China: Front cover of the Czech edition of Carl Crow's book 'Master Kung, the Story of Confucius' (1937)

Carl Crow (1884-1945) was a Missouri-born newspaperman, businessman, and author who managed several newspapers and then opened the first Western advertising agency in Shanghai, China, which he ran for 19 years, creating much of what is thought of today as the sexy China Girl poster and calendar advertisements. In the 1930s and 1940s, Crow wrote 13 books, including his story about why he is a Confucian, Master Kung: The Story of Confucius (1937). Crow was also founding editor of the Shanghai Evening Post. He died in Manhattan.

Carl Crow arrived in Shanghai in 1911 and made the city his home for a quarter of a century, working there as a journalist, newspaper proprietor, and groundbreaking ad-man. He also did stints as a hostage negotiator, emergency police sergeant, gentleman farmer, go-between for the American government, and propagandist. As his career progressed, so did the fortunes of Shanghai. The city transformed itself from a dull colonial backwater when Crow arrived, to the thriving and ruthless cosmopolitan metropolis of the 1930s when Crow wrote his pioneering book 400 Million Customers, which encouraged a flood of business into China in an intriguing foreshadowing of today’s boom.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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OLD SHANGHAI