Name/Title
Hair roller, improvised from plastic pipe (artisanal)Entry/Object ID
2025.1.61Description
A short cylindrical hair roller made by cutting a length of dark gray plastic pipe (PVC-type tubing) to size. It is a plain open-ended tube with cut edges. There is no decoration, perforation, or hardware — it is simply a pipe offcut repurposed as a roller around which hair was wound and set. It is an artisanal, home-made object rather than a manufactured hair-care product.Use
In the Arús Caraballo householdContext
Possibly bought in a state-owned “ferretería" or hardware store.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collectionMade/Created
Place
Country
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
MAKER: Home-made/artisanal; no maker. The pipe itself was an industrial product, but the roller was fashioned by hand from a cut length of it.
DATE / PERIOD: Not marked; undetermined.Dimensions
Length
7 cmDiameter
3 cmDimension Notes
a smaller (green) one measures 2.5 cms of diameter and 6.7 cm of lengthMaterials
Material
PlasticMaterial Notes
MATERIALS: Plastic pipe (dark gray; most likely PVC or a similar rigid plastic tubing).
TECHNIQUES: A length of manufactured plastic pipe cut to size by hand to serve as a hair roller; no further working. The wear and abrasion are from use.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Gertrudis Caraballo GálvezRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaResearch Notes
Notes
This is a vivid example of Cuban make-do ingenuity (the resolver / por la izquierda economy of improvisation): a hair roller fashioned from a cut piece of plastic plumbing pipe in place of a manufactured curler, which in periods of scarcity were hard to obtain. The recorded context is itself telling — the raw material was a hardware-store (ferretería) item, i.e., the maker turned a plumbing supply into a personal-grooming tool.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
May 4, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 14, 2026