07. August 2022

In the autumn of 1930, the national government of Shanxi province established the Jinhua Cigarette Factory (晋华卷烟厂) in the city of Taiyuan by merging several smaller private tobacco producers. The state-owned enterprise produced cigarettes throughout the 1930s until November 1937, when the Japanese army occupied Taiyuan and took over the operations. It remained active under the name “No 13 Factory” until the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War after which it was nationalized again...

08. March 2022

The 1930s marked the first “Golden Period” of Chinese cinema and catapulted its key performers to superstardom. In 1933, the newspaper Star Daily conducted China's first public poll for the most popular movie stars with Hu Die “Butterfly” Wu (胡蝶) as the runaway winner with 21,334 votes, more than twice as many as the first runner-up Chen Yumei, and almost three times the votes her friend Ruan Lingyu (阮玲玉) received. Hu Die was crowned China's first "Movie Queen", but Ruan...

24. January 2022

Tobralco was a fabrics brand by British company Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co, which was founded 1799 in Manchester. In 1918 a research department was established, which carried out early work on creating crease resistant fabric. The company was notable for its early use of brand names and was a leader in the field of selling direct to retailers. By 1939, the firm had spinning, weaving and yarn dyeing factories across England and 5 branches overseas. Additionally the company had agencies throughout...

26. July 2021

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).