Hotel Habana Riviera (Havana) advertising drink stirrer / swizzle stick

Object/Artifact

-

Archive of Cuban Socialism

Name/Title

Hotel Habana Riviera (Havana) advertising drink stirrer / swizzle stick

Entry/Object ID

2025.25.8

Description

Single amber/orange translucent-plastic drink stirrer. A flat circular paddle at the top is embossed (molded in relief) with the hotel's logo — hotel above Habana Riviera in cursive script, over CUBA, within concentric ring borders. The shaft is round in section and terminates in a small ball foot. The logo is integrally molded, not printed.

Collection

María Teresa Cornide Hernández collection

Acquisition

Accession

2025.25

Made/Created

Place

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

Maker: Hotel Habana Riviera, Havana (advertising barware); stirrer manufacturer not marked. Date: No earlier than the hotel's opening on 10 December 1957. Most plausibly state-era (1959–1980s).

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Notes

Embossed on paddle: hotel / Habana Riviera / CUBA (script logo) within concentric rings.

Materials

Material

Plastic

Material Notes

Materials: Molded plastic (polystyrene/acrylic), translucent amber/orange. Technique: Injection-molded stirrer with integrally embossed logo; ball-foot terminal.

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Relationships

Related Places

Place

City

Havana

Country

Cuba

Region

Caribbean, Central America

Notes

use

Research Notes

Notes

The Hotel Habana Riviera, built by mobster Meyer Lansky and opened 10 December 1957 on Paseo/Malecón in Vedado, was the largest casino-hotel outside Las Vegas at the time. The Cuban government seized it on 23 November 1959; the casino closed soon after, and the hotel ran for decades as a state property (Gran Caribe; Iberostar from 2017). Its mid-century-modern interiors remain largely original. Because the hotel opened only in late 1957 and operated far longer under the state, this stirrer most likely dates to the post-1959 state-tourism era (in range), though a short pre-revolution origin is possible. The Spanish "Habana … CUBA" branding (versus the Hotel Plaza paddle's English "HAVANA") fits either but leans less specifically pre-revolutionary — a useful contrast with the Plaza stirrer.

Created By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Create Date

April 17, 2026

Updated By

María A. Cabrera Arús

Update Date

June 14, 2026