Little Havana (Miami) & Little Havana on the Hudson (Union City, New Jersey)

“Little Havana” was the name of a brand of cigars, then became the name of a section of Miami (FL), and then also became the name of a section of Union City (NJ). The Union City version is called “Little Havana on the Hudson” or just “Havana on the Hudson.”
 
“Little Havana Cigars” was named soon after the Spanish-American War of 1898. The brand was advertised as early as 1900, but does not exist today. Cuba is still well-known for the quality of its cigars.
 
The Cuban Revolution of the 1950s saw Fidel Castro take power in 1959. Many Cubans quickly left the country and settled in Florida. Miami has been called “Little Havana” (Havana is the capital of Cuba) from at least 1963.
 
The first Cuban couple came to Union City, New Jersey in 1948. Union City is a blue collar suburb of New York City, and it had been economically depressed. Low-paying embroidery jobs helped Union City to become the self-styled “embroidery capital of the world.” Many Cubans came to Union City in the 1960s, and the city was called “Little Havana on the Hudson” by 1974. The term is perhaps a misnomer—while most of the Cuban immigrants in Miami’s “Little Havana” are indeed from Havana, the Cuban immigrants in Union City’s “Little Havana on the Hudson” are from rural Fomento.
 
 
Wikipedia
Little Havana (Spanish: La Pequeña Habana) is a section of Miami, Florida, where many Cuban immigrants and refugees (often fleeing Fidel Castro’s government) settled. The high number of Cuban refugees Florida receives is due to its proximity to Cuba (many Cubans come over in makeshift boats). It is called Little Havana because Cuba’s primate city is Havana. There is also a smaller Little Havana in Tampa, Florida.

In recent years increasing numbers of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Guatemalan immigrants have moved into the neighborhood, as increasing numbers of Cubans leave the area for the suburbs in western Miami. Part of Little Havana is now actually referred to as Little Managua named after the Nicaraguan capital. 

Wikipedia
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba (Spanish: Cuba or República de Cuba, IPA: [re’puβlika ðe ˈkuβa]), consists of the island of Cuba (the largest of the Greater Antilles), the Isle of Youth and adjacent small islands.
(...)
The result was the Spanish-American War, in which U.S. forces landed in Cuba in June 1898 and quickly overcame Spanish resistance. In August a peace treaty was signed under which Spain agreed to withdraw from Cuba. Some advocates in the U.S. supported Cuban independence, while others argued for outright annexation. As a compromise, the McKinley administration placed Cuba under a 20-year U.S. trusteeship. The Cuban independence movement bitterly opposed this arrangement, but unlike the Philippines, where events had followed a similar course, there was no outbreak of armed resistance.
(...)
Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba in February 1959 and has held effective power in the country ever since. (As of 2006 he is the world’s longest-ruling current head of government.)
 
11 March 1900, Atlanta Constitution, pg. 8 ad:
10 Little Havana cigars.
 
18 April 1963, Panama City (FL) Herald, pg. 10:
Exile Groups in Miami Almost As Numerous As Cubans”
By WILLIAM L. RYAN
 
MIAMI, Fla. (AP)—Lock five Cubans in a room, give them a political problem to solve and they will emerge with five organizations to do the job.
 
At least, that’s how it seems to the outsider wandering about Little Havana, Miami’s city within a city.
 
23 May 1967, Panama City (FL) News, pg. 6A:
Last Tuesday virtually all shops and stores in Miami’s “Little Havana” section closed down in a mass protest.
 
12 November 1967, Chicago Tribune, pg. A1
Cuban Exiles Build “Little Havana”
By BOB M. GASSAWAY
 
Miami, Nov. 11 (AP)—It’s not on the map and there’s no sign beside a street listing the population, but when you get there, you know you’re in Little Havana.
(...)
Rush Starts in 1959
 
Florida long has attracted a steady trickle of Cubans, but when Fidel Castro assumed power on January 1, 1959, the stream gushed to flood proportions. The exiles have woven their own way of life that is a blend of the old and new.
 
A drive along southwest 8th street—which the exiles call “Cuban downtown”—provides the evidence.
 
Atop the familiar candy-striped barber’s pole a plaque reads “barbero,” the word under Rx is “farmacia,” letters on the window guarding trays of jewelry spell out “joyeria,” and the signs advertise “sandwich Cubano” instead of hamburgers.
 
19 May 1975, New York Times, “A Changed Union City Marks Its 50th Year” by Joan Cook, pg. 63:
UNION CITY—When the town of West Hoboken and Union Hill elected to become a single, consolidated city in 1925, names like Traphagen, Rieman, Kerrigan and Rinaldo predominated among the citizens of the new community. Now, as Union City celebrates the 50th anniversary of that merger, names like Fernandez, Rodriguez, Menedez and ALvarez are more the midstream. Roughly 55 per cent of the 50,00 to 60,000 residents in this crowded suburb of 1.4 square miles are Spanish-speaking, giving it the nickname of “Havana on the Hudson.”
(...)
“The Cuban people have saved Union City from destruction,” said Frank C. Rieman, chairman of the 50th anniversary celebration. “Ten years ago a landlord would give you two months rent-free to take a lease on a store. Today the ‘Se Habla Espanol’ signs are being replaced with ‘We Speak English.’”
 
24 April 1977, Times Standard (Eureka, CA), pg. 6(?):
“Little Havana” on the Hudson
Union City—Heaviest concentration of Cubans
By KAY BARTLETT
UNION CITY, N.J. (AP)...
(...)
Yet the Cubans, 30,000 strong, make up 64 per cent of the town’s population, a heavier majority than in Miami, where they constitute slightly more than half.
 
