04. June 2023
This ca. 1925 passbook for the provision store Dombey & Son from our collection, is the equivalent to the “order history” tab of modern ecommerce or grocery delivery apps. A unique glimpse at how advanced retail was in Shanghai already back then. Dombey & Son was a high-class grocery store established in 1899 and the location on 143 Bubbling Well Rd (today’s Nanjing West Rd) existed since at least 1909. As Shanghai grew into an international metropolis the address was renumbered...
20. June 2022
A beautiful (and unopened!) art-deco design tea tin of "Selected Tea" by the Sincere Co. Shanghai. Sincere was the first Chinese-owned department store in Shanghai, opened in 1917. It was also the first of the "4 Big Department Stores" of Old Shanghai, followed by the Wing-On, the Sun Sun and the Sun. The relentless competition between them spurred modern retail innovations throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s, such as in this case consumer packaged goods under "Sincere's" own private label brand...
14. February 2022
Much has been written about old Shanghai’s famous temples of consumption such as the Sincere Co. opened in 1917 and the Wing-on established one year later in 1918. Little though is known about Tianjins (then called Tientsin) commercial retail history, even though it then was the second largest treaty port of China in terms of international population with up to 9 foreign concessions.
18. October 2021
Crane Stores, Shoers & Hatters (鶴鳴鞋帽商店) was founded by the father of Jefferson Young, who soon after the opening of the first Shanghai store in 1936 took over the family business. The firm swiftly expanded to several locations in Shanghai and subsequently in Nanjing and Hong Kong. By 1950 it had 13 stores nationwide. Jefferson Young moved to Hong Kong in 1951 where he continued to manage the local Crane subsidiary. In 1952, Crane expanded to Singapore, soon after to Penang and...
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...
22. September 2021
While old Tianjin (then called Tientsin), was second only to Shanghai as Western treaty port in terms of size and foreign population with its up to 9 concessions, the Quanyechang was absolutely on par with its contemporaries in Shanghai such as the Sincere, Wing On and Sun Sun. The English language press referred to it as Tientsin Bazaar or the Tientsin Exhibition of Industrial Encouragement. Located on the busiest commercial intersection of Tientsin on Rue du Maréchal Foch and Rue de Chaylard...
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