20. February 2022
Not advertising related, but this has to be one of the most bizarre Old Shanghai tales we’ve come across. Here is what went down on March 7th 1936… Lu Fuzhi (陆敷之), the president of the 'Shanghai Commercial Fraternal Joint Trade Union', on this 40th birthday, took his 'wife' Yang Xiaoe taking off in a hot air balloon - made in France – apparently from the eastern side of Mogan Mountain, expected to arrive in Huzhou before sunset. However, the couple never arrived in Huzhou that...
29. November 2021
With community support, the California Associated Raisin Company was established in 1912 and membership comprised 85 percent of the state’s raisin growers. In 1915, the brand name Sun-Maid, coined by advertising executive E.A. Berg, was launched. Sun-Maid began developing raisin markets in Asia in 1918, and by 1922 had set up offices in Japan and China, where it immediately became a hugely popular brand. While raisins were considered to be commonly available foodstuffs by Americans, they were...
25. October 2021
"Wise men all choose to smoke Pirate cigarettes". They apparently are also awesome at basketball... 1930s ad poster from British American Tobacco (BAT) brand Pirate cigarettes.
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
16. August 2021
Introduced in 1923, Hatamen was one of British American Tobaccos (BAT) best selling brands besides Ruby Queen, Chienmen and Pirate. After the Communist Liberation BAT's assets were transferred to the state-owned Shanghai Tobacco Company in 1951. The Hatamen brand was continued until 1963 when it was suspended for being "too colonial". That is until 1992 when Qingdao Cigarette Factory relaunched cigarettes under that name (but with different logo and key visuals). Unlike in the case of the...
05. July 2021
The International Dispensary (五洲大药房) was one of the most important drug and medical supply organizations in China. It was established 1907 in Shanghai as joint-venture by among others Mr. How Zai-Fong, who was also the founder of the Commercial Press and magnate Hwang Chu-Chiu (黄楚九 / Huang Chujiu), owner of the Great Eastern Dispensary (中法大药房).
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. May 2021
Another unique little piece of commercial and economic history during the Shanghai foreign concessions "Solitary Island" period - still managed by the Shanghai Municipal Council and the French authorities respectively, but surrounded by Japanese military forces. Supply from the Shanghai hinterlands was heavily restricted by the Japanese and left the concession's population with mostly overseas imported goods at increasingly high prices: In fact from 1939 to 1941 prices practically doubled as...
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