Dia de inicio 19 de marzo del 1962 – First Day of use.
There has been talk since 2009 to get rid of “La Libreta” as it is used in present day form. To this day it still exists in some form like it did 50 years ago with a few exceptions which I will mention below.
Prices on “La Libreta” are subsidized prices set by the government which have not changed much since 1962, which is also the reason the average wages of a worker have not changed either. In “La Libreta” each page represents a month and as you present your booklet, the grocer marks down which items you have purchased and what quantities. So, don’t lose or forget “La Libreta”, you will not be able to buy your allotment.
“La Libreta” also had in its inception tear off coupons for such items as clothing, shoes and needed home products and toys.
As my mother recollects the food that Cubans were able to buy with “La Libreta” lasted just two to three weeks instead of the month it was supposed to last. As I go down “La Libreta”, and see the foods available I am able to give you her memory of each item.
Meat – three quarters of a pound (12 oz) per week per person, but that included fat and bone with the piece of meat, my father Armando was working at the sugar cane fields, so his ration was cut off. Next time you go to the grocery store, check the weight of what you are having in one meal.
Chicken – one per month, per child, from what my mother tells me she has never seen a chicken that small in the USA.
Rice - 6 lbs. per person per month
Chicharos ( Peas) - 2 lbs per person per month , she would have to boil them for hours so they would soften up, they had no flavor because there were not any spices for them, and she does not eat peas to this date because they remind her of the peas she had to cook in Cuba.
Sugar – there was plenty as Cuba was the leading sugar producer in the world for many years.
Milk – Children up to the age of six years old are allowed one liter of milk per day and after their six birthday you would lose the milk and get 6 cans of condensed milk per month as are the elderly, the ill and pregnant women. The liter of milk per child sounds like a lot but it was actually Russian powder milk mixed with water in Cuba and bottled, the milk had to be boiled to be able to drink it, then the problem was that once they boiled the milk the pan would be burned, so to wash the pan my mother kept a supply of sand from the nearby park to be able to scrub the pots.
Compotas - Baby food in a jar was rare ( apple, prum) each child was allowed a few, but they were seldom available to buy. The way many families beat the system of having food for their babies was to go to the doctor and telling him their child had diarrhea for a few days, so they would have a prescribed note to go to a special government office called “oficoda” and they would sell them platanos y malangas, The doctors knew the scam, and would be helpful as long as they did not over do it.
Toothpaste – a small tube for the family for the month, it never lasted more than a week and after that you would brush your teeth with just the brush. My mother remembers having a dentist appointment and having to go to a neighbors house and begging to just scrape their toothpaste over her brush so her breath would smell like she had just brushed her teeth prior to the dentist visit.
Coffee was 3 oz. per person per week, she would send my father a little at the Agricultural Center, my grandmother drank a little, but because the children did not drink coffee, my mother was able to trade the extra coffee with a neighbor for condensed milk that would last a few extra days.
Laundry soap – like other products, they did not last the month, my mother would have to scrub the clothes with a brush and water until she felt it was clean.
Soap – A very bad soap made of “Cebo” animal fat –which lasted just about a week instead of the rationed month.
Clothing – One pair of pants/shorts, one shirt per school year, mandated to wear uniform to school. Regular clothing, one pair of pants one shirt and one pair of shoes per year. My mother Adelfa tells me that she always had to buy the shoes big so they would fit for the year, she tells me that our last year in Cuba I actually wore girls shoes to school because mine did not fit anymore and were torn up.
Toys – This was my favorite, because it meant that all children poor or rich were now able to get 3 toys per year. Usually the toys came on “El Dia de los Reyes”, January 6th. Years ago at an antique toy museum I saw the black and white tin police car I had as a boy, Russian made. You would drag it back on the ground and release it to go forward.
Other products rationed were eggs, rice, cooking oil, pastas, bread, cigarettes, cigars, light bulbs, cooking fuels, gas, alcohol, kerosene, charcoal and even matches. Depending on how each family cooks.
Most products when available would be bought at one’s own bodega that served their residence, mom could not go to another bodega to get our supplies, because each bodega receives only the supplies for its own neighborhood residents, so if people moved they had to go and register the new address and the paperwork had to be done for the changes prior to getting supplies.
