Name/Title
Solid-deodorant container ("desodorante de tubito"), emptyEntry/Object ID
2025.1.277Description
Translucent, frosted white / pale-green molded-plastic cylindrical tube — the body/barrel of a push-up solid (stick) deodorant container. It is an open cylinder; the deodorant bar and the cap are both absent. The surface is scuffed and lightly scratched, with faint banded staining where the internal contents/mechanism once sat. No printing, label, or brand mark is present.Use
Kept by Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezContext
This is the iconic Cuban "desodorante de tubito" — the generic, brand-less solid stick deodorant that, per the collection's documentation, the state light industry produced as the single available type, distinguished colloquially only by its tube form from the branded liquid and cream deodorant "Desodoral." The bar itself was blue or green and strongly alcohol-scented, and shriveled and cracked if left uncapped.
The object is remembered as much for the afterlife of its packaging as for the product: emptied tubes were reused as rollers to set hair, and the cap plastic was repurposed as replacement earring backs. Production was tied to the Empresa de Perfumería y Cosméticos Suchel.
Other documented uses include to make candles and flashlights.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecitionMade/Created
Manufacturer
MINILTime Period
1980sPlace
Country
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaInscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
capTranscription
HECHO EN CUBALanguage
SpanishTranslation
MADE IN CUBAParts
1 plastic cylinder, 2 capsMaterials
Material
PlasticMaterial Notes
Molded translucent plastic (polyethylene/polypropylene type).Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezNotes
ownerPerson or Organization
MINILNotes
producerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
ownershipCreated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
March 31, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 15, 2026