Lenticular 3-D tourist postcard — Castillo de la Real Fuerza, Havana (printed in Pyongyang, DPRK)

Postcard

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Lenticular 3-D tourist postcard — Castillo de la Real Fuerza, Havana (printed in Pyongyang, DPRK)

Entry/Object ID

2025.11.38

Description

A lenticular ("3-D") pictorial postcard showing the watchtower (garita/torre de la vigía) of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza in Old Havana, crowned by its emblematic bronze weathervane, La Giraldilla. The vertically ribbed lenticular lens gives the image stereoscopic depth and the characteristic fine ridging visible in a flat photograph. The composition looks up at the cylindrical tower against a graded blue sky; three small figures (apparently young people in 1970s dress) are seated on the masonry terrace at lower left, against the fortress's sloping limestone wall. The reverse is a printed postcard back in the Spanish-and-English bilingual convention, headed "TARJETA POSTAL," with a vertical divider labeled "REPÚBLICA DE CUBA," a dotted stamp box, and three address rules. The caption reads "CASTILLO DE LA FUERZA / Ciudad de La Habana / LA FUERZA CASTLE / Havana City." Centered at the foot is the printer's line "Impreso en Pyongyang, RPDC" (Printed in Pyongyang, DPRK — i.e., the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). The card is unposted and heavily age-toned, with overall browning and edge wear.

Subject Place

* Untyped Subject Place

Castillo de la Fuerza

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Acquisition

Accession

2025.11

Acquisition Method

Purchase

Postcard Details

Place Printed

Notes

This postcard is a material trace of the alliance between revolutionary Cuba and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) within the socialist and non-aligned world. Although it depicts a Cuban subject and was issued for the Cuban market ("República de Cuba"), it was manufactured in Pyongyang — North Korea having developed a notable specialty in lenticular ("3-D") printing, which it exported to allied states. Cuba and the DPRK maintained close diplomatic, military, and cultural ties from the 1960s onward, and the outsourcing of Cuban tourist-postcard production to North Korea is a vivid, little-remembered example of South–South socialist economic cooperation.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

January 6, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 22, 2026