Interesting to note that Martell’s Chinese brand name then still was 麦退而, based on the Shanghainese pronunciation “Mah-r-the”, in comparison to its modern day transliteration 马爹利 pronounced “Madieli” in Mandarin. Founded in 1715, Martell is the oldest of the great cognac houses and its original Chinese name was first mentioned in an 1872 Shun Pao newspaper article. 

Gande, Price & Company Ltd were wine and spirits merchants founded in 1892 with branches in Hong Kong, Kobe, Taipei and Shanghai. In his 1941 trial legendary gangster and “Slot Machine King” of Shanghai “Jack” E.T. Riley famously said he had worked eight years for Gande, Price and they had trusted him with “everything they got” declaring that “his commercial record here was above reproach”.