CUBA AIRGUIDE 1954
[CUBA AIRGUIDE, VOL. 1 JUNE 1954 NO. 4, Publisher: Miguel
M. Fox]
CUBAN TOURIST COMMISSION postcard for tourist response.
page 2
Montmartre
Advertizement
Page 3
PHOTO ..
.. PHOTO
[Marta Velez].. PHOTO ..
CUBA AIRGUIDE
VOL. 1 JUNE 1954 NO. 4
Publisher: Miguel M. Fox
Contents
Spotlight....................................................
5
Beautiful
Camaguey................................10
Miami: A
Paradise at our Doorstep.......14
Mexico: A Paradise at our
Doorstep.....19 ....NOT INCLUDED HERE
Springtime in
Andalucia..........................23 ....NOT
INCLUDED HERE
Miss Cuba...............................................28
Movie
Notes...........................................32
Havana by
Night.....................................35
The Isle of Pines.....................................42
AIRGUIDE
Visits Montmartre.............46
Air Travel to
Europe..............................50 ....NOT
INCLUDED HERE
Crossword
Puzzle...................................54 ....NOT
INCLUDED HERE
Horoscope..............................................55
....NOT INCLUDED HERE
Tourist Supplement
HAVANA...........................................57
MIAMI..............................................62
MEXICO...........................................66
....NOT INCLUDED HERE
MADRID..........................................68 ....NOT
INCLUDED HERE
Humor...................................................
70 ....NOT INCLUDED HERE
OUR COVER
Shapely Jackie Walker is very obviously enjoying her
vacation in Florida, as this picture of her, taken in Miami
Beach, shows.
Published monthly by Editorial Carbonell. Editorial and
Advertising
Offices: Edificio Linea & N, Apt. 401, Vedado, Havana,
Cuba. Phone:
FO-4782. Entered as second class matter at the Post Office
at Havana,
Cuba. Price per copy: $0.15. Authorized by the Cuban
Tourist
Institute.
Guaranteed Circulation: 18,000 copies.
Page 4
El Encanto
Advertizement
Page 5
SPOTLIGHT
The President of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, inaugurated Topes
de
Collantes Sanitarium, an extraordinary structure built on
the peak of a
mountain in Trinidad, for the treatment of lung
diseases. This
magnificent hospital, to be named after General Batista, has
beds for a
thousand patients and all its equipment is as up-to-date as
the latest
scientific developments can make it. *The scorpion is
Cuba's only
poisonous animal and its sting can take life of a person
with a weak
heart. * Galileo invested the pendulum clock in 1635. *In
the Camaguey
town of Jatibonico oil was recently found. Jorge
Broderman,
eminent Cuban geologist, indicated the existence of oil beds
in the
Jatibonico region and advised the drilling which has given
such
promising results. The farm on which the strike was
made is
called Juan Criollo (Native John). This is a symbolic name
which may be
a good omen to this first Cuban oil well, whose tower, 130
ft. high,
shows from far-off how far this enterprise which will obtain
great fame
shortly has gone. *In the Museum of Natural History in New
York an egg
20" around was on exhibition until recently. This egg,
the size
of eighty hen's eggs, was acquired about 1910. It came
from
Madagascar where the natives called it "The Egg of the
Flying
Elephant", their name for a species of roc, now extinct and
known by
the scientific name of "Aepyornis Maximus". In spite
of the
scarcity of certain foods during the war, no one suggested
eating the
egg since it was laid some 450 years ago.
*Every year on the second Sunday of May Cuba celebrates
Mother's
Day. On that day most men wear a flower in their
buttonholes. A red flower represents a living mother;
those whose
mothers are dead wear a white flower. *The black-headed
seagull, a bird
well known over London, where it abounds, is a great
voyager.
Some years ago, on of these birds was killed flying into a
high-voltage
electric wire; it had a ring on one leg which showed that it
had been
in Rositten, Germany, 18 months before. The distance
between
Rositten and London is about 800 miles. *Colon's Cattle
Fair, an annual
feature of this town, has just closed. The fair was
visited by
thousands. The most important breeders of the island
were
represented, Don Pedro Suarez Delgado with his Holsteins,
Dr. Carlos
Garcia Hernandez with his Santa Gertrudis and Brown Swiss,
Celso
Gonzalez Hierro with his Cebus, and Adolfo Mendez Diaz with
his
thoroughbred horses. The cattle fairs
Page 6
Fundador
Brandy Advertizement
are notable not only for the animals shown which are worthy
of
admiration and show quite well the progress made by Cuban
breeders but
also for the cordial rivalry between the breeders
themselves, each one
perennially pointing out to his competitors the undoubted
superiority
of his animals over the other's. *John Galsworthy, famous
English
writer, once broke a window while traveling around disguised
as a
tramp, and was given six months in jail. This led him
to write
his famous work "Justice" which was to bring him even more
fame. *Some
salmon live as much as 100 years and some have been known to
reach 150.
