On the Road in Early 1970s Malaysia

Oh it must have been great to live in Malaysia in the early 1970s and to find out that “The Imp is here!!!”

Was everybody a really talking about the new Hillman Imp De Luxe?

Of course they were. After all, it could accelerate from 0-50 mph in 14.9 seconds (varooooom!!!!!). It hugged the road and whipped gracefully around corners. And even better, it could turn in a tight circle and park in a tiny space.

But best of all, it had large stowage pockets! Oh yea!! Go Imp!!!

If, however, you were looking for something even more impressive, then you could try out “new comfort” and “new glamour” in the Morris Mini Minor Super 850. It was “Malaya’s most challenging car!!!” (huh???)

I’m not sure what was so “challenging” about the car. It looks like it was pretty slick. It had an “amazingly spacious interior, with new, splendid furnishings – new-design seats – new attractive appointments everywhere.”

In other words, it was “the perfect car for the fastidious – for the family which likes Mini-Motoring in maximum luxury.”

Well that clearly must have applied to the “fastidious” Chinese couple in the picture. But I don’t think everyone on the road in Malaysia in the early 1970s had the means to look as sharp as that couple, or to afford a new car.

For such people, however, there was still hope that they could look cool in their own way. After all, such people could still cruise around on one of these “appealing” babies – a 50cc Suzuki. (roarrrrrrrr!!!!!!!)

Noraini and Choo are Smarter than You

I came across these advertisements for The Chartered Bank in a magazine called Malaysia from the early 1970s. I find the logic that these advertisements use to communicate with the reader to be very interesting.

The first says that “Noraini may not know much about import duties. . . But she could tell you the way to ‘The Chartered Bank.’”

Then in smaller print below the picture it says that “The Chartered Bank is as much a part of the Malaysian scene as the tappers in the rubber plantations which fringe the highways or the street stalls selling meals on a skewer.” It then goes on to talk about the bank.

Then there is the following advertisement about Choo. It says that “Choo may not know all about the growth of local industry. . . But she could tell you the way to ‘The Chartered Bank.’”

Below this picture it then says “The Chartered Bank is as much a part of Singapore’s life as the orchid girls who trim and pack their fragile, exotic wares safe for airlifting to every part of the world. . .”

So what is the interesting logic to these advertisements? As I see it, it’s based on this line of reasoning: 1) women are simple-minded, 2) Noraini and Choo are both women, 3) Noraini and Choo both know where The Chartered Bank is, therefore, 4) The Chartered Bank is VERY famous and well-established because even simple-minded women like Noraini and Choo know where it is.

Sinkesin in Indonesia!!

I have posted a couple of entries about the medicine Sinkesin (here and here). I first came across it in a Thai newspaper from the 1930s, and then in a Chinese newspaper from Burma in the 1950s.

Now I have found it (under the name Senkesin) in an Indonesian newspaper from the 1950s called Waspada. I don’t know Indonesian, but the images in this advertisement are the clearest that I have found for this product.

If someone would like to read what it says and tell me the gist of it, that would be wonderful.

What is great about this add is that we can finally get a good view of the monkeys. The Thai advertisement from the 1930s which I read said that the main ingredient in Sinkesin came from the sex glands of langurs. The two cute guys in the picture here, however, look like chimpanzees.

In any case, it is great to finally see the Latin term for this secret medicinal ingredient – Masculinum!

Tobralco-Clad Siamese in the 1930s

The post below (from yesterday) contains images of “modern women” in Burma in the 1960s. They are wearing synthetic-fiber clothes made by the Toyo Rayon Company.

Well close to 30 years before the wonders of synthetic fibers were promoted in Burma, the Siamese discovered the joys of Tobralco.

I haven’t been able to find much information on Tobralco. I understand that it was a trademark for a type of textile produced by the Tootal Broadhurst Lee Company Ltd. in Manchestor, England. This company sought to produce textiles which would not wrinkle. While I would think that this would require using something synthetic, the materials which the Tootal Broadhurst Lee Company produced appear to have been largely made of cotton or silk.

So while the material might have been different from what the Toyo Rayon Company produced, these images are similar in the way in which they promote a “modern” sensibility. In comparing these pictures from the 1930s in Siam with those from the 1960s in Burma below, it becomes clear how different the paths to modernity that the Siamese and Burmese followed were.

