Name/Title
Road-safety perpetual-calendar keychain, "Más conciencia, menos accidentes" (Semana del Tránsito)Entry/Object ID
2025.1.64Description
A round metal keychain fob on a fine link chain with a C-shaped split key ring. The fob has a scalloped white-metal rim around a black painted face. The front carries a road-safety slogan in white capitals — "MÁS CONCIENCIA MENOS ACCIDENTES" ("More awareness, fewer accidents") — with "V Y F" (initials) above and "SEMANA DEL TRÁNSITO" ("Traffic/Road Safety Week") in small letters below; a small central rivet is the pivot for the reverse mechanism. The reverse is a perpetual-calendar dial: a printed grid of weekdays (DOM LUN MAR MIÉ JUE VIE SÁB) and dates 1–31, flanked by the years "1968" and "1980," with rotating month and year rings (months ENE–DIC and year digits …69 70 71 72…) read against arrows — i.e., a wheel calendar good for the years 1968 through 1980.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1968Time Period
1960sNotes
MAKER: Not identified as to the keychain's manufacturer. The "V Y F" mark on the front is likely the owner's initials and remains undecoded. The campaign it promotes, the Semana del Tránsito, was a Cuban state road-safety week (see research notes).
DATE / PERIOD: Circa 1968. The reverse perpetual calendar opens in 1968, which dates the object to about that year; the campaign itself was an annual November event recurring over many years.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Notes
Front (Spanish): "MÁS CONCIENCIA / MENOS ACCIDENTES" ("More awareness, fewer accidents"); "SEMANA DEL TRÁNSITO" ("Road Safety Week"); "V Y F" (initials, above the slogan).
Reverse: perpetual-calendar dial with weekday abbreviations (DOM, LUN, MAR, MIÉ, JUE, VIE, SÁB), dates 1–31, month abbreviations (ENE–DIC), year digits, and the bracket years "1968" and "1980."
Languages: Spanish.Materials
Material
MetalMaterial Notes
TECHNIQUES: Die-stamped metal fob with paint fill and a riveted central pivot carrying rotating calendar rings (a functional wheel-calendar mechanism); attached by chain to a split ring.Relationships
Related Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
useResearch Notes
Notes
This is a commemorative/promotional keychain for Cuba's Semana del Tránsito (Traffic/Road Safety Week), combining an awareness slogan with a practical perpetual calendar. Supporting postal evidence confirms the campaign as a recurring Cuban event held in November: a special event cancellation reads "Semana del Tránsito — Marianao, Nov. 17," and machine slogan cancellations read "Saludamos Semana del Tránsito, Nov. 20–26, MINCOM," the latter promoted by the Ministerio de Comunicaciones (the postal ministry) and dated by their town dies to the early 1960s. The keychain's 1968–1980 calendar places this particular token in the 1968 edition of that annual series.
Arguably, the broader campaign was led by the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and the Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR) and featured school and workplace education, slogan/poster/caricature contests, parades, and state-media coverage; that leadership attribution is reported but not independently verified here.
The "V Y F" initials on the fob may identify the keychain's owner.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
October 1, 2025Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 18, 2026
