La Cubana - Estrella Antigua Opaca

8/21/2026

La Cubana - Estrella Antigua Opaca

INTRODUCTION

Today we examine a deeply compelling item, notable not merely for the intrinsic interest of the pack, but for the historical significance of the maker behind it: La Cubana S.A., once the oldest playing card manufacturer in Mexico, predating Clemente Jacques by several decades. Although the company is sadly now defunct, its legacy lives on through pieces like the one we analyze today.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

As is often the case with century-old companies,tracing their origins can be a cumbersome and frequently near-impossible task. The cards themselves state the firm was founded in 1872, while styling itself the direct successor to P. Munguía e Hijos.

In an earlier post, we already examined a pack tied to this family name: the 1868 La Campana. However, it bore the name F. Munguía instead of P. Munguía. According to issue No. 34 of the ASESCOIN journal (2006), the original printing works was founded by the Munguía brothers, although it remains unconfirmed whether these were the same individuals, given that La Campana predates the purported 1872 foundation.

It's very likely that they initially operated as two independent workshops that eventually merged. This hypothesis is reinforced by the shared retail premises documented on early surviving issues from both firms. While this cannot be definitively verified, it appears to be the most plausible explanation for this genealogical puzzle.

The precise date when the corporate name changed from P. Munguía e Hijos to La Cubana S.A. ikewise remains undocumented. The most likely timeframe places this transition around the 1940s, as surviving copies from 1946 already feature both names stamped alongside each other.

Throughout its history, the company changed hands several times until 1995, when a board of trustees had to be formed in an attempt to keep it afloat. Despite these efforts, debts continued to mount, with unpaid rent on the manufacturing facility ultimately delivering the fatal blow to its finances. Following its eviction from the premises, La Cubana was formally dissolved in September 2004, marking a somber end to the story of the longest-standing playing card manufacturer in Mexico.

COMMERCIAL RANGE & VARIANTS

The model examined in this entry corresponds to the "Estrella Antigua Opaca", part of the company's extensive catalog where it coexisted alongside other Spanish-suited brands such as the aforementioned La Campana, El Águila, and Goliat. They also produced French-suited decks, marketed under the names Bridge, Poker, and Canasta Uruguaya.

The El Águila [Eagle] and La Estrella [Star] lines shared the exact same artwork, distinguished only by the Ace of Coins: a profile bust featured on La Estrella, and the namesake bird of prey on El Águila. Both series also presented an intriguing distinction:

The "Antigua" [Antique] version (the one featured here), aptly named given its adoption of the Cádiz pattern, one of the oldest and most historically significant styles of the Spanish playing cards tradition.

The "Nueva" [New] version, which incorporated original artwork inspired by the Castilian pattern.

ICONOGRAPHY & DESIGN

As noted, this pack displays the Cádiz pattern in one of its most unadulterated iterations, adhering faithfully to its traditional canons. The illustrations are remarkably close to those produced for export by historical makers such as Naipes Comas or Juan Roura, particularly for the Philippine market.

In the Philippine archipelago, the Cádiz pattern achieved an astonishing degree of standardization across both faces and card backs. Many popular local games required combining two or more decks at the same table; this uniform design allowed each player to bring their own pack and mix them seamlessly even if they came from different manufacturers, leaving the maker's authorship relegated to text inscriptions or corporate illustrations.

In this edition by La Cubana, virtually the entire classic repertoire of the style is preserved intact:

The Ace of Swords, displaying an eagle-head pommel—though not strictly a diagnostic marker, it remains a pervasive iconographic motif.
The Knight of Cups, bearing the iconic inscription "AHÍ VA" [There it goes].
The costumes of the Knaves and Knights, clad in characteristic doublets with puffed sleeves and slashed breeches.
The Kings with disproportionately small heads, another non-definitive feature yet highly typical of 19th and early 20th-century artwork.
The shape of the batons across the court figures, showing the Knave with a funnel-shaped club, the Knight with an S-curved club, and the King with a forked tip.
The straight-sided cups, which, along with the shape of the court batons, are traits directly inherited from the Spanish National pattern.

MATERIALS & FINISH

The cards feature a semi-gloss finish and boast a surprisingly high quality, also evident in the sturdy cardstock and the crispness of the printing. While it does not quite match the standards of Heraclio Fournier, it is entirely comparable to the finest productions by Naipes Comas and stands clearly above the Clemente Jacques decks in my collection.

I do not know the exact year of manufacture for this deck. Although the line remained in production from at least the 1960s onward, the fact that this pack reached me in its original cellophane wrapper suggests it likely belongs to one of the firm’s later print runs, most probably dating between the 1980s and 1990s.

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