Posts tagged with "commercial history"



07. August 2023
A rare 1915 Cadbury's China calendar poster advertisement created by Walter Nutter & Co ("Kung-fah"), formerly Rex & Co Shanghai. From the MOFBA collection.
Although cocoa was introduced to Europe sometime in the 16th century it was not until the Industrial Revolution that new processes emerged which sped the production of chocolate and with that the development of an affordable mass market product. In 1824, John Cadbury, began selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate in Bull Street in Birmingham, England. In 1847, John became a partner with his brother Benjamin and the company became known as "Cadbury Brothers”. The new firm began exporting...
23. January 2023
A.S. Watson 1916 Chinese Calendar Poster Advertisement by Feng Runzhi. From the MOFBA collection.
Happy Chinese New Year! This rare A.S. Watsons advertisement from our collection not only has a peculiar design around the auspicious character 康 (health), but tells the origin story and evolution of the famous Chinese calendar posters which were in fact pioneered by Watsons in the 1880s together with a second British firm.