Cuba Material collection · Colección Cuba Material
Powered by CatalogIt · Gestionada con CatalogIt
Catalog
Road-safety perpetual-calendar keychain, "Más conciencia, menos accidentes" (Semana del Tránsito)
Object/Artifact
A round metal keychain fob on a fine link chain with a C-shaped split key ring. The fob has a scalloped white-metal rim around a black painted face. The front carries a road-safety slogan in white capitals — "MÁS CONCIENCIA MENOS ACCIDENTES" ("More awareness, fewer accidents") — with "V Y F" (initials) above and "SEMANA DEL TRÁNSITO" ("Traffic/Road Safety Week") in small letters below; a small central rivet is the pivot for the reverse mechanism. The reverse is a perpetual-calendar dial: a printed grid of weekdays (DOM LUN MAR MIÉ JUE VIE SÁB) and dates 1–31, flanked by the years "1968" and "1980," with rotating month and year rings (months ENE–DIC and year digits …69 70 71 72…) read against arrows — i.e., a wheel calendar good for the years 1968 through 1980.
Road-safety perpetual-calendar keychain, "Más conciencia, menos accidentes" (Semana del Tránsito)
Road-safety perpetual-calendar keychain, "Más conciencia, menos accidentes" (Semana del Tránsito) - Image 2
Road-safety perpetual-calendar keychain, "Más conciencia, menos accidentes" (Semana del Tránsito) - Image 3
2025.1.64
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
circa 1968
1960s
MAKER: Not identified as to the keychain's manufacturer. The "V Y F" mark on the front is likely the owner's initials and remains undecoded. The campaign it promotes, the Semana del Tránsito, was a Cuban state road-safety week (see research notes). DATE / PERIOD: Circa 1968. The reverse perpetual calendar opens in 1968, which dates the object to about that year; the campaign itself was an annual November event recurring over many years.
Front (Spanish): "MÁS CONCIENCIA / MENOS ACCIDENTES" ("More awareness, fewer accidents"); "SEMANA DEL TRÁNSITO" ("Road Safety Week"); "V Y F" (initials, above the slogan). Reverse: perpetual-calendar dial with weekday abbreviations (DOM, LUN, MAR, MIÉ, JUE, VIE, SÁB), dates 1–31, month abbreviations (ENE–DIC), year digits, and the bracket years "1968" and "1980." Languages: Spanish.
Metal
TECHNIQUES: Die-stamped metal fob with paint fill and a riveted central pivot carrying rotating calendar rings (a functional wheel-calendar mechanism); attached by chain to a split ring.
Fair
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use
Semana del Tránsito
This is a commemorative/promotional keychain for Cuba's Semana del Tránsito (Traffic/Road Safety Week), combining an awareness slogan with a practical perpetual calendar. Supporting postal evidence confirms the campaign as a recurring Cuban event held in November: a special event cancellation reads "Semana del Tránsito — Marianao, Nov. 17," and machine slogan cancellations read "Saludamos Semana del Tránsito, Nov. 20–26, MINCOM," the latter promoted by the Ministerio de Comunicaciones (the postal ministry) and dated by their town dies to the early 1960s. The keychain's 1968–1980 calendar places this particular token in the 1968 edition of that annual series. Arguably, the broader campaign was led by the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and the Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR) and featured school and workplace education, slogan/poster/caricature contests, parades, and state-media coverage; that leadership attribution is reported but not independently verified here. The "V Y F" initials on the fob may identify the keychain's owner.