*It has technically illegal in England to eat meat on
Wednesdays. *More
than thirty thousand persons assembled on Sunday, the 2nd of
May, in
the Grand Stadium of Havana for a solemn Mass in
commemoration of the
fiftieth anniversary of Cardinal Manuel Arteaga's ordination
as a
priest. His Eminence, Cardinal Archbishop of this
city, was
presented with a miter and a chalice and later sang a
Pontifical Mass
assisted by Cuba's highest clergy. Present at the act
were
President Fulgencio Batista and Cuba's First Lady, Sra.
Martha
Fernandez de Batista. *John Quincy Adams was America's only
completely
bald president. *Fish do not close their eyes. *When you see
a monkey
scratching another one, don't believe that he is looking for
fleas as
most people think. Actually the monkey is looking for
small
pieces of salt
Page 7
PHOTO of
National Capital
Willie's
Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge Advertizement
Canadian, American and Cuban teams. Cuba's taking part
in this
International League makes for not only good baseball but
for good
international relations. * The heavier nucleus, the greater
number of
electrons in an atom. These electrons arrange
themselves in
planetary orbits around the nucleus. * The diamond is the
solid with
the highest index of refraction; this is what gives it its
sparkle, and
incidentally its high price. * The microbe that causes
tuberculosis was
discovered by Koch in 1882. * Famed Cuban boxer, Kid
Gavilan, world
welterweight champion, is trying his utmost to become a
dancer.
The Kid gathered a group of show people and whipped up a
number which
has put on at the Marti Theater and at the Palette
Club. The Kid
was applauded but rather as Cuba's top boxer than as a
dancer; the rest
of the group drew little applause and box-office returns
left much to
be desired. Will the Kid abandon the ring as did Sugar
Ray
Robinson to take up dancing for good? * There is a stone in
a German
river with a sign that reads: When this sign is under water,
do not
ford the river here. * Mysterious East
Page 8
PHOTO of
Varadero Beach
Vat 69
Advertizement
Department: In China shoes are polished with white
polish. They
put on their hats to greet each other and when two Chinese
meet each
one shakes hands with himself. When they go riding,
they place
their heels in the stirrups instead of their toes. The
needle of
their compass indicates the south, not the north. The
Chinese
woman wears pants; the man skirts. They prefer the
seeds of the
melon to its flesh.
White is their color of mourning and when they go rowing
they face the
bow of the boat left behind when sweat evaporates. * In
Munich,
Germany, various public baths were opened in 1911.
These baths
were for –dogs! * The division of the hour into sixty
minutes
originated in Babylon. * In Cuba people talk about two
things: politics
and baseball. These are passionate topics leading
quite often to
violent discussions. The baseball event now occupying
the
attention of the local fans in the International Triple A
Series.
This league now includes
Page 9
Cuban
Aviation.
One of the most original and difficult to construct
electric signs in
Havana has just been set up on its modern office building
in La Rampa
commercial district by CIA. Cuban de Aviacion. On a
huge masonry
structure overlooking O Street and visible all the way
down 23rd
Street, skilled craftsmen have painted a gigantic map of
Europe and
America on which the neon lights trace the international
air routes of
the flights served by CIA. Cuban de Aviacion. This
sign has
widely attracted the public's attention due to its novelty
and has
contributed to a great extent to the attractiveness of
Vedado's
up-to-date La Rampa section.
Herman's
Store Advertizement
Page 10
CAMAGUEY
"Beautiful Camaguey...
Fortunate refuge..."
PHOTO of
Ignacio Agramonte Monument, Camaguey
Each Cuban province has its own features and traits, setting
it apart
from the others; Pinar del Rio, with its abrupt
nature. Its
swarthy pine groves, its brook-crossed fields and swelling
palms; the
almost sacred land of Oriente, drenched in the blood of
Cuba's
patriots, crowned by the Sierra Maestra; Las Villas, with
the enormous
steppes we call the Great Plains of Columbus, and its man
bustling
cities; Havana, with its green hills and fields, its
orchards and cane
brakes; Matanzas, its skyline pierced by the chimneys of
sugar mills, a
sea of cane, the distant horizon broken by the purple peaks
of the Pan
and Palenque; and finally, Camaguey, the Cuban Pampa whose
is broken
only by the Cubitas and Najasa sierras, with its teeming
cattle farms
and its enormous distances, the highway stretching out in an
endless
straight line.
