Cuba Material collection · Colección Cuba Material
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Hand-decorated and signed commemorative baseball, "1968 / HABANA"
Object/Artifact
A leather-covered baseball, hand-decorated and signed on the documented face. The design, in colored ink/pencil, shows two crossed flags — at left the Cuban flag (blue-and-white stripes, red hoist triangle with white star), at right a predominantly red flag bearing an indistinct upper-hoist emblem — above the lettering "1968" (in blue) and "HABANA" (in red). Apparent autograph signatures in red, blue, and green inks appear above and below the flag design, several overlapping the seams. The cover is stitched in the standard two-piece pattern with dark red waxed thread. No manufacturer branding is visible on the documented face.
2025.1.143
Kept as a souvenir by Leopoldo Arús Gálvez.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez collection
2025.1
Belonged to Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
circa 1968
1960s
Hand-drawn (colored ink/pencil): crossed Cuban flag (left) and a red flag with an indistinct emblem (right); "1968"; "HABANA." Autograph signatures in red, blue, and green inks, above and below the flag design; most readings illegible or uncertain; signers not identified.
Materials: Leather cover; red waxed stitching thread; internal wound core (inferred from standard construction; interior not examined). Applied colored inks and/or colored pencil for the decoration and signatures. Technique: Factory-assembled baseball (wound core with stitched two-piece leather cover); hand-applied drawn decoration and signatures in colored inks/pencil.
Fair
Leopoldo Arús Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
preservation, acquisition
Cuban baseball in 1968 included the VII Serie Nacional (1967–68, won by Habana) alongside international/amateur activity, but the event behind this ball is unresolved.