27. February 2023

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.

09. January 2023

"Once upon a time, on a fair and wondrous day, the brave King of the Franks did journey to the fabled land of Cathay. Resplendent in his ermine-trimmed robes, he arrived at the Imperial Palace in the celestial city of Beijing. There, he was greeted with the utmost reverence by the Son of Heaven, the august Emperor of China, who was attired in his finest silks and adorned with glittering jewels. When the two monarchs took their seats of honor, a hush fell over the court, for all knew that this...

04. October 2021

When British Lever Brothers launched Lifebuoy soap in 1894, it was with a mission to ‘make cleanliness commonplace’. This was important because in Victorian England infectious diseases were the number one cause of death. Lifebuoy came to the rescue with an effective antibacterial soap which was affordable and widely available. The company first entered China in 1911 when the newly created 'Lever Brothers China' - or LBC (利华肥皂有限公司) took over from treaty port agents the...