Hero (英雄) toy/student accordion, model UC 100, with original box

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

"Hero" (英雄) toy/student accordion, model UC 100, with original box

Entry/Object ID

2025.11.47

Description

A small Chinese toy/student piano-accordion. White/cream molded-plastic body with a nine-key piano-style treble keyboard (white keys) at the right end, three white bass/chord buttons on the lower front, and blue bellows; round sound holes pierce both sides. A blue textile carrying strap and handle/trim are fitted. The front is printed in red: "Hero" in script with a musical-staff flourish, the characters 英雄, "ACCORDION," and "中國製造 UC 100 MADE IN CHINA." Accompanied by its original illustrated box — green card printed with a yellow accordion and "Hero ACCORDION / MADE IN CHINA" — the lid bearing handwritten notations "2-11-71," "15.00," and "MTO."

Acquisition

Accession

2025.11

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Made/Created

Date made

1971

Time Period

1970s

Place

City

Shanghai

Country

People's Republic of China

Continent

Asia

Notes

Maker: "Hero" (英雄), a Chinese (Shanghai) maker of children's/student toy accordions; specific factory not named on the object. Model UC 100. Made in China (per the object's marks). Date: Produced by 1971. Purchased in 1971. The box's manuscript "2-11-71" (2 November 1971) gives an acquisition/sale terminus; Hero "UC"-series toy accordions are documented in production from circa 1960 through the 1970s. Manufacture most plausibly falls in the late 1960s–1971 window.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

Accordion front — "Hero" / 英雄 / "ACCORDION" / "中國製造 UC 100 MADE IN CHINA." Box — "Hero ACCORDION / MADE IN CHINA"; manuscript "2-11-71," "15.00," "MTO."

Materials

Material

Plastic, Cardboard

Material Notes

Materials: Molded plastic body (white/cream); paper/card bellows faced with blue cloth; metal/plastic keys and internal free reeds; textile carrying strap. Box: printed cardboard. Technique: Mass-produced molded-plastic toy accordion with internal free reeds and folded bellows; lithographed cardboard box.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Places

Place

City

Shanghai

Country

People's Republic of China

Continent

Asia

Notes

production

Research Notes

Notes

A Chinese-made "Hero" (英雄) toy/student accordion (model UC 100, Shanghai), an inexpensive children's instrument exported widely. Sold in Cuba at "15.00" pesos. Rather expensive considering that minimum income was less than 100 pesos. The notation "MTO" is unexplained (possibly owner's initials or a shop code).

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

February 5, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026