the tiny tree frogs with the ability to sing. Now they sing for all Puerto Rico.

Our web site grew out of the love and appreciation of the stories and cultures of many lands. Through ElCoquiGalleries.com, you can now also appreciate a little bit of history and heritage of Puerto Rico, and other Latin countries.

ElCoquiGifts.com, Inc. - Our Company:     Top

ElCoquiGifts.com, Inc is a start-up e-commerce venture incorporated in Illinois, USA we opened our online galleries in September, 2000..  Our mission is to enrich lives through learning and sharing of the many cultures from around the world.

Our vision is to become the premier provider of fine, original art and gifts from around the world, starting with Latin America and the Caribbean.   In this endeavor, we hope to help our hard-working artisans by adhering to fair trade practices.  

Our web site grew out of the love and appreciation for the rich cultures of the Latin world, from Mexico to Puerto Rico to Ecuador.   We introduced  artwork from two new countries, Venezuela and Spain.   We added Voodoo-inspired art from Haiti!   Also, we are introducing emerging painters who will delight you with their unique styles and coloring.  Through web technology we are able to open doors to many cultures rich in folk art that would otherwise not be available to you.

In 2003 we are adding several fine jewelry designers and makers to our collection of silver and stone jewelry.  Visit the page, you may want to have them all!  In addition, we created a series of corporate gift programs to allow business to benefit from unique and hand-made gifts for their customer and employee programs.  We design programs for events, executive gifts and upscale promotions.  For more details, please call us at 847-733-9510 or visit under Corporate Programs.

We hope our clients have a culturally-enriching and entertaining experience in our site.  Client satisfaction will be ensured by personal contact, richness of art work, the enjoyment of one-of-a-kind art, and the flexibility of even ordering custom pieces.  Please refer to Shipping/FAQ for our strict policies in terms of security and confidentiality.  We have also decided to limit on-line advertising to our Friendly Links page and to only offer related links.

ElCoquiGifts.com is changed its name to ElCoquiGalleries.com  to better reflect the mission and selection of artwork and upscale gifts that we offer.  Please refer to Press Release below.

If you are an artisan or artist in Latin America and would like to learn more about how we can work together, please contact us at elcoquigifts@attglobal.net.

Press Media Kit    Top

Februrary 16, 2000    (Click to select)

October 25, 2000

March 7, 2001

October 20, 2001 

Company Backgrounder

Founder's Bio

What they are saying about us:     Top

ElCoquiGifts was featured in the following TV shows:

ElCoquiGalleries was featured on American One Showcase Series on March 10, 2001.

ElCoquiGalleries.com was featured on Channel 11 PBS, Chicago Tonight on December 20, 2001.

ElCoquiGifts. was featured on Channel 21 Chicago, on October 22nd, 2000 at 5:00p.m. Chicago on Careers by Scott Sargis.  

ElCoquiGifts.com was featured on Channel 7, ABC-Chicago on Saturday, April 29th at 1:00p.m. CST.  Click  for more information from ABC. http://www.abcnews.go.com/local/wls/onair/35215_4122000.html

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:  

Now you can use see the special report on ElCoquiGalleries.com by just clicking on the following links: (Note:  Must follow instructions for loading plug-ins for video if not already available in your PC)

TheWebReviewer Article:  http://www.webreviewer.com/elcoqui.html

Terra Article (Spanish): http://www.terra.com/internet/articulo/html/int1058.htm

Latino Link Article:  http://www.latinolink.com/article.php3/000721gift

Local Business.com:  http://http://www.localbusiness.com/Story/0,1118,CHI_479125,00.html

WITI Women in Technology Profile: http://www.witi.com/wire/witiwomen/lrosario/index.shtml

ElCoquiGifts.com was featured in Crain's Chicago Business:

Technology's Impact on Small Business, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 with Loida Rosario, President and CEO, ElCoquiGifts.com

ElCoquiGifts.com was featured at The 14th Annual Entrepreneurial Woman's Conference:  

Taking the 'EEEE' Out of E-Commerce on September 7, 2000.

ElCoquiGalleries.com is featured on the Latino Entrepreneurial Conference, University of IL, on March 8, 2001.

Loida Rosario, CEO and Founder of ElCoquiGalleries.com was the guest speaker at the Women History Month celebrated at the College of Technology in New York on March 27th, 2001.

Testimonials:      Top

Hannah Elias, NY

"These are the most beautiful things I have ever collected.  Out of all my animals sculptures, these are the most beautiful.  I cannot thank you enough.  It was worth the wait.  God Bless"

Kathleen Abel, CO

"Thanks for the coyote. It is beautiful as you said.  Please let me know when you get further coyotes in stock.  I am interested in purchasing more of them."

Jackqueline Alvarado, IL
'I have received the bracelet and I love it!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait til I can wear it. My husband loved it also he says it is part of my Christmas presents so I can't wear it til then. Thank you."

Alex Drew, VA
"Thanks for the quick turnaround. The jewelry looks great. Hopefully it will be a hit. Pleasure doing business with you. Regards,"

R. Williams,
"I just purchased a print by R. Ponce from your site. Would it be possible for you to convey my delight with the artist's work to him or her ? I look forward to seeing more from this artist and his Cuban colleagues".

Nellie Reyes, CA
"Thank you for the update. I did receive the mask safe and sound in time for Chirstmas and your were right. My son really did like the mask. The pictures really did not do it justice, it's a great piece!."

Bruce Nickum, PA
"Thank you for your customer service."

The Zwickers, Canada
"We are thrilled with the piece and thank-you for your generosity. We will frame it behind glass as you suggested. Thank-you again."

Frances Guzman, NJ
"Received the lithograph and you were right it is beautiful. On Thursday I took it to be custom framed. I was surprised because the framer pointed out several colors within the picture that I did not notice until we started looking at mats to compliment it."

Suzanne Gonzalez, NY
"I have been meaning to write to you to let you know how absolutely delighted I was when I received the mask.  It arrived in perfect condition, and it goes well with my collection.  Please keep me informed of any new masks that you are featuring.  I am definitely interested in purchasing more Vejigante mask from your gallery.  Once again Thank You!"

Anna Belayev, Chicago, IL
"My Inca calendar tapestry from Ecuador is just gorgeous.   I have it on my living room and everyone likes it.  I am glad that you are helping artisans like Jose Cotecachi  make a living for themselves.  I now have my own ElCoqui budget, so that I can  get additional unique works of art"

Kenny Vaglio, New York, NY
"Great item (Carved Cow Horn Chess Set) and great packaging. Thanks!"