04. June 2023

This ca. 1925 passbook for the provision store Dombey & Son from our collection, is the equivalent to the “order history” tab of modern ecommerce or grocery delivery apps. A unique glimpse at how advanced retail was in Shanghai already back then. Dombey & Son was a high-class grocery store established in 1899 and the location on 143 Bubbling Well Rd (today’s Nanjing West Rd) existed since at least 1909. As Shanghai grew into an international metropolis the address was renumbered...

14. November 2022

The Quaker Oats trademark was registered in 1877 by Henry Seymour, an Ohio milling company owner. In 1901 his former company was merged with several other producers under the newly formed Quaker Oats Company, founded by Henry Parsons Crowell, and soon started to sell its products internationally through global distribution networks. In 1908, Quaker Oats introduced the first in a series of cookie recipes on the box and the iconic cylindrical package made its first appearance in 1915.

09. May 2022

14. June 2021

Taken from the book "Food Facts" published by The Shanghai Times. J.A. Folger & Co. was established 1850 in San Francisco as Wm. H. Bovee & Co and was the first coffee brand to offer roasted and ground coffee ready for brewing. Procter & Gamble acquired Folger's in 1963 and during that time became the number one coffee brand in America. The "Agent for China", Getz Bros. mentioned in the ad was also founded in the 1850s in California by Joseph and Max Getz. By the 1870s, the brothers...

31. August 2020

In the 22nd year of the Republic of China (1933) the Trademark Office of the Ministry Of Industry compiled the first volume of "Trademark Transactions of the Ministry of East Asia" (東亞之部商標彙刊). The publication of the book was a significant event in the industrial and commercial circles of the time. It received extensive attention from all walks of life. Over 100 senior government officials, celebrities and scholars such as Lin Sen, Yu Youren, Sun Ke, Song Ziwen, Li Zongren, Wang...