There are two things that always surprise the newcomer to
Camaguey: The
notion held there as to what constituted distance, both in
space and
time, and the esteem
Page 11
Rancho Luna Advertizement
both practical and romantic, given to comfort and wealth
there.
Camaguey, a land of hard work and constant activity, is the
land of
Cuba's rich. The old-established rich, never the new
rich.
One is simply rich there, without his wealth necessarily
implying
superiority over anyone.
It is a common sight there to see, at the end of the day,
the men
returning from their work on their farm and estates, dressed
in linen
guayaberas and high boots, with their straw sombreros and
revolvers on
hip, ready for their bath and shave. These are the
same men that
shortly before we left on the French Riviera, on the
boulevards of
Paris, on New York's Fifth Avenue, in Washington's Rock
Creek Park; the
same men whom we last saw in faultless evening clothes, at
the Casinos,
in the concert halls, in the opera houses. The same
men which
whom we discussed at length topics of art, of literature and
music,
with whom we talked about horse races and the condition of
the Stock
Exchange.
Now they have returned home to attend to the sugar crop, or
to fatten
and sell their cattle, to inspect their factories and
business.
And they wear their work clothes with the same ease and
mental elegance
with which they lived an intense social life such a short
while before,
the same leisurely life to which they will soon return.
That is what the Camagueyan is like, what he has been like
for
centuries and will always be like. And so, too, are
the women of
Page 12
PHOTO
Typical Patio in Camaguey
Hotel Vedado
Advertizement
Camaguey. The beautiful women of the dark eyes and
long lashes,
of the fairest, healthiest and most ivory-like complexions
in the
world, the women who never age. An old Camagueyana is
like a
hothouse rose: the blossom is fully open, the color perhaps
a little
less vivid, but the perfume as fresh as ever and the petals
smoother
than before.
Camaguey is a beautiful tropical city. Its winding old
streets,
kept immaculate and in perfect repair, are bordered by
ancient houses,
massive and with big windows, with ample coach-houses now
converted
into garages, with overhanging eaves that shade the
sidewalks and
protect the passerby. The stores are fully stocked
with all that
money can buy. The hotels are attractive and the
restaurants
offer delicious meals.
The Streets in the newer parts of town are modern sts.,
lined by modern
houses with lushly blooming gardens; and the shady walks
invite one to
stroll down them to the ancient churches or to the cool,
colorful
gardens of the Casino Campestre.
Page 13
PHOTO San
Francisco Church, Camaguey
H. Upman
Cigars Cigarettes Advertizement
There are many clubs in Camaguey where men and women gather
to talk, to
play chess or poker or canasta or dominoes, in the drowsy
afternoons
and pleasant evenings. Exclusice [Exclusive] clubs,
professional
clubs, clubs for workers...
One cannot see Cuba without having seen Camaguey. And
to visit
Camaguey at St. John's Tide (June 24-29) is to see one of
the most
interesting regional fiestas in Cuba, a truly unforgettable
spectacle.
Four days of interruption of all business, of peace and
quiet in the
commercial world. Four days dedicated to general
merrymaking. Certainly, the banks have their doors
open a few
hours a day but almost no one goes in. Courts suspend
trials,
doctor's waiting rooms are empty.
The streets are decked out with coconut fronds, for shade
and coolness,
for those days are spent on the streets, strolling, dancing,
making
music, singing serenades, watching riders and floats go by,
eating and
drinking at all hours, along with everyone else, without
cares or
worries... Because we are having ourselves a fine "San
Juan's...because we are in Camaguey...
Page 14
MIAMI:
A PARADISE AT OUR DOORSTEP
PHOTO
Aerial View of Miami Harbor
To a great number of Americans, a vacation in Miami stands
for the
achievement of their highest ambition. In their shops,
or their
farms, in their offices, many Americans dream of Miami as a
sort of
Mecca, as the temperature in Wisconsin or Maine, New York or
Illinois,
drops to levels almost unbearable by humans, or climbs to
heights that
make a change of climate and scenery a must.
