Posts tagged with "china"



28. March 2024
1940s Chinese hand fan advertisement for "Robin Hood" cigarettes by the Waterman’s Tobacco Co. (中國華明烟公司) from Shanghai, China. From the MOFBA collection.
Robin Hood, the legendary outlaw from English folklore, famously stole from the rich to give to the poor. This 1940s hand fan advertisement for cigarettes named after the swashbuckling hero is from our collection and shows that the iconic character even stole the hearts and minds of audiences in faraway China.
17. March 2024
Original ca. 1940 BASF / I.G. Farben Chinese advertising poster for Indanthrene dye featuring actress Nancy Chan. From the MOFBA collection.
This gorgeous 1940s advertising poster for Indanthrene dye from our collection, features acclaimed Chinese actress Nancy Chan. It also tells the story of a chemical innovation from Germany that deeply influenced the popularization of the iconic Cheongsam or Qipao dress in China. The Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik, better known as BASF, was founded in Mannheim, Germany in 1865 and had already been actively marketing and selling its “Indigo Pure” dyes in China since 1885.
23. February 2024
Mei Lanfang was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera" and in the 1930s became China’s first global superstar. The acclaimed male performer, famous for female lead roles, toured the world & even had his own cigarette brand as we can learn from this artefact in our collection.
10. February 2024
Happy Chinese New Year 2024 from the MOFBA & Pirate Cigarettes!
24. December 2023
Cover of the Mei Foo Shield magazine, Shanghai, December 1925. From the MOFBA collection.
The Mei Foo Shield was the "monthly magazine published by the Standard Oil Company of New York in the interests of its Far Eastern Staff". More on SOCONY in our previous article here.
13. December 2023
Vintage metal advertising calendar from India for EWO Beer, brewed in Shanghai China. From the MOFBA collection.
This EWO promotional calendar from our collection tells the story of a beer once brewed in China & exported around the world incl to India. Yet it also contains a touch of false advertising which tragically leads us to one of the most sardonic murder cases of Old Shanghai.
08. December 2023
1920s trade card for LUX soap with a motif from the classic Chinese novel "Dream of the Red Chamber". From the MOFBA collection.
LUX soap was the first brand in the world to use celebrities as endorsers. This 1920s Chinese trade card from our collection though shows, that before capitalizing on the grandeur and allure of Hollywood it relied of more classical motifs, but which were no less juicy... LUX soap was created by the firm Lever Brothers, now known as Unilever, in 1899. Marketed as a laundry product for over 20 years, only in the 1920s, the company conducted a contest that led them to a very interesting...
01. December 2023
Original vintage Bayer Chinese advertising poster for Aspirin and Tonicum from 1938 featuring Liang Saishan. From the MOFBA collection.
This advertising poster from our collection tells of an incredible streak of bad luck for the German pharma giant Bayer during a both glamorous and troublesome period of history in the Middle Kingdom.
16. November 2023
Shanghai U.B. Beer branded ash tray, ca. 1930s. From the MOFBA collection.
For for information on Old Shanghai's largest & longest-standing beer brand please visit our previous blog post here.
08. November 2023
Rare Lever Brothers Chinese advertising poster for Sunlight Soap with matching original bar of soap. Painted by Hang Zhiying (杭樨英). From the MOFBA collection.
If you look closely you will discover, that not only do we have this very rare 1930s Chinese Lever Brothers advertisement in our collection, but also an original matching soap bar, just as depicted on the poster. The company was once the largest soap producer in China and its traces remain visible in the country to this day. We have retold its 150-year long history, internationally and in the Middle Kingdom specifically across multiple posts in the past: Lever's Health Soap still sold here The...

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