As with other Hollywood stars, Louise Brooks’ image could be found on a number of commercial products. In the 1920s and 1930s, these items included postcards and trading cards, as well as books, sheet music, puzzles, games, calendars, a writing tablet and even Cuban matchboxes, among other things.
This page on the Louise Brooks Society archive is devoted to Cuban matchboxes, each of which date from the later 1920s. Matchboxes fall into a category of tobaccaina, which includes cigar bands, cigar boxes, ashtrays and the like. Cuba, as a tobacco-growing country, has a rich history of related tobacco products and collectibles. For more about Cuban tobaccaina, check out THIS PAGE on cubacollectibles.com. [BTW, the items shown below were mostly found on eBay and other auction sites.]
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| La Luz de Oriente | La Luz de Oriente | J. Simon y Ca. | Cuban matchbox |
Louise Brooks appeared on at least five Cuban matchboxes manufactured by three different companies, La Luz de Oriente, Salvador Cisneros, and J. Simon y Ca. Considering their age, and considering that matchboxes were considered disposable or throw away items, it is incredible that such ephemera has survived. The La Luz de Oriente matchbox above, to the far left, is a real rarity. It depicts not a portrait of the actress — like the other boxes, but a scene still. Its text reads, “Louise Brooks y William Collier Jr. en The Charleston Kid.” That was the Cuban title of the 1926 film, Just Another Blonde. As well, the La Luz de Oriente matchbox above displays a rare surviving pull tab with which to open the box.
Louise Brooks’ films played and proved popular in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Even Pandora’s Box showed there, under the title Lulu La Pecadora (which translated as Lulu the Sinner). Brooks once visited Cuba, in early 1928. I wonder if she came across a matchbox with her image on it?
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| Salvador Cisneros | J. Simon y Ca. | J. Simon y Ca. | La Luz de Oriente |