So it is that Union City, which called itself the Embroidery Capital of the World, and whose other claim to fame was the old Hudson Theater burlesque house, now also is known as Little Havana on the Hudson.

30 November 1992, New York Times, “Union City and Miami: A Sisterhood Born of Cuban Roots” by Evelyn Nieves, pg. B1:
The concept may work, for Miami and Union City, though 1,310 miles apart on Interstate 95, could hardly be closer. Two bus lines make daily trips between them. Spanish-language radio stations here carry Miami news as if it were their own. Union City tabloids are shipped to Miami; Miami newspapers are flown here.
(...) (Pg. B4—ed.)
Just as Miami’s Little Havana has become more of a polyglot immigrant community than a strictly Cuban barrio (Cubans now make up about 60 percent of its 250,000 residents) Union City is more than its old nickname, “Havana on the Hudson,” suggests.
 
The city is 75 percent Hispanic and Cubans remain the largest group, with 16,000 or 35 percent of the population. But there are also Puerto Ricans, immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, the Philippines and several South American countries, and small groups of Italians, Irish, Germans, Jews and blacks.
 
11 April 2000, New York Times, “The Cuban-American Heartland, Northern Chapter” by Andrew Jacobs, pg. B1:
But rather than the stereotypical scene of Cuban unanimity, life in Union City is a window onto the twists, complications and ambiguities of the Cuban-American experience as it plays out in “La Zona Norte,” as Cuban-Americans call the New York metropolitan area.
(...)(Pg. B6—ed.)
The Cuban roots of Union City can be traced to Lyda and Manuel Rodriguez, a newlywed couple from the central Cuban town of Fomento. They were the first Cubans in the area, arriving in 1948. While honeymooning in Miami, they befriended an Italian-American women from North Bergen who was driving back home. The Rodriguezes had dreams of settling in New York and hitched a ride, but they found the city overwhelming and moved across the river with the help of their new friend in North Bergen, recalled Mrs. Rodriguez, now 73.
(...)
Today, the largest group of Cubans in Hudson County are from rural Fomento, unlike Miami, where Havana residents tended to settle.
(...)
Still, though Cuban refugees are widely credited with revitalizing a place that had clearly seen better days, “Havana on the Hudson,” as Union City is sometimes called, is beginning to feel less and less Cuban.
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark LITTLE HAVANA
Goods and Services IC 033. US 047 049. G & S: rum, distilled spirits specialty containing rum and prepared alcoholic cocktail containing rum
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 74532347
Filing Date June 2, 1994
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition September 2, 1997
Owner (APPLICANT) BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED CORPORATION LIECHTENSTEIN Millar Road New Providence BAHAMAS
Attorney of Record Margaret Ferguson
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

(Trademark)
Word Mark LITTLE HAVANA CAFE FRUTAS
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 003. US 001 004 006 050 051 052. G & S: face, hand, and body soaps; perfume; toilet waters; cologne; talcum powder; face, hand, and body lotions; cream body lotions; liquid body soaps; face, hand, and body bar soap; scented plashes; eau-de-toilette; and dusting powder
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 06.07.03 - Street scenes
Serial Number 74720259
Filing Date August 25, 1995
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition March 18, 1997
Owner (APPLICANT) LA CIBELES, INC. CORPORATION NEW JERSEY 538 38th Street Union City NEW JERSEY 07087
Attorney of Record BERNARD MALINA
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “LITTLE HAVANA” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date June 25, 2003
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark LITTLE HAVANA TRADING CO
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: shirts and hats. FIRST USE: 19960515. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960615
(ABANDONED) IC 034. US 002 008 009 017. G & S: humidor. FIRST USE: 19960515. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19960615
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 01.05.25 - Sun, other representations of the sun
03.11.01 - Apes; Baboons; Chimpanzees; Gorillas; Monkeys; Orangutans
05.01.03 - Palm trees
Serial Number 75183155
Filing Date October 15, 1996
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) Little Havana Trading Company PARTNERSHIP MASSACHUSETTS 1200 Millbury St. # 6 F Worcester MASSACHUSETTS 01607
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date August 7, 1997
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark LA HAVANITA
Translations The translation of ‘’ LA Havanita’’ as abserved by the Examiner is ‘’ little Havana’’ or ‘’ the little ‘’ Havana” or ‘’ the little person from Havana.”
Goods and Services IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: Clothing, hats, jackets, shirts, sweaters and t-shirts. FIRST USE: 19971101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19971101
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Design Search Code
Serial Number 75413288
Filing Date January 2, 1998
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition November 9, 1999
Registration Number 2312987
Registration Date February 1, 2000
Owner (REGISTRANT) LA HAVANITA CIGAR FACTORY, L.L.C. CORPORATION DELAWARE 6 West Maple Chicago ILLINOIS 60620
Attorney of Record John D. Simpson
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark PEQUENO HAVANA
Translations The Spanish words “PEQUENO HAVANA” can be translated into English as “LITTLE HAVANA”.
Goods and Services IC 025. US 022 039. G & S: clothing, namely, pants, shorts, and men’s and boys’ knit and woven shirts. FIRST USE: 20040322. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20040322
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Design Search Code
Serial Number 76537772
Filing Date August 4, 2003
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition June 1, 2004
Registration Number 2972115
Registration Date July 19, 2005
Owner (REGISTRANT) Land ‘N Sea, Inc. CORPORATION NEW YORK 1375 Broadway New York NEW YORK 10018
Attorney of Record Martin P. Michael
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE