Perga — paraffined-paper disposable cup for bulk beer/malta, green cartoon print

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

"Perga" — paraffined-paper disposable cup for bulk beer/malta, green cartoon print

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.164

Description

A tall, slightly tapered (conical) disposable drinking cup of paraffin-waxed paperboard, now aged to a mottled tan with paraffin discoloration and staining. One side is printed in green with a cartoon illustration: a man in a jacket, seen in profile, leaning over a large rounded object (reading as a drum or a globe), with small stars and squiggles around his head (a comic "dizzy/tipsy" device fitting the cup's beer-selling use). The cup is seamed up one side and open at the top; capacity on the order of a half-liter. No legible brand name, maker mark, or text is present in the printed design. This is a "perga" — the paraffined-paper cup used to serve beer and malta sold by the cup (a granel) and the standard cup used by vendors at Cuban carnivals.

Use

Many of them were stored under a line of book in a bookcase by Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Collection

The Cabrera Arús family collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Made/Created

Notes

Date: circa 1970s–1980s (tentative). No date or mark on the object; placement rests on the documented period of perga/bulk-beer carnival use.

Materials

Material Notes

Materials: Paperboard with paraffin (wax) coating; printing ink (green). Technique: Formed (rolled and side-seamed) paraffined-paperboard cup; surface-printed illustration. Disposable single-use ware.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez

Notes

owner

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

preservation, distribution, use

Research Notes

Notes

A "perga," a paraffined-paperboard disposable cup (~half-liter) used to serve beer and malta sold a granel (by the cup), and the customary cup at Cuban carnivals.

Notes

Probably obtained through CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) supplies for organizing neighborhood parties and official events.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

April 24, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 5, 2026