Gift presentation box, Felicidades, with firework/pinwheel print (empty)

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Gift presentation box, "Felicidades," with firework/pinwheel print (empty)

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.274

Description

Two-piece rigid paperboard set-up box (separate lift-off lid over a base/tray), rectangular, covered inside and out with cream paper printed with a repeating radiating "firework/pinwheel" (Catherine-wheel) motif alternating magenta/pink and blue. The lid rests askew over the base, which holds loosely crumpled white tissue paper (original packing). On the lid is a torn remnant of a small red/maroon printed paper seal reading "Felicidades." Surfaces show heavy age soiling, water-staining, and scattered brown foxing.

Use

Preserved by Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Context

A gift/greeting presentation box: the red seal's word "Felicidades" (Spanish, "Congratulations / Best wishes") marks it as celebratory packaging — the kind used to present a present for a birthday, holiday, Mother's Day, or New Year — and the radiating-burst pattern reinforces the festive, firework-like theme. The Spanish text places it in a Hispanophone, most likely Cuban, retail/gift context rather than the imported-toiletry stream. Empty; its original contents are unknown, though a boxed toiletry or small gift is plausible given the surrounding collection.

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection, Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez collecition

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Notes

Date: undetermined (tentatively mid-20th century on stylistic grounds; not fixable from the object). May be pre-1959.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

Torn remnant of a small red/maroon printed paper seal on the lid, reading "Felicidades." No other lettering, maker's mark, or origin statement visible on the exterior or interior.

Dimensions

Height

3.5 cm

Width

12 cm

Length

19 cm

Parts

Lift-off lid; base/tray. (Both present.)

Accessories

Accessory

tissue paper

Notes

Crumpled white tissue paper (original packing material), present inside the base.

Materials

Material

Cardboard

Material Notes

Rigid paperboard/cardboard; lithographed paper covering; tissue paper; remnant of a printed paper seal.

Condition

Overall Condition

Fair

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

March 31, 2022

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 15, 2026