HAVANA, Cuba.- Children in Cuba do not have the illusion of Three Kings Day and its gifts. That tradition of Christian origin was eliminated by the communist regime in its early years.
I, who was a humble child, there was not a Three Kings Day in which they did not give me toys. My parents, with sacrifice, managed to buy them so that I would find them when I woke up that day.
The indescribable joy of dawn every January 6 was contagious for adults and children, when the latter said: “look what the Kings brought me.”
Weeks before January 6, the shops on the main Havana streets displayed thousands of toys of all sizes, prices and quality in their windows and departments.
The parents walked the minors through these establishments to find out which toys they liked and to be able to calculate and get along with the home economy.
There were very poor families who had no way to buy toys, but churches, humanitarian institutions and some wealthy people donated them.
It is false that all toys were expensive. Some, the smallest and simplest, could cost less than one peso. Those that were worth two or three pesos were bigger and better.
The most expensive were the bicycles, and they could be bought in installments.
In short, according to the economic possibilities of each family, there were stores to choose from.
I witnessed an unforgettable event for me as a child, amazed, standing at the corner of Reina and Amistad streets: several joint commercial companies brought three camels, mounted by people dressed up as Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar who walked through the city.
In Havana, the most famous toy stores were Los Reyes Magos and La Casa Blanca.
The largest was Los Reyes Magos, which was located at Galiano 315 between Neptuno and San José, which was almost 50 meters long, with an extensive final hall and mezzanine. It was cluttered with toys all year. Today it is the Gaya atelier that rents dresses and suits for weddings and parties.
The White House was located in Friendship between Dragons and Queen. This store exclusively offered the strong Apaches of the West. Parents interested in buying them went well in advance to reserve the order, as this toy was running out, and there were not enough for all requests. Now, where the store was, there is a house and several private businesses.
In Frei Betto’s long conversation with Fidel Castro collected in the book Fidel and religion, the Commander assured that for three consecutive years on Three Kings Day his father gave him a bugle.
I wonder: Wouldn’t the rich landowner Ángel Castro have enough money to buy him something better, or was it another of the Comandante’s lies, in this case, to distort the meaning of the Three Wise Men? Because Fidel Castro disliked that tradition, like everything he had to do with religion.
On January 6, 1960, in front of the CMQ Radio and Television studios, Fidel appeared with Raúl Castro and Juan Almeida, to talk about Agrarian Reform and Urban Reform. The message was clear: the Magi were them.
Instead of Three Kings Day, the Castro regime established “Children’s Day”, which would be celebrated on July 26.
The three toys they offered for Children’s Day had to be bought through the Industrial Products Book. In the first years after the date was instituted, a raffle was held, with the day, the hour and the store indicated where to buy them. Those who reached a low number, got the best toys. The others had to settle for whatever was left, which was always the worst, with no choice.
Starting in the 1990s, toys became more scarce, expensive, and hard currency, until in recent years they practically disappeared.
Today, Children in Cuba do not have Three Kings Day or toys.
I walked these days through Havana and I have not seen toys for sale in state stores. Few individuals have some offers with prohibitive prices that range between 1,500 and 2,500 pesos.
The only children who will have toys are the children and grandchildren of the privileged ruling elite and those who have relatives abroad who send them or money for their parents to buy them.
OPINION ARTICLE
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