Whether it be hot or cold elsewhere, the climate of Miami
attracts with
its promise of blissful comfort. The peerless first
city of
Florida is to many a sort of obliging and understanding
sweetheart,
exclusive and universal at once. In Miami, those who
came driven
by the frigid northern blasts find
Page 15
PHOTO
Vacationist Sandy Pendrey strums sea-chanteys from her
precious perch atop one of the colorful sun-shades that
dot Miami Beach
PHOTO
Docked fishing boats wait for the modern Izaak Waltons who
have
chartered them to come aboard. Offshore and
deepwater fishing is
one of Miami Beach's most popular attractions.
Hotel di Lido
Advertizement
Page 16
PHOTO
Crandon Park, a few minutes away from downtown Miami.
Raul Lujan's
Tours Seeing Havana Advertizement
warmth; in change, to others it a cool oasis, a refuge from
the blazing heat of summer.
For the Cuban, who enjoys an ideal climate the year round,
Miami offers
a change of atmosphere, a different way of living even
though but for a
few days.
A trip to Miami is, to the Cuban, the most economical form
of voyaging
abroad. The price competition among hotels has the
happy result
of making a trip there a proposition that will not
hopelessly dent the
most modest Cuban budget, whether in summer or in the
winter.
To list all of Miami's attractions would be to compile a
catalog of everything our civilization has to
Page 17
PHOTO
Here we see pretty Jackie Walker, hard at work loafing as
she enjoys Miami Beach's golden sands on her well-earned
vacations.
Bambu Club
Advertizement
offer even the most sybaritic of mortals.
Miami is, in a manner of speaking, a smaller edition of New
York, if
New York, in addition to its infinite number of attractions
and
surprises, enjoyed better weather, had a clearer sky, and
wore a
happier face.
The comfort of American living at its most gracious–free
from all the
blemishes–is what Miami offers: Natural gaiety, joi de
vivre, an
ingenuous sensuality, light, color and harmony.
Page 18
Ember'
Restaurant Advertizement
PHOTO
Framed between palm trees, the offices of Cuban de
Aviacion are a piece of Cuba in the heart of Miami
PHOTO
Bahia Honda Bridge on the Overseas Highway
Page 28
"MISS
CUBA"
PHOTO
Miss Israel 1954
PHOTO The
first Miss Universe, Armi Kuusela of Finland, is crowned
by Piper Laurie, Universal-International actress.
There in a enormous amount of eagerness among Cuban girls to
aspire for
the title of "Miss Cuba" and represent our country at the
International
Beauty Pageant at Long Beach, California, where "Miss
Universe, 1955"
will be elected.
CIA. Cubana de Aviacion, desirous as always of increasing
Cuba's fame
and knowledge of the Island abroad, will sponsor the
election of the
Cuban girl who will take part in the contest to be held for
the third
year, organized by the city of Long Beach.
Christine Martel, a glamorous French girl, is the current
"Miss
Universe". Shortly after her election she married a
wealthy young
American.
The girl, whose age must lie between 18 and 25, who is named
"Miss
Cuba" will go on to the principal contest in California, on
July
15. "Miss Cuba", of course, will have all her expenses
paid. The organizers and sponsors of the
Page 29
PHOTO
First contestant chosen to represent her country in this
year's Miss
Universe Beauty Pageant is twenty-two-year-old Ana Moreno,
selected
Miss Uruguay after competing in the finals held in
Montevideo.
Miss Moreno is a fashion model who speaks four languages
and has
appeared in several Mexican movies.
PHOTO
Edward G. Robinson chats with Ayten Akyol (Miss Turkey),
left and
Christine Martel, representing France and alter chosen
Miss Universe,
1954, during the dinner given by the star's studio in
honor of the
sixty-eight beauties from twenty-six nations attending the
international beauty contest held yearly at Long Beach.
Pageant have set aside more that $50,000 to underwrite the
parades and other events of this spectacle.
The lucky girl selected "Miss Universe" will receive many
prizes.
But undoubtedly the most desireable [desirable] one is that
offered by
Universal-International Pictures: a six-month contract with
the studio
at $5,000 a month with an option for extending the contract
to seven
years. The two runners-up will also receive contracts.
Needless to say, Miss Cuba will travel in style, staying at
the best
hotels. During her stay in California a car will be
placed at her
disposal, and she will receive a generous allowance for
incidental
expenses.
Page 30
PHOTO
Kinuko Ito (Miss Japan) gets a warm welcome from film
stars Piper
Laurie and Jeff Chandler upon arrival at
Universal-International
Studios which hosted 68 world Beauty Queens at dinner and
studio tour.
