Post #396584 by bigbrotiki on Fri, Jul 25, 2008 7:00 PM

Yes folks, I am happy to announce that Pete Moruzzi's wonderful book "Havana before Castro" is out and available at such fine stores as 8-Ball (which appreciates your patronage) and Amazon.com.

It is a BIG book (256 pages), it is a BEAUTIFUL book, with hundreds of vintage and new images in it. And I am happy to state that I shot about 75 photos in the book, including the back cover. I also got to write a page about the Havana Trader Vic's, still existing in it's original 1958 form as "The Polinesio":

...plus I lit and photographed several classic Cuban cocktails that were mixed by Jeff Berry after recipes he unearthed (which are printed in the book, of course). So now you can gaze at vintage photographs of rum-happy revelers at Sloppy Joe's Bar....

...while you sip the Sloppy Joe's house cocktail!:

Because Havana is such a dream come true for the urban archeologist, and I have so much material to share, I decided to make a MULTI POST about it. See more of my photos of the Havana Trader/Polinesio in "Locating Tiki":

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29209&forum=2&start=last&0

..and more rum, cocktail and bar visuals in "Tiki Drinks and Food":

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29210&forum=10&start=last&0

Havana had its own quality as a tropical dream destination, (much like but totally different than Waikiki), here is a text to set the mood for the images to come:

Havana was the Las Vegas of the Carribean, and had a 6:00 pm to 6:00 am nightlife, whether in small intimate bars...

....daring erotic cabarets...

...or fully blown Casino shows, of which the famous Tropicana is the only one in existence to this day:

Fountain in the Tropicana gardens:

The amazing mid-century modernist stage design...

...remains unchanged today, as one can see on this back cover photo of "Havana before Castro":

Happy tourists at the Tropicana, yesterday like today...

A vintage swizzle stick. Havana bar swizzle sticks are among the most elaborate of the art form :)

But the book is about much more than glamorous nightlife, my friend Peter Moruzzi is an architectural historian. So you get to know the history of Cuba, which is a metaphor for the 20th Century, and enjoy un-altered examples of mid-century modern architecture from my favorite period, the late 50s:

This '59 Buick must have been one of the last American cars that made it to Cuba:

Tropical modernism par excellence, the Eugenio Leal residence, now a restaurant:

An A-frame tomb at the main cemetery (more later in "Traveling Tiki")":

One of the best preserved (thanks to communism) examples that allows you to time travel is the Havana Riviera Hotel:

Tile mosaic of the logo, front entrance:

Poolside:

Here is one of the many "Before and After" pages of the book. Unlike in Tiki architecture, the amazing thing is how UN-altered the place appears today:

The reception:

Elevators:

L'Aiglon restaurant with its original murals:

...and a "spinner" swizzle stick:

Of course the book has maps and addresses for all these places, here is part of the end pages:

To find out more about Pete and the book, visit his website:

http://www.havanabeforecastro.com/

for ordering info, go to Tiki Marketplace:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29208&forum=12&start=last&0

And for "Behind the scenes" info about where things in Havana are at, watch for my post in Traveling Tiki (coming soon):

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-25 19:59 ]