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"Jubileu" toilet soap
Object/Artifact
A small rectangular bar of toilet soap in its original printed paper wrapper, unopened. The front is white above and blue below, divided by a thin white-and-blue band; the brand "Jubileu" is set in black over a pale yellow laurel-wreath device, with "săpun fin de toaletă" (fine toilet soap) in blue on the lower field. The reverse is white-over-blue and carries the country of origin, the Romanian standard mark, the maker's diamond logo, net weight, and price. The wrapper is soiled, stained, and worn.
2025.1.213
Kept and forgotten in a box in the Arús Caraballo household
Toilette soap sold in the parallel market. Soap was found along with other "luxury" soaps in a box in a closet, years after the Special Period. Apparently owner saved them for a special occasion and forgot about them.
The Cabrera Arús family collection
2025.1
Soap was found in a box stores in a closet in the Arús Caraballo family home.
Stela
Romania
Eastern Europe
Europe
Jubileu
Date: Circa 1978–1989 (tentative). The wrapper bears "STAS 192-78" — the 1978 edition of the Romanian state standard — giving an earliest-possible date of 1978; combined with the socialist-era pricing in lei this points to a late-1970s/1980s issue.
Inscription
soap wrapping (front)
Jubileu
Romanian
Jubilee
Inscription
aper wrapping (back)
Made in Romania stas 192 - 78 Stela 150g. lei 5,50
Jubileu sapun fin de toaleta
Romanian
fine toilet soap
3.5 cm
9 cm
5 cm
1
Materials: Soap (saponified fats/oils); printed paper wrapper. Technique: Milled/pressed and stamped soap bar; offset-printed paper wrapper, folded and sealed.
Fair
Gertrudis Caraballo Gálvez
owner
Havana
Cuba
Caribbean
Central America
acquisition
The "STAS 192-78" standard mark dates the wrapper to 1978 or later — a firmer anchor than the "Palmier" bar (which carried no standard date). The lei price (5,50) reflects the Romanian socialist retail system. This brackets the soap to roughly 1978–1989, within range. Note that this gives the "Palmier" bar, by maker and format, a likely similar late-period date, though "Palmier" itself lacked the dated standard.