Revealing Cultural Needs and Transnational Nodes: Boxer Kid Chocolate and the Analytical Usefulness of Celebrity

Boxer Kid Chocolate (b. Eligio Sardiñas, 1910) achieved extraordinary popularity in Cuba in the 1920s and 1930s due to his exploits in the United States. His popularity opens up an avenue of historical inquiry based on the notion of cultural needs – the idea that celebrities become popular because their public persona somehow addresses concerns and anxieties in a given society. The career of Kid Chocolate opens a window onto broader concerns regarding race and national development that Cubans faced in the early twentieth century. Because these concerns were addressed largely through Kid Chocolate’s activity in the United States, his career sheds light on a trans-national cultural sphere based on a shared appreciation of sport, and its broader significance, in both Cuba and the United States. This paper will examine the ways in which the life of Kid Chocolate provides an opportunity to explore these themes.