To the left is a poster for Eveready Batteries from 1931.
Looking at the technique, the pose, the style of the
foliage, the architectural details, and the composition, which aspects
strike you as more Chinese or more Western?
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Poster
for Eveready Batteries
| SOURCE:
Postcard,
copyrighted by Dal Housie Enterprises, Orchard P. O. Box 0248,
Singapore 9123. |
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What products are being advertised in this ad for
an electric company of the 1930s?
Based on her dress and
surroundings, what do you imagine the social position of the woman to
be?
Compare this calendar to the folk print [included below in
this Teacher's Guide].
What do you notice about their color and tone?
| MORE:
The style of calendars changed due to artistic innovations such
as the rub and paint method. This technique involves the
application of a thin layer of carbon powder on the image.
The shadowy sections of the image are then carefully rubbed to
take on the contours of a faint sketch. Watercolors are
then applied. The result is a fair and unblemished tone
with a slightly rosy tint.
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Poster
for Kung Ming Electronic Company |
| SOURCE:
Chinese Women
and Modernity: Calendar Posters of the 1910s to 1930s,
compiled by Ng Chun Bong, Cheuk Pak Tong, et. al. (Hong Kong:
Joint Publishing Co., 1996), p. 85. |
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FOLK CALENDAR |
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Colorful calendars such as this were hung in Chinese homes
during the New Year celebrations. This calendar shows the zodiac symbols
that served as the traditional year names. During the Lunar Year people
in North China would offer sacrifices to the gods of the constellations
(symbols for which are pictured here) in order to ensure prosperity
during the coming year.
How many animals can you recognize on the calendar?
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Calendar with zodiac symbols
| Zhonghua minzu banshu
(Taibei: China National Museum of History, 1977), p.18 |
| ANSWER: There are twelve animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon,
snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. |
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Move
on to Soft Drinks and Liquor
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