My hometown Ningde

Do you still remember the old advertisements from Ningde Jiaocheng?

Speaking of commercial advertisements, you must know that there are relevant advertisements in the streets and alleys of Ningde. Will you remember which advertisement? Or do you hate those ads? Today, let’s talk about the advertising romance in Jiaocheng.

Jiaocheng is located on the coast of eastern Fujian and has the advantage of boating. However, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, sea bans were implemented, and there was only land access to the outside world. Moreover, because of its hilly location and rugged mountain roads, people relied on imported goods for daily necessities. Manual shoulder-carrying, difficult transportation, poor communication, limited information, and primitive folk customs. In 1898, Fu Customs was established on Sandu Island. After it was officially opened to the outside world, as commercial activities became increasingly active, the market became increasingly prosperous and competition within the industry intensified.

But the residents here still knew little about the outside world. As late as the 1920s, their knowledge of the outside world did not exceed what they could see before their eyes. At that time, a single-stone merchant named Chen Qingxin came to Fuzhou, the provincial capital, to buy goods for the first time. When he came back, he was asked what he had seen. He said that Fuzhou was full of wonders, with horses running all over the street dragging glass cabinets. This story about the carriage has left an unheard joke to future generations. In such a relatively closed environment, in order to promote new products and expand business, commercial advertising came into being.

Commercial advertising is not purely imported. In ancient societies where there was product exchange, there was the prototype of advertising. Although it doesn't compare to the ubiquity of modern advertising. However, we still regard some practices in the product exchange process as advertising behaviors. For example, when exchanging products with others, you always have to explain the use and performance of your product to make the other party accept your product. This is the most primitive advertising. But this is different from modern commercial advertising after all. In the early Republic of China, the commercial advertisements that appeared in Jiaocheng can be considered to be somewhere in between the two.

For example, a bakery shop writes an article on the wrapping paper (commonly known as sign paper) and invites literati to draft an advertising slogan for their own specialty cakes in parallel prose and print it on the wrapping paper, concisely and concisely. , easy to understand. On paper, make enough "articles" and use the easiest method to achieve the purpose of announcing your own products and occupying more market share.

At that time, more and more merchants were trying to put inscriptions on their signboards, listing time-honored and large-scale shops, and generally hiring famous calligraphers or celebrities to inscribe them at high prices, in order to increase their worth, highlight their reputation, and gain more business benefits. For example, Jiang "Ruichang" and Yan "Yuanchang" drugstores, which are known as century-old drugstores, have their signature books inscribed by famous calligraphers in Ningbo. It is said that they cost fifty taels of silver to polish their pens. Another Taisheng rice milling company asked Mr. Chen Zhuyuan, a well-known person in the town, to inscribe a book on the list. The calligraphy of the famous artist was indeed unique, which caused a sensation in the whole city and became a good story.

At the same time, efforts are made to produce plaques. Large-scale stores mostly use black lacquer and gold-plated plaques, and the production is very exquisite. The two drug stores of "Ruichang" and "Yuanchang" even placed one side in front of the medicine cabinet. About one square meter of wood relief sculptures of deer, bamboo, bangs and toads were decorated with pure gold foil, which was very precious and eye-catching. All this is nothing more than achieving advertising effects.

There is a shop called "Jijiaodian" in Zhuangyuan, which specializes in selling ancestral plasters and making woodenware. On the counter is a red lacquered wooden rooster of the same size as a domestic one, with its head held high and a plaster in its mouth, indicating that this place not only sells plasters but also makes woodenware, because from such exquisitely carved works, it can be inferred that this place The level of sophistication in the woodwork a family makes. The advertising effect of such a wordless wooden rooster cannot be replaced or surpassed by endless words.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, tea oil lamps were commonly used for night lighting in Jiaocheng. Candles were only lit during festivals or weddings and funerals. Foreign petroleum products are imported by sea, and people are still skeptical and dare not use them rashly. It was the "Mobil" company that first launched a campaign to buy kerosene and give away oil lamps, which made people realize during the trial that using kerosene for lighting is indeed better than rapeseed oil. Making kerosene acceptable to thousands of households, sending lamps really played a big role. Therefore, people in Jiaocheng collectively call kerosene lamps "Mobil lamps". This is the effect of physical advertising.

In the early 1930s, the "Ruichang" drug store created a physical advertisement. The store claimed to make "whole deer balls" and put them on the market. To this end, a sika deer was shipped back from Ningbo. So the whole store was decorated with lights and colorful decorations, and the store was decorated. A specially made wooden tree with a sika deer placed in it, tied with red silk, was carried by four men, and walked through the streets and alleys of the city to the sound of silk and bamboo gongs and drums for three days in a row. Then a grand banquet was held, famous doctors from urban and rural areas were invited to witness the event, and Zailu made medicine. The production quantity of "Quan Shikamaru" is limited and while supplies last.

