Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba February 16, 1959. Cuba’s struggle with rule had begun long, long before. I have a book on Cuba’s war for Independence from 1895 to 1898. This war had interest in the U.S. and before it was over (especially after the explosion of the USS Maine in Cuba), we became part of the Spanish-American war.
This book was printed in the middle of Cuba’s struggle then. The book is “Cuba and the Fight for Freedom: A powerful and thrilling history of the “Queen of the Antilles,” the Oppression of the Spanish Government, the Insurrection of 1868 and the Compromise of 1878, and a full and vivid account of the present struggle of the people for Liberty and Independence” “Profusely Illustrated” (whew) by James Hyde Clark, 1896. The title was long and embellished, to grab excitement. You will understand in a moment.
This book is an example of trying to get book sales on a current event-this time the struggle of Cuba. The book on the left is the salesman dummy book. The one on the right, the true book. An example of door to door sales props. The salesman dummy only had some of the pictures, and the first few pages of some of the chapters. There was just enough to whet interest on the book. This book is unusual because of the United States interest in Cuba. America struggled to be a free country, and in their time Cuba was trying as well. The early history of Cuba, all the way from Columbus is covered, right up to the current struggles. Also there are chapters on the crops and industries of Cuba, along with news of the people, views of cities, and government corruption.
This bookseller was hoping to capitalize on American interest. There was no 6:00 news on TV or Radio. There was varying depth articles in newspapers, so when someone offered you a “Profusely Illustrated” account of what was happening right now in Cuba. you could be the neighbor on the block, or at work, that had the inside story. If the salesman was good, he offered, not if you wanted to buy this “newsworthy book”, but if you wanted to buy it in the cloth edition, or…he would flip open the cover, in the deluxe leather edition, as he shows what the book would look like in leather. Both copies would have a full fold out map of Cuba showing towns and railroads, and distances from Havana to the rest of the country.
The deluxe full Russian leather edition with gilt edges would only be $2.50, but if you preferred the fine English Cloth edition, you could pick it up for only $1.50.
This is a great set of books. The topic of Cuban Independence was then exciting to Americans, as well as Cuban history. The story is an interesting read today; Along with the sales props to get books into the American home. This salesman had three pages of subscriptions! The skill of salesmanship for current news, and past history (including Columbas, rum, and cigars) could be enticing to Mom or Dad answering the door. Another interesting story about books. Win, win for my library selection of good books today.
Librarytomes 