Following My Boy Lollipop into Southeast Asia
My Boy Lollipop is an American pop song that has been recorded many times around the world. There is a Finnish version of this song from 1964 that I have…
The Bee Jays and the Trailers at the El Amigo in 1973
In 1973 at the “el amigo nite club” on Kitchener Road in Singapore a band called the Bee Jays performed nightly. With a name like Bee Jays, one can’t help but…
Milk, Cognac and a Man’s Good Friend in 1930s Singapore
Advertisements in Chinese language newspapers in Singapore in the 1930s are very interesting. Earlier in the century, the advertisements were very male-focused, and dealt with things that appealed to working…
Getting Sexist and Sony-O-Matic in 1970s Singapore
I got a dose of 70s nostalgia today, so I decided to take a look at what was happening in Singapore in the 1970s. And one of the first things…
Detergent, Sanitary Napkins, Air Hostesses and the Chinese Contribution to Modernity in Southeast Asia
I was looking at an issue from 1959 of a Chinese-language newspaper that was published in Bangkok, the Sing Sian Yit Pao (Xin Xian ribao 新暹日報), and I started to…
The Manhood Creator in Colonial Singapore
It’s amazing what you can find in old newspapers. I was looking at a Chinese-language newspaper from Singapore called the Union Times, and in an issue from 1912, I found…
Singaporean Humidity + Chinese Clerk = Broken Typewriter
On 21 July 1900, US Consul in Singapore R. A. Morseley wrote a letter to Assistant Secretary of State David J. Hill in which he asked for financial support ($60…
Senkesin Art from 1930s Singapore
To continue looking at advertisements for Senkesin. . . I have to admit that the artwork in a lot of these advertisements was really good. A long time ago on…
The Great Monkeys of Mercy in 1930s Singapore
I’ve written a few times on this blog about Senkesin (here, here and here) a kind of medicine that was sold in Southeast Asia that offered a cure for many…
Thai and Chinese Attitudes Towards Administering Laxative Tablets in 1930s Southeast Asia
I came across this advertisement a few years ago in a Thai newspaper from the 1930s. It shows a woman “administering help” to her child. The child is unable to…