It caused a sensation in the whole city, and all the pre-orders for the pills were sold out within a few days. Its antlers are used as the treasure of the store and are placed on the upper floors of the display window. Such physical advertising not only creates immediate economic benefits for the store, but also has long-term advertising effects.

During the Republic of China, there were some snack baskets floating around the streets in Jiaocheng, such as fish ball baskets, Yiqi cakes, lard and red date cakes, etc. These snack baskets used their own tricks to attract customers. For example, once there are no customers coming to the fish ball table, the spoon will be shaken in the porcelain bowl, making a sonorous and pleasant sound, advertising that fish ball fans are sold here. For this reason, a funny place name riddle was created: "The fish ball basket is out of business - Wan Yao (Kiln)".

Yiqi Cake Dan is an air flute installed on the steam pipe. Once the cake is steamed, it will emit a pleasant air whistle sound, which not only attracts onlookers, but also arouses people's appetite. The purpose of selling more. There is Luo Junpei, who specializes in red date lard cake, which is characterized by its fine production and good taste. What's even more amazing is the sales performance: holding a pot of oil cake in hand, muttering: "Red dates and lard cake, lard and red date cake", running back and forth from one side of the street to the other, using exaggerated body movements to attract customers. Gu Rong suddenly became a "landscape" on the streets of Jiaocheng.

In the streets and alleys of Jiaocheng, there are mobile haberdashery stalls with hand-cranked rattles from time to time. The most well-known one is Peng Younian, who sells appraised clothes. He often sells used clothes and other items on the street. This gentleman behaves a bit strangely and is dressed strangely. He wears a high hat and holds a civilized stick (sometimes with a black umbrella in his hand). He cuts a hole in the toe of his leather shoe and calls it "leather sandal". And he was so overly enthusiastic about women that women were afraid to avoid him when they saw him. Therefore, there are popular sayings in Jiaocheng such as "Younian" and "Yeyounian", which are used to satirize people's mental disorders.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, regular ship flights were resumed between Sandu Port and Fuzhou. Business in Jiaocheng gradually regained its vitality. New advertising began to appear on the streets of Jiaocheng in the form of advertising paintings. Two products are most prominently advertised, namely cigarettes and manufactured medicines. It is said that this group of advertising producers are all from Shanghai. They set up scaffolding in front of the big wall and painted advertising paintings with advertising paint.

Most of these advertising paintings were painted on the walls of the city ring road from Xiaodongmen to South Gate, and their shadows could still be seen in the early 1950s. Later, it was mostly covered by various sports slogans. Since these measures were new to the people of Jiaocheng at that time, every painting would attract many curious onlookers. There are various cigarette advertisements, including "Platinum Dragon", "Beautiful", "Daqianmen", "Laodao Brand", "Hard Gate" and so on. They are all painted and very eye-catching.

Among the patent medicines, "He Jigong" has the most advertisements, followed by "Human Dan", "Bagua Dan", "Tiger Balm", etc. The "He Jigong" advertising painting uses lake blue as the background color. Three plump "He Jigong" characters with black frames and white borders occupy a prominent position in the picture, followed by the manufacturer and various antipyretic and analgesic effects, which are amazing. It really confused a lot of people.

However, this patent medicine is indeed effective in treating certain pains and fevers. In an era when medical treatment is scarce, it also solves the urgent needs of some people who cannot afford medical treatment. Due to the large number of buyers, pharmacies are also happy to sell them. In fact, we know that this medicine is just compound aspirin, which is a story for another day. "Tiger Balm", "Bagua Dan" and "Human Dan" are all popular patent medicines, but manufacturers still spare no effort in advertising. It can be seen that these businesses with the business philosophy of the times are well aware of the important role of advertising in modern business marketing. Advertising is different from not advertising. Advertising can bring greater business benefits.

At the end of 1947, inflation intensified, the market fluctuated, and people's livelihoods were in decline. Advertisements, which once appeared in great numbers, were born at the wrong time, and they were only short-lived and then withered away. The mottled pictures left on the wall remind people that what was once a lively place has now become yesterday’s advertisement.

Today's society is progressing in the development era. Outdoor light box advertisements, traditional paper media websites, self-media public platforms, public accounts, etc. are overwhelmingly advertising, but the innocence and simple quality advertising is missing.

▍Content source: Refer to Sanyizhai Ning Xiaobo? Original editing of Ningde City Information is completed

▍Graphic editor: Ningwen Planning