Cuba

ref. 0012156 — Havana Cuba Santiago DE Cuba. Very Good with no dust jacket. Non-Book. On offer is a substantial 1937–1959 Bacardi Cuba corporate operations archive comprising approximately 110 documents from Compañía "Ron Bacardí " S. A. And related Cuban rum-industry files. Centered chiefly on Santiago de Cuba and Havana the archive documents Bacardi's pre-nationalization business through export invoices checks purchase requests receiving forms supplier correspondence freight records label orders tax payments advertising records and banking endorsements. What makes the archive particularly strong is that many records are functionally connected. Purchase requests correspond to receiving forms supplier letters explain pricing and material changes export invoices trace named overseas shipments and checks document freight taxes advertising transport and government-related payments. Together they provide a detailed working record of Bacardi as a producer exporter taxpayer advertiser purchaser of printed packaging user of Cuban freight networks and participant in the country's banking and fiscal systems during the final decades of privately operated Bacardi production in Cuba. Many documents identify the company as Compañía "Ron Bacardí " S. A. Santiago de Cuba y Habana Sucesores de Bacardí y Cía. Establecidos en 1862. Others describe it as "Propietarios del Bacardí y la Cerveza Hatuey " directly linking the archive to both Bacardi rum and Hatuey beer. Among the most historically important records are 1959 Bacardi checks showing ordinary private commercial activity continuing after the January Revolution and before the confiscation of Bacardi's Cuban assets in October 1960. A January 26 1959 check to Agrupación de Transporte S. A. Pays for hauling performed during the second half of January. Another check that day to Porteadora Cubana de Carga S. A. References a waybill and carries banking and customs-related endorsements. A June 1959 check pays the Cámara de Comercio de Camagüey for advertising while an August 1959 Trust Company of Cuba check covers freight on packages and boxes containing promotional materials. Two additional January 1959 checks concern relief at Sagua de Tánamo Oriente including one issued "Para socorrer a los habitantes de Sagua de Tánamo" to assist the inhabitants of Sagua de Tánamo. These records capture Bacardi still conducting transport advertising banking freight and civic activities during Cuba's revolutionary transition. A major portion of the archive documents Bacardi's label packaging and lithographic supply chain particularly through Compañía Litográfica de la Habana S. A. 1957 purchase requests include orders for 1000000 Carta Blanca analysis labels 1000000 Ron Palmas labels 100000 Carta de Oro labels 70000 Bacardi Imports Carta Blanca labels 12000 Añejo Brand miniature labels and 6000 aluminum-paper Añejo bottle wrappers. Several have corresponding receiving forms showing delivery through Porteadora Cubana de Carga. The Hatuey beer records reveal even greater scale. One receiving form records 3000000 Hatuey Clara labels another records 1200000 additional oval labels while supplier invoices document runs of 4000000 and 2800000 Cerveza Hatuey Pilsener labels. Supplier correspondence adds unusually detailed operational context. A 1956 letter explains that an order for 33000 aluminum-paper Añejo wrappers could only be partly filled at the old price because existing stock was exhausted forcing the remainder to be produced from more expensive new material. Other records concern paper substitutions cancellation of 50000 lithographed Bacardi envelopes and quotations for 26000 holiday greeting cards and 26000 envelopes. The archive includes 1950s export records documenting shipments to the United States Canada and Newfoundland Holland Honduras El Salvador and Hong Kong. A 1953 invoice to Gande Price & Co. Ltd. Hong Kong records 25 cartons of Bacardí Carta Blanca marked "DOUBLE STEEL STRAPPED. " A related Bacardi letter identifies the shipment as Embarque No. 157 and discusses documentation required for a Cuban public-works charge. A 1953 invoice to The Board of Liquor Control St. John's Newfoundland shipped aboard the Canadian Observer via Halifax records 500 cartons of Bacardí Carta de Oro Rum marked "DOUBLE STEEL STRAPPED " "STRENGTH: 40.0 G. L. " and "NO FODDER USED. " The total including freight was $8145.50. Related Nova Scotia material further documents Bacardi's Canadian-Caribbean trade. Earlier correspondence documents Bacardi's American label and distribution system. A 1939 letter to H. B. Estrada at the Empire State Building concerns "Etiquetas U. S. A. " and records shipment of 1200 Bacardí Carta Blanca labels 400 Bacardí Carta de Oro labels and 2000 analysis foot-labels. A 1940 letter on José M. Bosch Agent for Compañía Ron Bacardi Empire State Building letterhead requests additional Carta Blanca and Carta Oro label sets to be sent by air. The archive also documents Bacardi's interaction with Cuba's fiscal and banking systems. A 1950 check for $26928.00 records the purchase of liquor-tax stamps. Other documents concern income taxes wage-tax matters public-works charges treasury payments and banking clearance. Many retain original endorsements and stamps from institutions including the Tesorería General de la República Cámara Nacional de Compensaciones The Bank of Nova Scotia and other Cuban banking and fiscal bodies. Advertising records include Bacardi-Hatuey newspaper advertising Chamber of Commerce advertising promotional freight and a 1957 Propaganda Department order for 26000 greeting cards and 26000 envelopes for the 1958 holiday season. One unusual letter from F. M. Hitchcock of Wichita Kansas thanks Bacardi for miniature labels and requests sets of its full-size labels and medal label showing that Bacardi packaging was already being collected as brand ephemera during the period. Also included is related Cuban rum-industry material notably a 1959 José Arechabala S. A. Check providing comparative documentation from another major Cuban liquor producer during the same revolutionary year. The archive documents Bacardi's continued private operations in 1959 rum exports across North America Europe Central America and Asia multi-million-unit production of Hatuey beer labels Bacardí Carta Blanca Carta de Oro Ron Palmas and Añejo packaging lithographic suppliers and packaging production freight transport banking taxes and customs-related processing prewar U. S. Distribution through New York advertising and promotional material local civic and relief activity in Oriente and related José Arechabala rum-industry material. Founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862 Bacardi became one of Cuba's most internationally recognized brands. Its Cuban assets were confiscated by the revolutionary government on October 14 1960. This archive preserves a detailed paper trail of the company before that event including 1959 records showing Bacardi still operating as a private Cuban business during the revolutionary transition. More than a group of isolated invoices and checks the archive shows how Bacardi actually functioned: labels ordered by the million bottles and promotional materials packaged overseas shipments processed suppliers negotiated with taxes paid freight moved and banking transactions cleared. Approximately 110 documents are included consisting of checks export invoices supplier invoices purchase requests receiving forms letters freight records tax and fiscal records advertising records and related commercial correspondence. Condition varies as expected for working corporate records. Documents show folds handling wear filing holes edge wear creases stamps endorsements perforated cancellations annotations and occasional tears or staining. Many retain original fiscal stamps bank and treasury marks routing notes and cancellation perforations. Overall Fair to Good. ; Manuscripts; Oblong Small 4to 9" - 11" tall; 110 pages; Signed by Author .