Name/Title
Hospital birth-identification bracelet, 1973Entry/Object ID
2025.1.53Description
A newborn's hospital identification band — a long, narrow translucent strip of repurposed nylon, now creased and limp, made to be wrapped around an infant and tied. The nylon was reused from another purpose, and traces of its earlier life remain visible as red printed lettering and a red line running along the band, alongside the birth record. A small paper insert held within the band carries the handwritten pencil inscription with the birth details. The piece is a single intact length with the data slip retained inside.Use
Birth record of María A. Cabrera Arús. Preserved by María A. Arús CaraballoCollection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Childhood, María A. Arús Caraballo collectionMade/Created
Date made
10/8/1973Time Period
1970sNotes
MAKER: Not a commercial identification band but an improvised one made from repurposed nylon; no manufacturer of a purpose-made bracelet applies. The red printed lettering along the band is residual marking from the nylon's prior use, not a maker's mark for a birth band, and is partly legible and reversed in the images. The issuing hospital is Ramón González Coro, former Sagrado Corazón, in Vedado, Havana.
DATE / PERIOD: October 8, 1973.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
NoteTranscription
Sexo F peso 6,1 hora 1:35
Maria Antonia Arus CaraballoLanguage
SpanishTranslation
Gender F weight 6.1 time 1:35
Maria Antonia Arus CaraballoMaterial/Technique
PencilNotes
Handwritten pencil inscription (Spanish): "Sexo F, peso 6,1, hora 1:35, María Antonia Arús Caraballo." Translation: "Sex F, weight 6.1, time 1:35, María Antonia Arús Caraballo."
Residual red printed lettering and a red line along the band, surviving from the nylon's earlier use (not a birth-band maker's mark); partly legible, not transcribed.Materials
Material Notes
MATERIALS: Repurposed nylon band (translucent, bearing residual red printed text and a red line from its earlier use) with a paper data insert; inscription in pencil.
TECHNIQUES: An improvised band cut/formed from reused nylon, with a sealed or stitched edge and an internal pocket holding the paper slip; the birth data added by hand in pencil at the time of birth. The reuse of nylon for a hospital identification band reflects material scarcity and everyday improvisation.Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
María A. Arús Caraballo, María A. Cabrera Arús, Hospital Materno Infantil Ramón González CoroRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaResearch Notes
Notes
The data set is the standard newborn record: sex, birth weight (the "6,1" most plausibly 6 pounds 1 ounce, with the Spanish decimal comma), and time of birth (1:35). What makes the object especially telling is its material: rather than a manufactured hospital band, it is improvised from repurposed nylon, and the red printed text and red line are leftovers from that nylon's previous use rather than any product branding. This is a vivid instance of the same make-do, salvage-and-reuse economy seen elsewhere in this material — here applied even to a maternity-ward identification band — and it carries both precise documentary value (a securely dated, named birth record) and strong personal significance.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
August 4, 2024Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 18, 2026
