As the people of Taiwan grow more conscious about their
cultural and historical identities, images of Taiwan's past
have become collectible cultural treasures that illustrate
the many sides of the island's recent history. A local artist,
Chin Cheng-te , and several of his art-major schoolmates who
helped him form the Spring Grass Art School have collected
more than two-hundred images from the past century, most
of which have been reprinted as postcards and are sold in
bookstores. Fascination with an old photo of the Red Leaves
Baseball Team prompted their efforts to help recover part
of the island's precious cultural legacy and thereby contribute
to the search for Taiwanese identity.
An old picture of one of the Mount Ali railway
feeders, possibly manually colored after it was
printed from a black-and-white photo taken
during the Japanese colonial period. The
railways hidden in the high mountains of the
island played an important role in Taiwan's
industrialization. Most of them have disappeared
over time.
This magazine cover, printed in 1976, is
from a weekly publication for comic-book
enthusiasts. The description placed above the
magazine title reads, "an all-around educational
and inspirational magazine," and the joyful
look of the cartoons reflect a more innocent time,
marked by optimism about the future.
A label for a bottle of wine produced by
the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly
Bureau in the 1950s. The simple design
indicates the source of the wine, sugarcane.
A hand-illustrated railway timetable
printed in 1947 by the Taiwan Railway
Administration. The font of the characters
was an original creation that is unavailable
on today's word-processing menus. The image
of the female attendant shows the Western
influence that accompanied military and
financial aid from America. From 1951 to 1965,
Taiwan received large amounts of economic aid
from the US as part of its Cold War efforts to
limit the spread of communism in East Asia.
An advertisement, printed in the 1960s, for
Honda motorcycles. Even after the Japanese
imperial power withdrew from the island, its
cultural influences lingered on. Japanese
products are still popular in Taiwan and so too
are Japanese television programs, songs, and
many other facets of modern Japan. This
postcard is the bestseller of the series, possibly
because its retro look is still considered stylish.
A Patriotic Lottery ticket printed in 1968 depicts two women
harvesting tea leaves under the shade of their conical hats. The
lottery was used to raise money for national defense and other
essential government services. Recently, the lottery has once
again become a popular amusement in Taiwan.
An advertisement produced during the
Japanese colonial period to promote the
great variety of fruit grown on the island.
The English caption indicates an early
wave of international trade in which
Taiwan's fruit was a major export
commodity.