A small landscape-format paperbound booklet (libreta / control booklet for rationed foodstuffs) with a buff card cover printed in red and black. Upper left: the ministry's MCI logo (a diamond device) with GOBIERNO REVOLUCIONARIO / MINISTERIO DEL COMERCIO INTERIOR. Center: the title PRODUCTOS ALIMENTICIOS in shaded display type, the period 1969-1970 in red, and HABANA METROPOLITANA in red. A handwritten "70" sits in the upper-right corner; the booklet is thread/staple-bound at the right edge.
Collection
Raúl Mondelo collection
Acquisition
Accession
2025.26
Source or Donor
Raúl Mondelo
Made/Created
Manufacturer
MINCIN
Date made
1969
Time Period
1960s
Place
City
Havana
Country
Cuba
Region
Caribbean, Central America
Inscription/Signature/Marks
Notes
GOBIERNO REVOLUCIONARIO / MINISTERIO DEL COMERCIO INTERIOR; MCI logo (diamond device); PRODUCTOS ALIMENTICIOS; 1969-1970; HABANA METROPOLITANA. Handwritten 70 upper right.
Materials
Material
Paper
Material Notes
Materials: Printed card cover (buff stock) with newsprint-type interior leaves; thread/staple binding.
Technique: Letterpress/offset-printed cover and interior; side-stitched/sewn booklet.
Condition
Overall Condition
Fair
Relationships
Related Places
Place
City
Havana
Country
Cuba
Region
Caribbean, Central America
Notes
production, use
Research Notes
Notes
Cuba's libreta de abastecimiento (rationing/supply booklet) was introduced in March 1962 (formalized 1963) and administered by the Ministerio del Comercio Interior (MINCIN, founded 1961 under Ley 933) through the OFICODA, to distribute the subsidized basic basket (canasta básica) amid embargo-era scarcity; the system remains in use today. This "Productos Alimenticios 1969-1970" booklet is the annual food-products control/ration document for the metropolitan Havana zone.
An emblematic artifact of the revolutionary planned economy and rationing system — among the most characteristic documents of everyday material life in socialist Cuba.
