Posts tagged with "girl"



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.
31. July 2023
1930s Chinese Coca-Cola print advertisement by Watson's. From the MOFBA collection.
08. July 2023
1928 Chinese calendar poster for Beacon (海燈牌) cigarettes from A. Lopato & Sons (老巴奪父子) in Harbin. It wishes a Happy New Year (恭贺新禧), was illustrated by famous artist Xiezhiguang (谢之光) and printed by the Commercial Press. From the MOFBA collection.
This intriguing 1928 calendar poster, advertising the „Beacon” cigarette brand, was not only created by the most versatile Chinese commercial artist of the 20th century, but also leads us to explore the story of the first and largest foreign-founded tobacco manufacturer in China.
12. June 2023
A 1927 Chinese advertising poster for Palmolive, by Hang Zhiying. From the MOFBA collection.
This rare 1927 Palmolive poster from our collection, not only stems from a very short-lived period of the brand, but was also designed by the most prolific commercial artist of Republican China. Follow along for a deep-dive into this golden age of Chinese advertising.
27. February 2023
Metal advertising sign for Allenburys (爱兰百利) No. 71 throat pastilles ( 第七十一号喉症糖, 消毒润喉), the models long, rolled back hair, with a section of bangs and the art deco style of the illustration dates it to the mid-1920s. From the MOFBA collection.
This beautiful mid-1920s Art Deco style advertisement sign for Allenburys tells the astonishing story of the once wealthiest foreign family of Old Shanghai. They were highly esteemed, with numerous schools, two streets, an office building, and even a coffee house named after them. Yet, their name has almost been forgotten, if it weren’t for the rare artefacts that sometimes still show up in the antique markets and the few remnants of their legacy strewn across the vanishing old city.
07. November 2022
In November 2022 the Chinese government issued new regulations for celebrity related advertising. Among others the updated rules prohibit celebrity endorsements of medicines, off-campus education and – finally - tobacco. What sounds fairly reasonable for today’s standards actually took the authorities over a century to crack down on: the practice of Chinese singers and movie stars unscrupulously peddling cigarettes goes back to the early 20th century and, as we will see, sometimes even with...
24. October 2022
Sweetie chewing gum ad by Shanghai Henningsen Produce Company featuring Liang Saizhu (梁赛珠), one of the 3 famous Liang sisters. From the MOFBA collection.
In 1848 John B. Curtis from Maine developed the first commercial chewing gum, inspired by American Indians who chewed resin made from the sap of spruce trees. The product innovation soon became popular across the USA and beyond. Already in 1890, we find a first mention of chewing gum being available for Christmas season in the International Settlement of Shanghai from American trading firm Mustard & Co. But it took another 20 years before mass-marketing to a wider Chinese audience would...
10. October 2022
A stunning Chinese “My Dear” post-war color ad from 1946 with a voluptuous brunette bombshell on the beach, modelled after the prevalent 1940s US pin-up style popularized for and by the G.I.’s overseas. From the MOFBA collection.
My Dear, or Měilì (美丽牌) meaning “beautiful” in Chinese, was the most popular Chinese cigarette brand out of Shanghai during Republican China. Since its inception it was famous for the attractive, confident and modern “new women” featured in its advertisements, ubiquitous across billboards, magazines and newspapers. Its Chinese slogan 有美皆备,无丽不臻 literally means “everyone wants the beauty because without beauty there is no completeness” but in more creative...

Show more