Name/Title
Construction Worker's Hard Hat (Casco de Protección)Entry/Object ID
2025.1.16Description
A white, full-brim safety helmet of molded white plastic, with a rounded dome crown and a continuous brim encircling the whole hat (as opposed to a front-peak "cap style"). The interior retains its suspension system: a molded plastic crown cradle (web of radiating straps converging on a central boss) attached to a headband, with a oam sweatband (now brown/discolored) around the brow. The interior carries molded text. The hat is a single assembled unit.Use
From the Arús Caraballo householdContext
owned by Leopoldo Arús GálvezCollection
The Cabrera Arús family collectionMade/Created
Manufacturer
MINILNotes
The MINIL attribution and style suggest a likely range of roughly the 1960s–1980s.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
InscriptionLocation
insideTranscription
IL
HECHO EN CUBALanguage
SpanishTranslation
Light Industry
Made in CubaNotes
Interior (molded, transcribed as recorded):
- "IL" (for Industria Ligera)
- "HECHO EN CUBA" (Made in Cuba)Dimensions
Height
14 cmWidth
22 cmDepth
31 cmMaterials
Material
PlasticMaterial Notes
Injection- or compression-molded plastic shell; molded/assembled internal suspension harness; riveted side fittings; molded-in interior lettering.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Leopoldo Arús GálvezNotes
ownerPerson or Organization
MINILNotes
producerPerson or Organization
Leopoldo Arús CaraballoNotes
possible providerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
useResearch Notes
Notes
This is a full-brim (wide-brim, 360°) hard hat, a style favored for outdoor construction and industrial work because the all-around brim sheds rain and sun and offers more coverage than the front-peak "cap" style. The internal suspension — a molded cradle of straps converging on a central point, attached to an adjustable headband with a sweatband — is the standard mid-20th-century hard-hat design, which works by suspending the shell a couple of centimeters off the skull so that an impact is absorbed by the suspension webbing rather than transmitted directly to the head.
A construction/industrial hard hat fits coherently with a profile of someone working in the Cuban electrical/industrial sector. This object therefore should have been obtained by Leopoldo Arús Gálvez's son, Leopoldo Arús Caraballo.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
April 29, 2022Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 18, 2026