My mom would have to go and get her products on certain days, for example residents with numbers from 1-50 would have to get their rationed meat or other supplies on Mondays because their bodega would only get that controlled ration of meat for 50 people on that day and so on the next day for numbers 51-100.
My mother tells me there were many times when there was no food, so she or my grandmother Angela would go to their hometown in Alquizar which was out in the country and they would trade a blouse or a pair of pants for a few bananas or some other fruits so we would be able to eat for another day.
Armando while he was cutting sugar cane for the government paying his dues to be able to leave Cuba, would write to my mom saying he was starving to send anything. My mother would go get in line “la cola” for hours to buy some bread, then go to a neighbor’s house to have it toasted because we did not have an oven, then she would rush to the train station where a friend of hers worked in the cargo department. She would send him that bread which by the time he received it two or three days later, was rock hard. He would grind the bread and mix it with sugar cane juice from the sugar cane. He would have to beat the cane to a pulp to get the juice, which is called Guarapo. The mixture would feed him many nights.
There were many days when my mother would drop us kids off at school and go straight to the bread lines just to make sure there would be something to eat that night. Many times when she saw a line it meant that some food was available, so she would get in line not knowing was she would get, just as long as it was some food for the kids to eat.
To make a little extra money my mother and grandmother would grind coconuts and make candy out of it,” Dulce de Coco” they would sell it to neighbors to be able to buy other needed items.
One Holiday recently, my mother made the same candies with my two daughters so they could experience the process.
Back in the early days of “La Libreta” people hated it because it controlled what you could buy, but now because the prices are set so low, the elderly which do not have a steady income worry that once “La Libreta” comes to an end that they will not have the money to buy the needed items at free market prices. Senior Citizens over the age of 65 get about $10 US per month to live on.
One of the reasons for the long lines that we associate to Cuba is because products distributed do not arrive to your bodega on the day that they are supposed to on many occasions, so when say, the Rice arrives at your bodega that was supposed to be there a week ago, then you quickly run out and get in “la cola” for hours to get your ration for the month before it runs out. My mother tells me that she would be walking home from dropping us at school and sees a “cola” and would in it right away, not even know what items were available. The elderly and pregnant women had special permits to move forward in line so they would not have to stand for hours.
Raul Castro slowly has dropped a few items from "La Libreta" such as potatoes or Peas (Chicharos), Cigarettes and just in the past year or so soaps and toothpaste.
In present days there are other means to get groceries, such as “El Mercado Libre” where people pay higher prices, but the quantity is up to you as long as you have the money. There are also Euro Sores and Dollar stores where one can buy in those currency, and there is always the black market for such items as the fish you catch you can sell or products made at home. For example, my mother and grandmother would make coconut candies to sale or trade for other much needed items to a family with three children. There is also “Sociolismo” where you barter to obtain the item or services you need. “La Libreta” assures that all Cubans are given the opportunity regardless of their social or economical status. It is said that prices from the free market are about 20 times higher that “La Libreta” in present day.
In closing this memory of rations and "La Libreta", Adelfa can remember the first few times she went to a grocery store in Hialeah and walking past the meat department with her head down, she could not look at all the meat available as if afraid to wake up from a dream. She also thought about the Cubans still behind including much of her family from her mother’s side.
I ask you to think about the generation which made the commitment to leave their country and the unseen hardships.
Most of the brothers and sisters left Cuba from 1960 to 1962 and never had to live with the rationing, but they dealt with their own limitations in a new country as they went through the hardships of a new country, a new language and the new challenges which faced their families. Pepe and Amalia left in 1967 holding on to hopes that there would be change and left later. My own parents, Armando and Adelfa in June of 1970, ten years after the first from the family.
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Lastly, once you received notice that your family was leaving, part of the exit process was turning in your "libreta" The goverment made sure it was not passed to a friend or relative- I am working on a story which tells the full process of leaving Cuba once you get your permission papers.
There have been few changes to “La Libreta”, over the past 50 years, if interested research it on the Internet, what I write above is just a general introduction to “La Libreta” but I mostly write from my parent’s memories of the hardships we lived in Cuba and how those hardships have made them who they are today.
