Card of Flower Brand hair grips (bobby pins)

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Card of "Flower Brand" hair grips (bobby pins)

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.108

Description

A retail card of hair grips (bobby pins) in original packaging, shown front and back. The display card is of cream/buff paper stock printed with orange-red bands and a vertical striped panel at the right. The front carries the brand name "Flower Brand" in black script across an orange band, with "BEST QUALITY" and a line of Chinese characters at left, the word "GRIPS" in bold at right, and "MADE IN CHINA" with the Chinese 中国制造 ("Made in China") at lower right. A row of hair grips is mounted across the card, held in place through slits; the grips are flat-sided metal pins with a wave/crimp in one leg, the great majority finished in black with at least one in brown. The reverse (second image) shows the plain card back with the pins' shafts and the slits that retain them, plus traces of red at the right edge. The card is worn, with edge softening, soiling, creasing, and some loss; the grips appear intact. The term "grips" (for what are also called bobby pins or hairgrips/kirby grips) reflects British/Commonwealth-market English usage on an export product.

Use

Belonged to Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Place

Country

People's Republic of China

Continent

Asia

Edition

"Flower Brand"

Notes

Date Undetermined. The graphic style of the card has a mid-20th-century character, but the bilingual "Made in China" export packaging is not in itself datable to a specific decade.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

"Flower Brand"; "BEST QUALITY"; "GRIPS"; "MADE IN CHINA"; Chinese characters including 发夹 (fàjiā, "hairpins/hair grips") in the brand line and 中国制造 ("Made in China").

Condition

Overall Condition

Fair

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use

Place

Country

People's Republic of China

Continent

Asia

Notes

production

Research Notes

Notes

The card's mid-century graphic style and the Commonwealth-English "grips" terminology could point to a pre-1959 date. Nothing on the card confirms manufacture within 1959–1990.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

December 8, 2025

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 18, 2026