Cuba Material collection · Colección Cuba Material
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"Kico Plastics" dressing comb (peine), black
Object/Artifact
A one-piece molded black plastic dressing/combination comb (peine), with a row of coarser, wider-set teeth across roughly half its length and finer, closely set teeth across the other half, and a plain spine. Molded into the spine are the legends "HECHO EN CUBA" and "KICO PLASTICS." A circular ejector-pin mark is visible on the spine (a molding artifact). The comb shows surface scuffing, whitish residue/soiling, and general wear.
2025.1.171
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Kico Plastics
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
Maker: Kico Plastics — a Cuban plastics company owned by Enrique Kalusin (per the Cuba Material project). After the 1959 revolution Kalusin emigrated to the United States and re-registered the company there, where it remained active until 1964; in Cuba the plant may have continued under state control. The comb is marked "Hecho en Cuba" / "Kico Plastics." Date: Undetermined — Could be pre-1959 (Kalusin's Cuban factory), or post-1959 (made in Cuba after nationalization under the same name); the US-registered Kico firm operated until 1964. A "Hecho en Cuba" Kico comb cannot be confidently dated to the 1959–1990 window. Flagged (see Research Notes).
Inscription
HECHO EN CUBA KICO PLASTICS
Spanish
MADE IN CUBA KICO PLASTICS
Embossed
20 x 4
4 cm
20 cm
Plastic
Fair
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
use
"Kico Plastics" was a Cuban company of Enrique Kalusin, documented by the Cuba Material project. Kalusin emigrated to the US after 1959 and re-registered the firm there (active until 1964). The Cuban plant may have continued, possibly nationalized, under the same name. (Cultural note: "kicos" became the popular Cuban word for plastic shoes, after this company.)