Shell
Gasoline Advertizement
Page 31
PHOTO Signing
of
the contract which gives CIA. Cubana de Aviacion
sponsorship of the
local contest to elect "Miss Cuba" who will compete for
the title of
"Miss Universe" at Long Beach, California, next July
15. Seen in
the photo are signers Eusebio Delfin, General Manager of
Cubana, Hugo
May Jr., representing Catalina Swim Suits, and Ramon
Garcia of
Universal Pictures.
Miss Cuba will be chosen from among the six provincial
Queens who will
be elected at preliminary contests. A final selection
will take
place in Havana, and the girl named there will represent
Cuba at Long
Beach, where the jury will decide on who is "Miss Universe,
the most
beautiful girl in the world".
In the local eliminations, provincial as well as national,
contestants
will wear traditional Cuban clothes, evening gowns and
bathing suits.
The election of Miss Cuba will be one of the events of the
summer;
interest is already growing among local girls at the chance
of trying
for the coveted title of "Miss Universe", a chance brought
them by CIA
Cubana de Aviacion.
Page 32
MOVIE
NOTES
PHOTO
[Veronica Lake]
PHOTO
[Girl sunning on beach]
DAVID O SELZNICK may soon return to production in Hollywood
studios. Three important studios have offered to
finance his
pictures in his own innimitable [inimitable] style.
Selznick
confirmed the rumor in his Palm Springs retreat, saying that
the best
offer to date was from Warner Brothers who want him to
produce
Broadway's Farewell to Arms". However, Selznick has
home ideas of
his own, one of them being a musical version of his greatest
box-office
hit, "Gone with the wind"...VERONICA LAKE is back but not in
Hollywood
where producers think she wants too much money.
Veronica is
preparing a tour of Florida where she will dance and sing at
nightclubs...SARITA MONTIEL will come to Havana to make two
movies as
well as to do personal appearance work in Santo Domingo,
Puerto Rico
and naturally Cuba...A Viennese firm has started making a
picture on
the life of Adolf Hitler to be called "The Last Act"...Young
Oscar
winner AUDREY HEPBURN is rumored to be engaged to actor MEL
FERRER. There is a talk of a possible marriage after
they wind up
their present work on Broadway...MARILYN MONROE said she was
not
expecting a baby, not in the near future at least, but that
she hoped
to have one because she and Joe want as many little
DIMAGGIOS as
possible...JOHN HALL and FRANCES LANGFORD have separated
after almost
sixteen years of marriage...ANN BAXTER is preparing to go to
Broadway. She says that she has wanted to return to
the3 great
White Way for a long time, and was only waiting for the
right role to
come along...On the other hand ROSALIND RUSSELL after two
years with
the hit show "Wonderful Town" which has taken in more than
three and a
half million dollars will leave shortly for Hollywood to do
a musical
in Technicolor, budget for which has been set at two and a
half million
dollars...JACK PALANCE flew to Rome to speak to RO-
Page 33
PHOTO
[Jack Palance and Audrey Hepburn]
PHOTO
[possibly Ann Baxter]
BERTO ROSELLINO...He wants Miss BERGMAN'S husband to direct
a picture
about auto racing called "The Streak", as well as to take
part in at
the wheel of his racer...BURT LANCASTER, now producing
"Veracruz" in
Mexico, will be one of the principal players in the film
version of
Tennessee William's "The Rose Tattoo", to be produced by Hal
Wallis...The Williams play has been the subject of many
proposals to
film it for over two years but it seems as if it will now be
made with
ANNA MAGNANI as the heroine and PIER ANGELI as her
daughter...VITTORIO
DE SICCA is directing a new picture made up of short
episodes.
The script is by GUISEPPE MAROTTA. Cezare Sabattini
did the
screen play of the book entitled "Oro di Napoli"...NINI
MARSHALL will
come to Cuba to make "Una Gallega en la Habana" in which
famous Cuban
comedians GARRIDO & PIÑEIRO will co-star...GREER GARSON
is
following INGRID BERGMAN'S example and has just postponed
making a
movie picture to
Page 34
PHOTO
[Un-captioned picture of a Cuban Chorus Girl]
Grant's
Whisky Advertizement
rehearse "Joan of Arc," the play which Miss Bergman did in
Italian
opera houses. Greer will open in this modern opera
this fall in
San Francisco... GABRIEL GUAJARDO, brother of the man who
killed
Emiliano Zapata, is suing 20th Century-Fox for several
thousand dollars
for "having portrayed my brother in the picture as a vile
killer.
