Skip to content
VitrineVitrine
Sign in

José Antonio Mestre y Alvarez-Tabio

1926

4 facts1 source

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 1926

    Born

  2. 22 Mar 1956

    A daughter is born

Family

See the tree

Partner

Children · 1

During his lifetime

He lived through 11 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1920s · José is born

In the news1929–1932

Economic collapse during the 1930s Depression

Following the 1929 stock market crash, the value of Cuba's sugar production collapsed from nearly $200 million in 1929 to just over $40 million in 1932.

What people wore

Cost of luxury jewelry

High-quality jewelry sold at shops like El Suizo, featuring materials such as gold, pearls, and precious stones, cost between 0.20 and 80 gold pesos.

Getting around

Rural transport relied on horse-drawn buggies

Rural travelers often relied on horse-drawn buggies for trips between towns, such as the 1 1/4-mile journey to Casilda which cost approximately 5 cents.

The Spanish flu. A flu pandemic infected a third of humanity and killed some 50 million people, more than the war that had just ended.Around the world · 1918–1920

The Spanish flu. A flu pandemic infected a third of humanity and killed some 50 million people, more than the war that had just ended.

Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine · public domain

In the news1920

The 1920 Dance of the Millions crisis

In 1920, the price of sugar plummeted, causing a financial crisis known as the Dance of the Millions that ruined many Cuban banks.

Music

Improvised Instruments for Carnival

For festive carnival parades, musicians sometimes converted everyday metal items like frying pans, iron railings, and automobile tire rims into musical instruments to increase rhythmic volume.

Daily life

Low school attendance for children

Based on the 1953 census, 44 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 14 did not attend school, and nearly a quarter of the population was illiterate.