Admiring the posters of the plays Late Night Theater, Kim Van Kieu, Phung Nghi Dinh in Made in Saigon

'Made in Saigon' by journalist Pham Cong Luan brings readers back to old memories with the brand identities of consumer goods, lacquer paintings, music albums, movie posters, plays... that appeared in Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cho Lon over the past hundred years.

Made in Saigon books - Photo: HO LAM

The drawings, labels, and advertisements printed in newspapers... in Made in Saigon help today's readers visualize the production, business, cultural, and artistic activities in Saigon - Gia Dinh - Cho Lon over the past century.

Nostalgia for familiar things

As a generation born in the early 1960s, journalist Pham Cong Luan shared that although ordinary people at that time, if they knew how to save, could still buy a two-wheeled motorbike, a refrigerator or an imported Japanese television, the majority of people's household appliances were domestically produced, in factories located in Saigon, Cho Lon or Gia Dinh.

They are affordable, not high quality but usable, have many good things and over time get better due to the new technology used.

In Mr. Luan's family and many other families, from the kitchen to the living room, familiar objects are surrounded:

"Growing up, although we liked to use Camay soap from England, the whole family was used to the scent of Mr. Truong Van Ben's Vietnamese soap, used to wash clothes with Viso or Net detergent, used Bach Tuyet brand cotton, used Bach Tuyet brand paint to paint the door, kept photos in Con Nai brand albums...

Many families display landscape paintings made in Cho Lon on their altars, use bronze incense burners cast from Go Vap, set off firecrackers in Xom Moi, and when sick, buy medicine from Ong Tien pharmacy in Phu Nhuan or Thoai Du Duong shop on Phung Hung street.

Wealthy families who like to support domestic products buy La Dalat cars produced by Saigon Automobile Company with 25-40% domestic content, display lacquer paintings from Me Linh company in Dakao or use wooden furniture from Phan Van Nhi shop.

Cai luong play "Kim Van Kieu" produced by Viet Hai Record Company in 1969. Composers: Vien Chau, The Ha Van. Performers: Ut Tra On, Tan Tai, Phuong Lien, Thanh Tuyen - Photo: Taken from the book

And with nostalgia for familiar items that have passed through his life, Mr. Luan created the Vietnamese-English bilingual book Made in Saigon .

Reading books, older generations are brought back to life in nostalgia when looking at brands, paintings, advertising signs... printed on products such as: cars, jewelry, household appliances such as: batteries, light bulbs, flashlights, thermos bottles...;

Then there are essential foods such as: MSG, instant noodles, soy sauce; garment products, school supplies, children's toys; traditional Chinese medicine, Western medicine... to cultural products such as: lacquer paintings, handicrafts, books, newspapers, music books, cai luong discs and reliefs of guild halls, mausoleums in the Gia Dinh and Cho Lon areas.

And there are also symbolic images of financial activities such as banks, lotteries or logos attached to suitcases of famous hotels from the French colonial period.

Cai luong play Late Night Theater by composer Nguyen Thanh Chau (Nam Chau) includes 4 volumes released by Continental Records - Photo: Taken from the book

Email Brillant toothpaste by Leyna toothpaste company produced in the early 1970s - Photo: Taken from book

Foremost Milk Company is a multinational company that once produced the famous Ông Thọ condensed milk brand in Vietnam. In the early 1970s, Foremost Milk Company established a factory in Vietnam, using a diamond as its trademark. The milk company invited artist Kim Cuong to be its advertising character - Photo: Taken from a book

Poster for the film Phung Nghi Dinh, a staged film produced by My Phuong Film Company in 1958. Actress Kim Hoang plays the role of Dieu Thuyen.

Journalist Pham Cong Luan is the author of many famous books that have been reprinted many times, such as: If we knew a hundred years were limited, The paths to childhood, and The boy That Son .

Not only outstanding in the genre of essays, he is also a writer with an abundant amount of works, bringing readers many valuable monographs and memoirs about Saigon such as: Saigon - Life Stories of the Streets (5 volumes), Old Spring Newspaper Style, Saigon - Looking Back a Hundred Years , There Was a Time in Cho Lon ...

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LAKE LAM

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ngam-bich-chuong-tuong-san-khau-ve-khuya-kim-van-kieu-phung-nghi-dinh-trong-made-in-sai-gon-20250625150533085.htm