Getting Strength from the Life Glands of Monkeys in 1950s Burma

I was looking at this Chinese newspaper from Burma in the early 1950s and came across this advertisement below.

It is an advertisement for a product which claims to be the “The Enhancement King of Male-Female Life Glands.” It can be used by men and women, the elderly and the young, anyone whose mental or physical strength needs a boost.

It is “Uniformly praised by famous Chinese and foreign doctors alike.”

Why is it so powerful? Well its undoubtedly because its main ingredient comes from the “life glands of monkeys. . .”

While I can’t make out what is written on the box, this is clearly an advertisement for a product which was called Sinkesin, “The Hormone Rejuvenator.”

I came across a more detailed advertisement for this product in a Thai newspaper from the 1940s and wrote about it here a couple of years ago.

I’m sure it is Sinkesin because this advertisement contains the same warning. “Note: [Sinkesin] Gold is for men, and Silver is for ladies.”

You have to wonder – what would have happened if someone took the wrong pills?

Smoking in 1960s Laos

Ever wonder what people in Laos were smoking in the 1960s as they cruised around in their new Mazdas?

Well here is the answer. Consulate cigarettes, for one, a brand from England.

Then there were “Sam Dao” or “Three Stars” cigarettes. While the package states that the tobacco is “U.S.A. Blend,” this was actually a German company.

Then we have Phaxeun. I can’t read the Lao text, so I’m not sure where it comes from, but the packaging suggests that, like “Sam Dao,” it was a Western brand which had been given a Lao name.

And then finally there was at least one Lao brand of cigarette –  Muang Thong.

The Wex Habit in 1950s Burma

In the 1950s, Burma had just recently become independent. Its citizens were engaged in the monumental task of building a post-colonial nation. This took daily effort, but fortunately the Burmese were able to start each day the best way possible, by drinking “Wex Sparkling Grape Saline – The Effervescent Health Drink Which Cleanses & Invigorates the Whole System.”

Wex could make you feel good 24 hours a day, and it was so good for you.

In fact, Wex could be your “family doctor” and make your entire family “Healthy – Happy – Wise.”

Of course there were other brands, but how could they compare with Wex when all they could do was to keep you “regular”?

So given that these products enabled one “to know the real joy of living,” you have to wonder, where have all the sparkling fruit salts gone anyway?

Racially Ambiguous Smokers in 1960s Burma

I don’t know much about Burma. I know that women historically did smoke cheroots. I could be wrong, but my sense is that today only elderly women smoke cheroots, and that young women don’t smoke at all. Perhaps some youth in places like Rangoon do. I’m not sure.

In any case, in recently looking through a newpaper from Burma in the 1960s, I was surprised to find quite a few adds for cigarettes which target women.

These adds were in an English language paper, so they could be for Western women who were the wives of Western businessmen in the country.

However, some of these women look “racially ambiguous.” Are they Western? Burmese? Both? Was this an advertising strategy, to present images of women which women from different groups could simultaneously identify with?

A Burmese Fat Reducing Machine

I found this in a 1962 issue of The Nation from Burma. This is what the caption under the picture says.

HOW TO REDUCE FAT AND GAIN SCHOOL-GIRL FIGURE: Daw Kitty, Proprietress of the Holly Fashion House, Bogyoke Market, yesterday demonstrated how, through appropriate exercises taken with the help of her Fat Reducing Machine, one could reduce 10 pounds of weight in a month.

The electrically-operated machine was imported from the United Kingdom at a cost of K 4,000.

According to Daw Kitty, it is possible for all fat Burmese women to keep themselves trim and shapely by taking a course of judicious exercises with the help of the Machine. They must however be free from tuberculosis and heart diseases before they can be accepted for the course.

In the picture is seen Daw Kitty demonstrating how the Machine works and what exercises the “patient” has to perform. The “patient” here is Thin Thin Lai, a noted film-star.

The Thai-ification of an Ovaltine Ad

Sometimes when I look at old newspapers I come across the same advertisement in newspapers from different places and in different languages. I think this one here is interesting. The above advertisement was in the Straits Times in Singapore, while the one below was from a Thai newspaper (I can’t recall which one). If I remember correctly, they are from the 1930s. It is interesting how the woman in the Thai version has been made to look more Asian, but not completely. Perhaps the intent was to still include something of the “Allure of the West.”