25. April 2024
This postcard from our collection shows a billboard ad for May Blossom cigarettes on the “West Bridge” leading to Shamian Island in Guangzhou, China. An opportunity to explore the charming former concession area that retains much of its historic atmosphere to this day.
05. July 2023
This lovely ca. 1935 advertising booklet for the Astor House Hotel from our collection has a centerfold map & offers the perfect opportunity to take you on a journey through old Tianjin, the second biggest foreign settlement of Republican China. Tianjin, or Tientsin as it was once called, is located 140km South-East of Beijing on the shore of the Bohai sea and its Chinese name translates to "Heavenly Ford" or "Ford of Heaven". After the end of the Second Opium War in 1858 the Treaty of...
29. May 2023
Thrills Galore!! This beautifully illustrated 1930s advertising hand fan for the Shanghai Auditorium, reminds us of world’s fastest sport, Hai-Alai, which once was China’s hottest new game, but nowadays is entirely forgotten in the country. Here’s what it was all about:
28. March 2023
Like no other, this vibrant ad for the trifecta of Victor Sassoon’s hospitality empire, symbolizes the unprecedented real-estate boom and architectural splendor of Shanghai in the early 1930s. Join us on a journey through the history of the three edifices, all of which still house hotels today.
15. February 2023
This marvelous commemorative booklet from our collection was published on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the celebrated Shanghai Union Brewery. It offers an intriguing testament to Shanghai’s world-famous history of commerce, design, architecture and… tragedy.
16. January 2023
Last week would have been László Hudec’s 130th birthday. In celebration of Shanghai’s most well-known architect, here is a beautiful commemorative advertising booklet from our collection about his Art Deco magnum opus: the Joint Savings Society Building, more famously known as the Park Hotel or “International Hotel” (国际饭店) in Chinese. The edifice, constructed between 1931 to 1934 at 164 Bubbling Well Road (today’s No.170 Nanjing West Road), was named after the Joint Savings...
14. February 2022
Much has been written about old Shanghai’s famous temples of consumption such as the Sincere Co. opened in 1917 and the Wing-on established one year later in 1918. Little though is known about Tianjins (then called Tientsin) commercial retail history, even though it then was the second largest treaty port of China in terms of international population with up to 9 foreign concessions.
15. October 2021
Shanghai Art Deco and Bespoke Shanghai are organizing a guided trip to the city November 19-21. Details at info@bespoketravelcompany.com
22. September 2021
While old Tianjin (then called Tientsin), was second only to Shanghai as Western treaty port in terms of size and foreign population with its up to 9 concessions, the Quanyechang was absolutely on par with its contemporaries in Shanghai such as the Sincere, Wing On and Sun Sun. The English language press referred to it as Tientsin Bazaar or the Tientsin Exhibition of Industrial Encouragement. Located on the busiest commercial intersection of Tientsin on Rue du Maréchal Foch and Rue de Chaylard...
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