[Note: For background on the "Hoge Brush Company Files" series, click here; to see all the entries in the series so far, click here.]
Our latest letter from the files of the Hoge Brush Company is a particularly interesting one, because the firm that sent it — the New Era Mercantile Company — was based in Havana, Cuba. There was nothing unusual about an American company doing business in Cuba in 1945, when the letter was sent, but Cuba has been off-limits to Americans for so long that the mere sight of a sheet of Cuban letterhead now seems exotic.
Unfortunately, I can't find anything about New Era Mercantile's history or current status. It's interesting that they were located in the Bacardi Building — rum is such a signature Cuban product, it almost seems like a cliché for our one Cuban entry in this series to have a Bacardi connection. In any case, the Art Deco building dates back to 1930 and is still in use today.
(My continued thanks to Joanna and David Zwiep for sharing the Hoge Brush Company letters with me.)
Notice the slip into Spanish in the second line? In this era, letters of this type were generally dictated, and a good secretary didn't question the phraseology used.
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