Thursday, August 30, 2012

Sloppy Joe's, Havana, Cuba


I love the design on this card. The ships sailing to Habana (Habana on the front and Havana on the back) from all points N. S, E and W!

Sloppy Joe's was a Havana bar in the 30's. The bar got this name because the place in principle was a mess and the sandwich served there was made of "ropa vieja", Spanish for old clothes (shredded flank steak in a tomato based sauce). The sandwich was known as a Sloppy Joe and it was also served in many variants, in several parts of the world. 

One of the frequent patrons was Ernest Hemingway. The tourists that visited Havana during that time, mostly North Americans, preferred two places: Sloppy Joe's Bar, and the beautiful race horse track of Havana controlled by Meyer Lansky's mafia.

In 1959, after the Cuban revolution, the mythical Sloppy Joe' s Bar was closed and abandoned.