He killed him, but not that way"..SILVIA PINAL and ARTURO DE
CORDOBA
left for Mexico after finishing "Stranger on the Staircase"
In Havana.
Page 35
HAVANA
BY NIGHT
PHOTO
Alexander and Martha Castillo (Montmartre)
PHOTO
"Rodney Scope" showgirl Nora Ossorio with one of the
Rodney dancers (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Mercedes and Manolo de Triana (Ali Bar)
Rodney's latest production in TROPICANA, "RodneyScope", is a
hit.
The costumes and magnificent choreography as well as the
novel staging
and illumination have made it one of Rodney's most popular
productions.. Toña la Negra, famed Mexican singer whose
debut
was announced by TROPICANA for the first days of May,
cancelled
[canceled] her contract. In view of the extraordinary
succes
[success] achieved by "Rodney-
Page 36
PHOTO
Hector del Villar Dancers (Bambu)
PHOTO
Orlando Vallejo (La Campana)
PHOTO
Benny More and Olga Guillot (Montmartre)
PHOTO
Three of the de la Rosa group with Rolando and Bertica
Serrano (Tropicana)
Scope", the management extended the run of this production
which stars
Italian singer Pino Baratti with dancers Leonela Gonzalez
and Henri
Boyer at the head lf the chorus line. In addition, the
show at
TROPICANA stars the Orlando de la Rosa Quartet, shortly to
leave for
Mexico to work at the ASTORIA, and mambo dance team of
Rolando and
Bertica...For the 16th of this
Page 37
PHOTO
Leonela Gonzalez and Henry Boyer (Tropicana)
PHOTO A
scene from "RodneyScope" (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Sara, one of the de la Rosa Quartet (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Lavinia and Ibrahim (Pennsylvania)
month Rodney has announced the opening of another
production, to be
called "Mr. Babalu". The show will be built around Miguelito
Valdes,
Afro-Cuban singer who with his orchestra has been a
headliner in
American show business for several years... MONTMARTRE,
vying with
TROPICANA for attention of the "la-dees and gentlemen"
Page 38
PHOTO
Marta Velez (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Manteca (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Luis Carbonell (Montmartre)
PHOTO
Carlitos Pous and Zoila Perez (Montmartre)
opened "Solar", Mario Aguero's production at the beginning
of last
month. The book by Juan Herbello hasn't revolucionized
[revolutionized] the technique of putting on shows in
night-clubs but
it has taken for the first time the typical Cuban sainete or
folk play
to the night-club stage. Some of television's top
names are to be
found in the cast; among others, Guillermo Alvarez Guedes,
Rosendo
Rosell, Zoila Perez and Luis Carbonell... Benny More, "The
Barbarian of
Rhythm, at present Cuba's top name in show business, was
signed by
MONTMARTRE to star in this production. Sharing the
applause with
him are popular singers Olga Guillot, dancer Carlitos Pous,
the
danzon-team of Elipidio and Margot, and Alexander and Martha
Castillo,
who left TROPICANA for MONTMARTRE to substitute for Nancy
and Reny,
unable to take part due to Nancy's fractured ankle... Benny
More,
besides appearing
Page 39
PHOTO Norma Naranjo (Bambu)
PHOTO Rosita de Cadiz (Bambu)
PHOTO Cary and Rolando (Colonial)
PHOTO The Lago Sisters
in Montmartre, does two shows nightly at the ALI BAR,
popular
night-club on the outskirts of the city, one of the few
places where
one is admited [admitted] without a coat. On the bill
with him
are the Golden Sisters, who will soon leave for Mexico, and
Spanish
dance team of Mercedes and Mario de Triana. Benny More
does not
work in nightclubs on week-ends, when he fills the dates his
orchestra
has booked for private dances in Havana and the interior of
the
island...On those days, ALI BAR stars to bolero singer
Orlando Vallejo
and "Puntilla", ranked among the best mambo and guaracha
vocalists...SANS SOUCI closed its door six weeks ago and has
not
reopened yet. The show that was being put on there
transferred
wholesale to Miami where it is playing theaters and
nightclubs; it is
announced that the show has been booked for New
York...Rolando and
Bertica Serrano, fixtures at a TROPICANA, dance there
nightly and have
featured parts in the Rodney productions...Martha Velez, one
of
TROPICANA'S most beautiful show girls, is a
Page 40
PHOTO Miguel Angel Ortiz (Bambu)
PHOTO Fina de Villa and Angel Salas
(Bambu)
PHOTO Mayra Freire (La Campana)
