Posts tagged with "ad"



23. February 2024
Mei Lanfang was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera" and in the 1930s became China’s first global superstar. The acclaimed male performer, famous for female lead roles, toured the world & even had his own cigarette brand as we can learn from this artefact in our collection.
10. February 2024
Happy Chinese New Year 2024 from the MOFBA & Pirate Cigarettes!
08. November 2023
Rare Lever Brothers Chinese advertising poster for Sunlight Soap with matching original bar of soap. Painted by Hang Zhiying (杭樨英). From the MOFBA collection.
If you look closely you will discover, that not only do we have this very rare 1930s Chinese Lever Brothers advertisement in our collection, but also an original matching soap bar, just as depicted on the poster. The company was once the largest soap producer in China and its traces remain visible in the country to this day. We have retold its 150-year long history, internationally and in the Middle Kingdom specifically across multiple posts in the past: Lever's Health Soap still sold here The...
19. October 2023
Ca. 1930s advertisement poster for Sun-Maid Raisins in China. From the MOFBA collection.
For more on the history of Sun-Maid Raisins in China please visit our previous blog post here.
13. October 2023
1946 Shanghai magazine ad for Eng Aun Tong Tiger Balm. From the MOFBA collection.
This 1946 Shanghai magazine ad for Eng Aun Tong features a puzzling key visual - we certainly don't recommend using Tiger Balm as a sunscreen... The well-known heat rub was created in the 1870s by a Chinese herbalist in Burma. His sons took over the company in 1908 and developed it into a highly successful business empire which exported to China, Japan, and across Southeast Asia. In 1920 the headquarter was moved to Singapore where it continues to be manufactured to this day.
18. September 2023
1929 Chinese calendar poster advertisement for Pond's Vanishing Cream, illustrated by Zhāng Díhán (张荻寒). From the MOFBA collection.
This 1929 Pond’s advertisement calendar is not only one of the most stunning pieces in our collection, but also an important artefact of China’s modern social history. The beauty brand and its ad agency, Carl Crow Inc., were instrumental in creating the archetypal “Modern Girl” whose image prevails in Chinese popular and commercial culture to this day. Here is the back story of what made it so iconic.
12. September 2023
Late 1930s postcard from a series on Manchurian Life titled "Advertisement Painting". From the MOFBA collection.
This 1930s postcard from our collection reminds us of the lost profession of billboard painter, signwriter or “wall dogs” as its practitioners were often colloquially called. Commercial advertising has a long history in China and in the West but as an industry only emerged several centuries after the invention of Woodblock printing in China in the 9th century, and of the printing press by Gutenberg in around 1436. These technologies eventually allowed for the mass production of flyers,...
05. September 2023
An exceptionally rare 1917 Chinese Horlick's malted milk advertising calendar poster featuring Guan Yu and Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms period. From the MOFBA collection.
This unique 1917 Horlick’s calendar advertisement from our collection depicts a martial scene that actually takes us all the way back to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. Get ready for an immortal story about the mightiest of men, war, loyalty and... warm milk.
27. August 2023
Various artefacts from the Shanghai Aquarius Mineral Water & Beverage Company. From the MOFBA collection.
The Shanghai Maling Aquarius company recently reintroduced its iconic orange juice soda, proudly emphasizing the 159-years-long history of the famous "Zhengguanghe" (正广和) drink. Our research shows that this is a very generous interpretation of the brand’s actual age, and that its true history is slightly more ambiguous. Let's dive into the iconic company's origin story:
22. August 2023
Ca. 1940 hand fan with advertisement for the Shanghai U.B. Beer brewery and featuring comedy duo Han Langen (韩兰根) and Yin Xiucen (殷秀岑). From the MOFBA collection.
You’ve surely heard of Laurel & Hardy, the famous slapstick comedy duo of early American cinema. But did you know that China had its equivalent with Langen Han & Xiucen Yin? A 1940 hand fan advertisement for Shanghai U.B. Beer from our collection reminds us of their forgotten history.

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