Story was written with permission and consent from Adelfa Lopez-Rogina
August, 2012
There has been talk since 2009 to get rid of “La Libreta” as it is used in present day form. To this day it still exists in some form like it did 50 years ago with a few exceptions which I will mention below.
“La Libreta” also had in its inception tear off coupons for such items as clothing, shoes and needed home products and toys.
As my mother recollects the food that Cubans were able to buy with “La Libreta” lasted just two to three weeks instead of the month it was supposed to last. As I go down “La Libreta”, and see the foods available I am able to give you her memory of each item.
Meat – three quarters of a pound (12 oz) per week per person, but that included fat and bone with the piece of meat, my father Armando was working at the sugar cane fields, so his ration was cut off. Next time you go to the grocery store, check the weight of what you are having in one meal.
Chicken – one per month, per child, from what my mother tells me she has never seen a chicken that small in the USA.
Rice - 6 lbs. per person per month
Chicharos ( Peas) - 2 lbs per person per month , she would have to boil them for hours so they would soften up, they had no flavor because there were not any spices for them, and she does not eat peas to this date because they remind her of the peas she had to cook in Cuba.
Sugar – there was plenty as Cuba was the leading sugar producer in the world for many years.
Compotas - Baby food in a jar was rare ( apple, prum) each child was allowed a few, but they were seldom available to buy. The way many families beat the system of having food for their babies was to go to the doctor and telling him their child had diarrhea for a few days, so they would have a prescribed note to go to a special government office called “oficoda” and they would sell them platanos y malangas, The doctors knew the scam, and would be helpful as long as they did not over do it.
Toothpaste – a small tube for the family for the month, it never lasted more than a week and after that you would brush your teeth with just the brush. My mother remembers having a dentist appointment and having to go to a neighbors house and begging to just scrape their toothpaste over her brush so her breath would smell like she had just brushed her teeth prior to the dentist visit.
Coffee was 3 oz. per person per week, she would send my father a little at the Agricultural Center, my grandmother drank a little, but because the children did not drink coffee, my mother was able to trade the extra coffee with a neighbor for condensed milk that would last a few extra days.
Laundry soap – like other products, they did not last the month, my mother would have to scrub the clothes with a brush and water until she felt it was clean.
Soap – A very bad soap made of “Cebo” animal fat –which lasted just about a week instead of the rationed month.
Clothing – One pair of pants/shorts, one shirt per school year, mandated to wear uniform to school. Regular clothing, one pair of pants one shirt and one pair of shoes per year. My mother Adelfa tells me that she always had to buy the shoes big so they would fit for the year, she tells me that our last year in Cuba I actually wore girls shoes to school because mine did not fit anymore and were torn up.
Toys – This was my favorite, because it meant that all children poor or rich were now able to get 3 toys per year. Usually the toys came on “El Dia de los Reyes”, January 6th. Years ago at an antique toy museum I saw the black and white tin police car I had as a boy, Russian made. You would drag it back on the ground and release it to go forward.
Other products rationed were eggs, rice, cooking oil, pastas, bread, cigarettes, cigars, light bulbs, cooking fuels, gas, alcohol, kerosene, charcoal and even matches. Depending on how each family cooks.
Most products when available would be bought at one’s own bodega that served their residence, mom could not go to another bodega to get our supplies, because each bodega receives only the supplies for its own neighborhood residents, so if people moved they had to go and register the new address and the paperwork had to be done for the changes prior to getting supplies.
My mom would have to go and get her products on certain days, for example residents with numbers from 1-50 would have to get their rationed meat or other supplies on Mondays because their bodega would only get that controlled ration of meat for 50 people on that day and so on the next day for numbers 51-100.
My mother tells me there were many times when there was no food, so she or my grandmother Angela would go to their hometown in Alquizar which was out in the country and they would trade a blouse or a pair of pants for a few bananas or some other fruits so we would be able to eat for another day.
Armando while he was cutting sugar cane for the government paying his dues to be able to leave Cuba, would write to my mom saying he was starving to send anything. My mother would go get in line “la cola” for hours to buy some bread, then go to a neighbor’s house to have it toasted because we did not have an oven, then she would rush to the train station where a friend of hers worked in the cargo department. She would send him that bread which by the time he received it two or three days later, was rock hard. He would grind the bread and mix it with sugar cane juice from the sugar cane. He would have to beat the cane to a pulp to get the juice, which is called Guarapo. The mixture would feed him many nights.
