Havana, Cuba 1946
Nineteen-forties Havana was a Caribbean paradise for white westerners. It was filled with resorts, clubs, and entertainment. Many of these industries were operated by organized crime and were joined by casinos, gambling, and prostitution. In 1946, Frank Sinatra made his Cuba singing debut and the same year Italian mobster Charlie “Lucky” Luciano organized a meeting in Havana over Christmas of all the major Italian crime families.
The Cuban government at the time was democratic and were at the helm of a prosperous time in the island nation, but their successes were hampered by corruption. Big government spending projects were promoted because it was easier to funnel money when more was spent. Contracts were given to Westerners, including those involved with organized crime, which produced the Las Vegas-like atmosphere that defined mid-century Havana culture.
Sports were also a major part of Havana culture. Baseball and boxing were dominant. Boxing rings were set up outside on the shoreline and people watched matches feeling the Gulf breeze. Baseball was and continues to be the top sport in the country. When American sports writer Sam Lacy visited in 1947 he said, ““I had heard that Cubans are deeply religious people. In two days here, I have learned that baseball is their religion.”
Segregation
Cuban slavery was abolished in 1886 and the imprint of a caste system from the time of Spanish colonial rule remained on the small island country well into the 20th century. There was no state sanctioned segregation, but Afro-Cubans and mulattos were disenfranchised through private businesses. Clubs, casinos, pools, beaches, and schools all selectively segregated against non-white Cubans.
Cuban president Fulgencio Batista was even denied membership in Havana clubs because he was mulatto. The local Cubans depicted in Zuppke’s sketches lived these types of segregation in Havana. Zuppke sketched on the Havana beaches, or Playa de Estes, which were not resorts and known for being beaches for locals. The housing shown in Zuppke’s work is reminiscent of the small structures inhabited by Cuban sugar plantation workers. Perhaps the muscled, barefoot man in torn pants was part of this agricultural economy.
Zuppke, Hemingway, and Cuba
Zuppke’s first visit to Cuba was in January, 1931. He was friends with the athletic director of the University of Havana and came to see the school’s football team. Of his visit in 1931 Zuppke said, “You can write that yarn about me getting mixed up in a Cuban revolution was true enough. Only there weren’t any girls and there weren’t any detectives and there wasn’t any beer.”
Fourteen years later, Zuppke was invited back to the University of Havana to be an advisory football coach. The Island was home to a number of U.S. military service teams stationed in Cuba, so the University had considerable competition. By the time Zuppke arrived in October of 45’ though, World War II ended and the number of competitive teams reduced to two. With just four games to coach, Zuppke took the opportunity to stay in Cuba and vacation for six months. During this time, he had a renewed energy to paint and completed over 100 sketches. “I suddenly wanted to paint, paint, paint… before breakfast, in the middle of the night… anytime.”
During the final month of his trip, Zuppke was invited to the fourth wedding of American author Ernest Hemingway. It is unclear how Zuppke and Hemingway became friends, but they knew each other since Zuppke’s time as head football coach at Oak Park in 1910-1913. Zuppke remembered a young Hemingway coming to watch the team practice as a middle schooler. Hemingway was also a freshman on the football team the final year Zuppke coached.
Hemingway’s marriage to Mary Welsh was a small ceremony with about two dozen attendees held in the Havana apartment of Dick and Marjorie Cooper, old friends of Hemingway. Champagne and fresh caviar were served and the reception lasted a few hours. During the same visit, Hemingway took Zuppke on a fishing expedition on his yacht the Pilar and likely entertained him and Leona at his home Finca Vigia. A letter from Zuppke to Hemingway dated October, 1950 thanked the Hemingways for their gracious hospitality during their stay in Cuba, with Zuppke and Leona wishing the Hemingways, “the best of health and much happiness.”
Hemingway purchased his famous yacht the Pilar in 1934 and used it for fishing in the Caribbean; first in the Florida Keys and the Bimini Islands and later off the coast of Cuba. Hemingway enjoyed taking visitors on fishing trips to catch marlin and other denizens of the Gulf. Zuppke later made a painting of the yacht titled Pilar II and sent Hemingway a photograph of his work along with a letter in October 1950. The letter also included a small portrait of Hemingway done by Zuppke.