Peter Moruzzi - Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground

Havana

Before CASTRO

FACING:

Castro and his victorious rebels in January 1959.

RIGHT:

Early Habana Hilton rendering from 1956.

Before CASTRO

When Cuba Was a
Tropical Playground

PETER MORUZZI

First Edition
12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1

Text 2008 Peter Moruzzi

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Published by
Gibbs Smith, Publisher
P.O. Box 667
Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993
www.gibbs-smith.com

Designed by Kurt Wahlner
Printed and bound in China

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moruzzi, Peter.
Havana before Castro : when Cuba was a tropical playground / Peter Moruzzi. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4236-0367-2
ISBN-10: 1-4236-0367-2
1. Havana (Cuba)Description and travel. 2. Havana (Cuba)Social life and customs20th century. I. Title.
F1799.H34M67 2008
972.9106'3dc22

2008008152

PAGE ONE:
Pan Ams Flying Clipper to Cuba brochure from
1947.

LEFT:
Pensylvania Club drink menu from 1940.

Contents

What began in 1987 with the discovery of a tattered What began in 1987 brochure buried among ephemera in a Fort Lauderdale antiques shop led to an intermittent two-decade inquiry into Cubas pre-Castro past. The brochure was for the Tropicana, a name I associated with Ricky Ricardos nightclub and the Las Vegas hotel of the same name. However, this Tropicana was not in the United States but in 1950s Cuba. Opening the brochure revealed color renderings of Lefty Clarks New Casino, the Under the Stars Terrace, and, most fascinating of all, the ultramodern Crystal Arch Room. Being an aficionado of modern architecture and an avid student of Las Vegass mob-related history, the combination of both modernism and gambling depicted in a luxuriant tropical setting was a revelation.

In particular, I was interested in the Havana of the 1940s and 1950s. What was the city like at that time and why was it so popular with Americans? Why had the Afro-Cuban rumba, mambo, and cha-cha-ch become so wildly popular at Americas snazziest ballrooms and nightclubs before and after the Second World War? How accurate was the depiction of Batistas Havana as a debauched, mafia-infested, pre-revolutionary powder keg as portrayed in The Godfather Part II? Did the dictator actually flee the country on New Years Eve, followed by the countrys rich and powerful? What happened to all of the vibrant bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and cabaretsconsidered the most fabulous in the worldafter Castro took over?

Later, as an architectural historian, I became fascinated with Havanas architectural legacyits colonial and neocolonial heritage, its Art Deco and Streamline Moderne designs, and, closest to my heart, the citys wealth of incredible Modern buildings constructed after World War II. As with such inquiries, the deeper I dug, the wider became my interest. The answers that I found led to the writing of this book, which attempts to explore Havana from the perspective of an American tourist visiting the city during the first half of the twentieth century and, many decades later, as a twenty-first-century tourist intent on rediscovering the citys astonishing past.

LEFT:

The 1957 Tropicana brochure that sparked the authors obsession with pre-Castro Havana.

RIGHT:

Entrance to Laiglon dining room at Meyer Lanskys Havana Riviera in 2007.

after years of researching and writing the After years of researching story of pre-Castro Havana, it is an honor to acknowledge those whose efforts, inspiration, and guidance helped bring my approach to the subject to life. It is with profound and heartfelt appreciation that I embrace my intrepid fellow explorers Sven Kirsten and Naomi Alper along with our guides Andrs and Arturo. Together we doggedly traversed the citys highlights and lowlights in search of its furtive past. Indeed, it is due to Svens astonishing photographic eye that Havanas multilayered history is revealed in this book. In addition, as the undisputed Big Kahuna of Polynesian Pop and author of The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern, Sven provided the sidebar about the peculiar tale of the Habana Hiltons Trader Vics. Another friend, the world expert on historic tropical mixology and author of Sippin Safari, Jeff Berry, provided the stories behind the six vintage Cuban cocktails, along with their recipes, featured in this book.

Thanks to Chris Nichols for inspiring me to authorhood and for introducing me to the supportive and enthusiastic publisher Gibbs Smith; to Eduardo Luis Rodrguez for pioneering the rediscovery, research, and documentation of Cubas astounding modern architectural heritage; to James McQuaid, the irrepressible creative force responsible for the furnishings and interior design of the Habana Hilton; and to Bruce Becket as the keeper of his fathers architectural legacy.

Thanks also to Joan Harrison for editing my early manuscript and helping to clarify my vision; to my editor Jared Smith for his professionalism, keen eye, and patience in dealing with an impatient author; to Rosa Lowinger and Ophelia Fox, who brought the luminosity of Tropicana in the 1950s to life; to Robert Lacey for his exhaustive portrait of the rise and fall of Meyer Lansky; to historian and author Rosalie Schwartz for her groundbreaking research into mass tourism in pre-Castro Cuba; to Isabel Ezquerra, librarian and archivist of the University of Miamis Cuban Heritage Collection; and to Bruce Emerton, architectural research librarian extraordinaire.

My gratitude goes to fellow collector Vincent Martino Jr., whose obsession with midcentury Cuba mirrored my own; to eBay as the twenty-first-century source for many of the worlds concealed treasures; to Stag and Cabaret magazines of the 1950s for documenting Havanas well-known, but rarely depicted, seedy underbelly; and to Cigar Aficionado magazine for its ongoing celebration of Cuban cigars. To the wizard of graphic design, Kurt Wahlner, who transformed a mass of text and images into the book that I had always envisioned, I raise a toastthe El Presidente cocktail, in factfor his extraordinary efforts. To my father for instilling in me a sense of adventure and a restless curiosity that continues to propel me forward, and to my mother for her gentle spirit, who, as a lifelong vocal performer, encouraged me to share my passions with the worldI am profoundly grateful.