candidate for the title of Mis Cuba; elections for the lucky
girl who
will represent Cuba in the Miss Universe beauty contest,
will be held
shortly...As soon as Alexander and Martha Castillo wind up
their
contract at MONTMARTRE they will leave for California to
join Sonja
Henie an her Ice Show on a tour of the United States and
Europe...BAMBU, the cabaret on the Rancho Boyeros Highway,
has begun to
put on productions. In charge is Hector del Villar who
staged the
dances for Tongolele as well as innumerable numbers for the
Lirico
Theater in Mexico City. On the bill at the Bambu are
Spanish
dancers Fina de Villa and Angel Salas, sin-
Page 41
PHOTO
The Orlando de la Rosa Quartet (Tropicana)
PHOTO
Rocio, Dorca and Idania (Bambu)
PHOTO
Golden Sisters
er-MC Miguel Angel Ortiz, the dance trio of Idaña, Dorca and
Rocio and popular bongosero "Manteca"...Hector del Villar is
preparing
a new revue to be called "The Four Seasons" which will star
Norma
Naranjo and Spanish dancer Rosita de Cadiz...Rhumba team of
Kary and
Rolando are still on the COLONIAL, the wharfside [wharf
side]
night-club where they have had a three month's successful
run.
The Lago Sisters Trio left for Mexico to fill their contract
at the
Astoria Cabaret... Salvador Levy, Cuba's Mr. Television,
received a bid
from Xavier Cugat to join his orchestra on a swing through
the United
States and Europe... The popular old-time cabaret LA CAMPANA
reopened
under new management. A great show was represented at
the opening
with Rolando Ochoa as MC, the trio of Estela, Litico and
Mario, just
back from the United States, the Aida Quartet, singer Mayra
Freire,
Tony Lamar and Mary Esquivel, dancer Olga Valladares and a
chorus line
of cuties... Maruxa and Hector, native dance stylists are
still going
strong at the PENNSYLVANIA where they opened three months
ago.
Page 42
ISLE
OF PINES CUBA'S TREASURE ISLAND
PHOTO
"...Countryside, silence, sun and tropical sky"
PHOTO
"...Isle of pirate adventure stories"
The Isle of Pines is a piece of Cuban territory south of the
province
of Havana, to which it belongs. The Grand Admiral of
Spain,
Christopher Columbus, called it The Island of the
Evangelist; later it
was to become the scene of pirate adventures both in fiction
and in
fact. Robert Louis Stevenson in his famous novel,
Treasure
Island, has some hair-raising descriptions of the activities
of the
pirates on this island.
The history of the Isle of Pines begins on June 13,
1494.
Columbus, on his second voyage to the New World discovered
here yet
another beautiful and almost unpopulated land, one of the
riotous
vegetation, of magnificent beaches and an ideal
climate. The
countryside, the silence, the sun and the
Page 43
PHOTO
Estuary of Isle of Pines, where Columbus is supposed to
have passed.
Hotel Puerto
Antonio Advertizement
tropical sky form a true terrestrial paradise.
Isle of Pines filled its discoverers with emotion. It
was in
island, the Grand Admiral noted in his dairy "...where I was
well
received by the inhabitants of it; and so well we were
provided with
water, fish and fire wood, that we lacked for nothing".
The departure of the visitors, as Columbus sailed on towards
his
feverish illusions of reaching the Indies, caused the Island
to sink
back into silence, and Spain to forget about it. Years
after its
discovery, new visitors named it the Isle of Pines. A
historian
of the time wrote: " found her greatly unpopulated; I saw
her with 40
neighbours [neighbors]; now 11 more, without mayors, without
rulers,
without the order of a town". At its first census, the
Is-
Page 44
La Campana
Night Club Advertizement
land had a population of seventy-six.
The count of Ricla, then Captain General of the Island of
Cuba,
intended settling it in 1773, but abandoned the project due
to his
return to Spain. Later, General Dionisio Vives,
Governor of Cuba,
set up the first military outpost on the isle, "in order to
ward off
any attack that Bolivar's insurgent forces might make on
that part of
his territorial command."
Famous pirates such as Hawkins, Drake, Baskerville, Morgan
and others
used its forests as a hideout while they took on supplies
for their
raiding expeditions across the Caribbean. It was on
the Isle of
Pines that the Spanish squadron smashed Drake's pirate fleet
practically wiping out the freebooters who long had
terrorized the
ships leaving Cuban ports bound for Spain.
