Prohibiton
Prohibition was a Federal Ban on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933. The ban was started through the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919, and was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933. Prohibition had its origins in the nineteenth century Temperance movement that pushed for state and federal bans on alcohol. However, it was not until the twentieth century that the movement gained more popularity federally. Prohibition was widely unsuccessful as rum runners and moonshiners still produced and moved alcohol around the country. This led to a rise in organized crime In addition, some states refused to enforce Prohibition, while border states snuck alcohol in from Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. All of the issues combined, plus a loss in tax revenue, led to the passage of the Twenty First Amendment which repealed Prohibition.
Bacardi ad encouraging Americans to come to Cuba during Prohibition
Highball
At its core, the highball is a cocktail with alcohol and a drink mixer that is often carbonated (The Provi Team). There is no consensus on the origin of the highball, but one popular theory is that it originated in England with the scotch and soda. Long before the highball, cognac was popular in England; however, The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) halted the supply of cognac to England, resulting in the birth of its permanent substitute: the scotch and soda (The Provi Team). Eventually, in 1895, C.F. Lawlor’s The Mixicologist was published and featured a drink called the “Splificator,” which was classified as a “highball”; this drink—which included one piece of ice, whiskey, and Apollinaris water—is thought to have been the first named Highball (The Provi Team).
1926 Hurricane
In October, 1926 a category four hurricane made landfall on the island of Cuba, causing a significant amount of damages along with 709 fatalities. The hurricane was so powerful that it's storm surges damaged ships that belonged to the Cuban Navy. This is in addition to the dozens of buildings that were destroyed. Even today, the hurricane is infamous for its power and its destruction on Cuba.
Aftermath in Havana from the 1926 Hurricane
Trolling
When catching a fish, trolling means to tug “a [fishing] line with bait on it through the water behind a boat” (“Troll, V.”).
Illustration of how trolling works. Courtesy of Andre Malok and Field & Stream.
Sculling
The act of sculling involves “proceed[ing] by means of a boat propelled with a scull or a pair of sculls” (“Scull, V.”). A scull is an oar that is “shorter and lighter than a ‘rowing’ oar”; this allows a person to use two sculls at once to move their boat forward in a body of water (“Scull, N.”).
Man sculling on a lake. Photo by Nick Stenning.
Charles Lindbergh
In the first chapter of To Have and Have Not, Hemingway describes the flying fish appearing near Morgan’s boat as looking similar to “Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic when they [flying fish] sail off. Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator who became famous for becoming the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in May of 1927. After achieving this feat, he became an international celebrity and received accolades from around the world. Unfortunately in March of 1932 Lingbergh’s infant son was kidnapped from the Lindbergh home in East Amwell, New Jersey. Due to Lindbergh's previous fame the kidnapping made international news. Despite the ransom being paid Lingbergh’s baby was found dead less than five miles from his home. Ultimately a local carpenter named Bruno Hauptmann was convicted of kidnapping the infant and was sentenced to death in 1936.
Lindbergh pictured with his plane "Spirit of St. Louis" that flew across the Atlantic
Coolie Labor
Coolie labor was a system of indentured servitude where primarily Chinese men were brought to the United States in order to do manual labor before and after slavery was officially banned in the United States. Though these men were technically not slaves, as they were on five year contracts, these men were often treated similarly to and faced similar amounts of discrimination as slaves. These men helped build railroads, clear swamps, and did other manual labor in the name of “progress.” These men were so disliked that the United States passed a law in 1862 banning the Coolie Trade. This was a year before the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. Though the importation of coolies was banned in the 1860s, it was hard to enforce. Therefore, both the trade and the discrimination continued despite the ban. This discrimination eventually culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese immigration into the United States with limited exceptions.
"Cargo that Talks"
In To Have and Have Not, Harry Morgan says “ cargo that talks” while discussing the idea of smuggling Chinese laborers into the United States. In order to lower suspicion while talking about it in public – and avoid the lengthy prison sentence that would occur if he was caught. Additionally, Morgan feared that the people he would smuggle in would rat him out. Therefore, Morgan refused to smuggle Chinese laborers into the United States due to the risks involved.
Afro-Cuba Influence
Notes: Students visit the Casa de Africa museum in Havana, January 2023.
Santeria is defined as “a mixture of Catholic and the African Yoruba traditions” Clifford Staten, The History of Cuba, 2nd ed. ABC-CLIO, p. 5
For further reading on this issue see Omar Rodriguez, AfroCuban Religion and Syncretism with the Catholic Religion).
In To Have and Have Not, Harry Morgan makes reference to the “blue voodoo beads” worn around the neck of the unnamed Black deckhand. This isn’t much developed as a theme of the novel; it just provides color commentary on an otherwise underdeveloped character. Hemingway writes, “He’s a real black [n-word], smart and gloomy, with blue voodoo beads around his neck under his shirt, and an old straw hat. What he liked to do on board was sleep and read the papers. But he put on a nice bait and he was fast.” The man doesn’t work too hard, but he is valuable to Harry, and he seems to know his value. That the African religion comes up here may be a nod to the ways that it served as a tool of resistance, especially in colonial times, when the practice of Catholicism was mandated. (Rodriguez)
In our travels, we encountered the African religion in a few places. In the Casa Africa, a museum that provides extensive displays on the African heritage of the Cuban people, we actually saw a performance of a ritual dance. This religion, which can be compared to the Haitian practice of Vaudou (hence Morgan calling it “voodoo”), or Brazilian candoblé, was previously referred to as “Santeria.” We learned from our tour guide that it is more proper in Cuba today to call it “Yoruba,” after the African region from which the belief system comes. Initiates wear white for a period of a year or more, and have specific deities to whom they are dedicated. That this man was wearing blue beads may suggest that his patron is Yemaja, goddess of the sea, which would make sense for a fisherman. In Cuba, the Communist Party lifted its regulation against religion in 1991; today you can see small stores selling the kinds of beads referenced in To Have and Have Not and other items to include in offerings right out in the open.
Perfume Store
Before he leaves Cuba for Key West, Harry Morgan goes shopping for his wife and three daughters. He says that he bought, “perfume, a couple of fans, and three of those high combs.” The Spanish style comb to which he is likely referring is a peineta, which would be worn under a traditional mantilla, a kind of lace veil. Perhaps Hemingway was thinking of a famous perfume store when he wrote this line, because it would have been just around the corner from a hotel where he kept a room for many years, The Ambos Mundos. (For pictures of the Ambos Mundos, see the tab "Visiting Hemingway's Cuba.") Here is how Habana 1791 was described in a piece in Allure Magazine in 2015:
“The sun-drenched corner shop is dark and cool inside, with beautiful antique perfume vessels on every wooden and ceramic countertop. Walk to the back and you'll see the room where the fragrances are made. There are huge decanters, recipes scribbled on the walls, and piles of dried flowers and herbs just pressed from the grinder.”
Part shop and part museum, we enjoyed looking at the beautiful bottles and grand stained glass windows of the historic place. Whether or not Harry Morgan shopped there, it is likely that Hemingway bought a souvenir there… for his wife or someone else.
Pictures of the perfume store taken January 2023
