Name/Title
Clear Plastic Protective Sleeve for Cuban Carné de IdentidadEntry/Object ID
2025.1.26Description
A clear/translucent plastic protective sleeve used to house a Cuban carné de identidad (national identity booklet) for everyday carrying. An aftermarket household accessory rather than a state-issued item. Shown with a carné de identidad inserted in it. A material trace of the everyday practical care that Cuban citizens took to protect their compulsory state identification document.
DESCRIPTION:
A small rectangular pouch or sleeve of clear/translucent thin plastic, open at one short edge and sealed on the other three edges, sized to hold a Cuban carné de identidad booklet snugly. The plastic shows a slightly textured surface — possibly a woven-pattern PVC or a frosted/condensation-mottled polyethylene — visible as a faint grid or weave texture across the plane of the sleeve. The material has yellowed and accumulated dirt along the edges and corners (especially the closed seams), consistent with years of daily handling, friction in pockets/purses, and exposure to atmospheric humidity.Collection
The Cabrera Arús family collection, Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collectionMade/Created
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
MAKER unknown. Aftermarket consumer / household-product origin. These plastic sleeves were typically household-purchased items (sometimes homemade by sealing plastic sheet, sometimes mass-produced as cheap pouches sold in informal markets) used by Cuban citizens to protect their compulsory carné from wear, sweat, rain, and bag friction.
DATE / PERIOD: Undetermined. Post-1975.Materials
Material
PlasticMaterial Notes
MATERIALS: Clear/translucent plastic (most likely PVC or polyethylene); possibly with a textile or woven reinforcement layer (the visible grid texture)
TECHNIQUES: Machine-sealed or heat-welded plastic sheet, cut and edge-sealed on three sides to form an open pouchRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Leopoldo Arús GálvezNotes
ownerRelated Places
Place
City
HavanaCountry
CubaRegion
Caribbean, Central AmericaNotes
manufactureResearch Notes
Notes
The carné de identidad is the principal compulsory personal-identification document for Cuban citizens, introduced in 1975 as part of the consolidation of revolutionary-era bureaucratic identification. Cuban citizens are required to carry the carné at all times, present it to authorities on demand, and produce it for virtually every state interaction (banking, ration card use, employment, medical care, transit, etc.). The everyday wear-and-tear on this small booklet, kept in pockets, purses, and back-pocket wallets, was significant, making an informally-purchased plastic protective sleeve a standard solution. These sleeves were never state-issued; they were a private/household consumer solution to a state-imposed bureaucratic requirement, and as such they offer a small but real material example of how Cuban citizens privately adapted to the demands of the revolutionary state-citizen relationship.Created By
María A. Cabrera ArúsCreate Date
August 28, 2025Updated By
María A. Cabrera ArúsUpdate Date
June 14, 2026
