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Figural Children's Shampoo Bottle in the Shape of a Cartoon Duck
Object/Artifact
Dark-green molded-plastic novelty shampoo bottle in the form of a cartoon duckling wearing a hat, with the screw cap forming the crown of the hat. A figural plastic bottle molded in the shape of a standing/seated cartoon duckling, finished in glossy dark green. The duck has a large rounded head with a prominent flat beak, and a brimmed hat or cap; the body tapers down to a flared base on which the figure stands. The bottle's neck is concealed at the top of the duck's hat, where a white ribbed plastic screw cap forms the crown of the hat (and serves as the closure). The plastic appears to be a molded polyethylene or similar thermoplastic.
2025.1.15
Used and later refilled many times with Fiesta shampoo in the Cabrera Arús household.
It was bought at a state store in the 1980s. Owner refilled it later with the "Fiesta" shampoo sold at state stores.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
María A. Cabrera Arús
1980s
16 cm
5 cm
9 cm
bottle, cap
Plastic
Blow-molded or injection-blow-molded figural plastic bottle; injection-molded screw cap
Very Good
María A. Cabrera Arús
María R. Cabrera Arús
used
María A. Arús Caraballo
purchased
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Figural/novelty bottles shaped like animals or cartoon characters were a common form of packaging for children's shampoos and bubble baths internationally from the mid-twentieth century onward — the playful shape was both a marketing device and an incentive for children at bath time. The duck (often a duckling) is one of the most common bath-time figural subjects. The bottle's stylized cartoon duck wearing a hat broadly recalls the Donald Duck/sailor-duck visual tradition. Emptied, then refilled by its owner with Fiesta brand shampoo — i.e., the attractive figural bottle was kept and reused as a refillable container.