24. November 2023

The Astor House Hotel was once the oldest and most reputable establishment in Shanghai, but in 1910 an unthinkable crime occurred at one of the most famous hotels of the world, that almost tarnished its reputation forever. Items acquired by us in the USA help solve the century-old mystery...

22. May 2023

This German-language advertisement booklet from our collection is by itself a bit of a conundrum, but also reminds us of a puzzling episode that happened at the hotel during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937.

14. August 2022

A stunning illustration on this vintage box by the Chinese “Healthy” Pure Silk Hosiery brand (健美牌). The voyeuristic perspective and dramatic interaction of light and shadow is reminiscent of American realist painter Edward Hoppers art. Even more intriguingly though, the lady’s thin long eyebrows and her short hairstyle with romantic waves undoubtedly dates the image to the 1930s, while the low-key black and white setting in an inner-city apartment with Venetian blinds is much more...

06. June 2022

A kerosene lamp branded by Lockwood Bros, Pampa, Sheffield and Shanghai Rex & Co (公发英行 - "Kung-Fah" ). From the MOFBA collection.

14. May 2022

For what kind of product might this mysterious trademark be, that appears to show tablet PC's from outerspace orbiting the earth? From our 1933 Chinese Trademark directory.

04. April 2022

"Sometime ago a foreign company, started a vast million-dollar campaign to boost its brand into the Chinese market. For months there appeared not only in all papers but also in Chinese general storekeepers, restaurants, theatres, and public amusement grounds large advertisements depicting a ponderous Chinese character (烤) with a circle encircling it. There was no effort to explain that lone character (烤), which stood for "toasted", and led one to wonder whether it was meant for toasted pork...