Today, the Isle of Pines has a population of nearly twelve
thousand.
Its area is 1144 square miles, being the largest of Cuba's
island
dependencies. At its nearest point it is thirty-three
miles from
the mainland and sixty two miles from the port of Batabano.
The gulf separating it from the mainland is fairly shallow,
varying
from fourteen to twenty-eight feet, and many sponge banks
are found in
its waters.
The economic development lies
Page 45
Matusalem Rum
Advertizement
mainly in its agricultural and in its mining
industries. There is
a flourishing citrus industry based chiefly on the export of
grapefruit. But one of the most promising sources of
wealth is
undoubtedly the great marble quarries located near the
capital, Nueva
Gerona. Gerona, the center of all activities, is a
town on the
banks of the Las Casas River. It is surrounded by high
hills, due
to which a cool breeze continously [continuously] sweeps it,
lessening
the tropic's heat.
Cuba's Model Prison is located on the Isle of Pines.
This prison
is considered one of the best insofar as the application of
modern
penological theories is concerned.
Isle of Pines has wonderful spas and beaches. One of its
baths that
deserves to be singled out for its medicinal worth is that
of Santa Fe
with its radioactives [radioactive] waters.
A land full of potential riches and a hope for bright
future, this
Treasure Island, once the refuge of murderous outlaws, is
today
possibly the most peaceful part of Cuban territory.
On its hills and green fields the centuries that have passed
since
Columbus first landed rest quietly. Nothing has
changed on Isle
of Pines.
Page 46
AIRGUIDE VISITS MONTMARTRE
PHOTO
Elpidio and Margot, the greatest interpreters of the
"danzon"
PHOTO
Scene from "Solar"
Montmartre, America's most luxurious night-club.
That's where
AIRGUIDE went avisiting a few nights ago. In our last
number
there appeared a note about the preparations being made for
the opening
of the new show "Solar" (The Tenement), and being eager to
give our
readers a complete report on it that's where we found
ourselves, in the
very popular cabaret on Vedado's P. Street.
Its large and well mounted games
Page 47
PHOTO
Sonia Calero and the Alberto Alonso Dancers
Banana
Cordial Advertizement
room was crowded; its dance floor, full of couples gliding
to the smooth music.
We found Montmartre's atmosphere very agreeable
indeed. The
carpeting, the illumination, the superb decoration of the
place, the
unobtrusive attention of the employees, the delicious meal
we were
served as soon as we could tear ourselves away from the bar,
everything
helped to make us feel quite satisfied. We almost
forgot we were
supposed to be working, after all.
At ten-thirty what everyone was waiting for began. As
if by
magic, the dance-floor began rising, changing into the
stage, the stage
on which on other occasions we had seen some of the most
outstanding
figures of show business; Phil Spitalny and his All-Girl
Orchestra, the
unforgettable Chavales de España, Cab Calloway, the
Monseigneur
Page 48
PHOTO
"...We almost forgot we were supposed to be working"
[dining and dancing]
PHOTO
"...Its large and well mounted games room was crowded"
[gambling table]
Violins, and many others of happy memories.
And we saw "Solar". And we were left convinced that
once again
Montmartre has achieved a hit. "Solar" is one-hundred
percent a Cuban
show. Its theme, the very typical tenement house whose
name was
given to the production. Its music, the native rythms
[rhythms]
of the danzon, danzonete and guaracha. Its stars, Olga
Guillot,
Rosendo Rosell, Benny More, Elpidio and Margot, Martha and
Alexander
and the best of the Cuban dance groups, that of Alberto
Alonso, with
its featured dancer, Sonia Calero.
AIRGUIDE warmly congratulates the management of Montmartre
for having
achieved yet another attraction for the tourists who visit
Cuba, as
well as an extremely pleasant way of spending an evening for
the Cuban
who seeks an agreeable atmosphere in which to have a nice
time.
Page 49
CRIC
Sanatorium Advertizement [Topes de Collantes
Sanitarium]
Page 51
Garcia's
Distillery Co. Advertisement
Page 52
Los Napales
Bar & Restaurant Advertisement
Page 53
Johnny's Dream
Club Advertisement
Page 57
Tourist Supplement
Page 60
La Zaragozana
Restaurant & Bar Advertisement
Page 71 [inside back cover]
Tropicana
Advertizement
Back Cover Page 72
Hotel
Comodoro Advertisement
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