There were many days when my mother would drop us kids off at school and go straight to the bread lines just to make sure there would be something to eat that night. Many times when she saw a line it meant that some food was available, so she would get in line not knowing was she would get, just as long as it was some food for the kids to eat.
To make a little extra money my mother and grandmother would grind coconuts and make candy out of it,” Dulce de Coco” they would sell it to neighbors to be able to buy other needed items.
One Holiday recently, my mother made the same candies with my two daughters so they could experience the process.Back in the early days of “La Libreta” people hated it because it controlled what you could buy, but now because the prices are set so low, the elderly which do not have a steady income worry that once “La Libreta” comes to an end that they will not have the money to buy the needed items at free market prices. Senior Citizens over the age of 65 get about $10 US per month to live on.
One of the reasons for the long lines that we associate to Cuba is because products distributed do not arrive to your bodega on the day that they are supposed to on many occasions, so when say, the Rice arrives at your bodega that was supposed to be there a week ago, then you quickly run out and get in “la cola” for hours to get your ration for the month before it runs out. My mother tells me that she would be walking home from dropping us at school and sees a “cola” and would in it right away, not even know what items were available. The elderly and pregnant women had special permits to move forward in line so they would not have to stand for hours.
Raul Castro slowly has dropped a few items from "La Libreta" such as potatoes or Peas (Chicharos), Cigarettes and just in the past year or so soaps and toothpaste.
In present days there are other means to get groceries, such as “El Mercado Libre” where people pay higher prices, but the quantity is up to you as long as you have the money. There are also Euro Sores and Dollar stores where one can buy in those currency, and there is always the black market for such items as the fish you catch you can sell or products made at home. For example, my mother and grandmother would make coconut candies to sale or trade for other much needed items to a family with three children. There is also “Sociolismo” where you barter to obtain the item or services you need. “La Libreta” assures that all Cubans are given the opportunity regardless of their social or economical status. It is said that prices from the free market are about 20 times higher that “La Libreta” in present day.
In closing this memory of rations and "La Libreta", Adelfa can remember the first few times she went to a grocery store in Hialeah and walking past the meat department with her head down, she could not look at all the meat available as if afraid to wake up from a dream. She also thought about the Cubans still behind including much of her family from her mother’s side.
I ask you to think about the generation which made the commitment to leave their country and the unseen hardships.
Most of the brothers and sisters left Cuba from 1960 to 1962 and never had to live with the rationing, but they dealt with their own limitations in a new country as they went through the hardships of a new country, a new language and the new challenges which faced their families. Pepe and Amalia left in 1967 holding on to hopes that there would be change and left later. My own parents, Armando and Adelfa in June of 1970, ten years after the first from the family.
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| Adelfa's passport Photo with sons Alex, Charlie and Robert |
There have been few changes to “La Libreta”, over the past 50 years, if interested research it on the Internet, what I write above is just a general introduction to “La Libreta” but I mostly write from my parent’s memories of the hardships we lived in Cuba and how those hardships have made them who they are today.
Story was written with permission and consent from Adelfa Lopez-Rogina
The day Iliana arrived in Mexico she recalls a newspaper boy at the airport calling out “Extra , Extra, President Kennedy has been shot” knowing that she was going on to the United States now due to the Kennedy assassination the US embassy and consulate shut down, so the fear now was being held in Mexico City. But after three days in Mexico because she had the Visa from Mexico, she could now go to Miami. In Mexico she went unnoticed but once arriving at the airport in Miami, she can recall that at immigration they called out ”the ones with good passports get on this line, the ones with false passports get on this other line” . The Americans knew that many Cubans were coming over with false paper work. So she got on the false passport line and forfeited her passport, but the worst of her fears was over, because she was now in the USA instead of Mexico where she knew no one and they would surely send her back to Cuba. She recalls that a lady which she had met on her flight with a baby who was divorced when arrived in Mexico the authorities looked at her passport and recognized that the passport was false, because she did not have the release from the father to take the baby out of the country, Iliana wanted to speak up for the lady but knew that it would bring unwanted attention to her own false papers. 
