Astor House: Curios on Broadway

We've gone back in time again from our 1932 visit with the passengers of the S.S. Resolute, all the way to 1907.

It's been a bit of a challenge to place this photo, postmarked November 15, 1907. Most of Broadway is oriented East-West and the shadows under the carts and rickshaws point to the right, so the photographer is standing facing roughly west, looking toward the point where Broadway merges into Seward Road.

The four- or five-story building in the distance on the left is the back of the block where the Astor House is located - this is before the large new wing built in 1911 along Astor Road would have reached Broadway. But we are here for the Curios stores on our left closer to the photographer.

It's tricky to estimate distances, but this block on our left on Broadway would have featured the German, US and Japanese consulates on the other side facing the mouth of Suzhou Creek and the Pujiang River. Behind the photographer, a few blocks further along, would have been the side streets that lead to the docks mostly frequented by passenger liners.

Passengers arriving on these ships would have had a choice of rickshaws and later taxis to take them into downtown Shanghai, but if their destination was the Astor and they felt adventurous, they could have just walked. These stores here would have been their first opportunity to shop for souvenirs and gifts for the folks back home.

This is one of the best photos I've seen of these stores at this time, it is unusually sharp and the lighting was favorable. The artist that colorized the black and white photo was gentle with the brush and we can see quite a lot of detail.

Beginning at the top, I'm intrigued by the giant figurine hanging over the entrance, what on Earth is that? I've not seen a better photo of this section of Broadway yet, so I can't even speculate. From the partially legible sign next to the figurine, the store is actually owned by a Japanese family - Kishida & Co - "Chinese Art Curios And Leather Goods".

While writing this I did a search for the name of this company, and as it turns out, they manufactured and distributed postcards and maps of Shanghai, mostly in the early 1900s. Here is the back of a postcard I found online:

"Published by T. Kishida & Co" with their address hilariously as "Near Astor House, Shanghai, China, Japanese Curios Dealer". This certainly confirms what we are seeing in the photo above.

Looking at the first set of windows all the way on the left, the store offers paper umbrellas and silk wear. Over the entrance are ink drawings on vertical banners and next to the door is a board with several postcards which are probably the ones they publish themselves.

In fact, this card is most likely a Kishida production featuring their own store. Which also explains why the proprietors of the store seem to actually be posing for the camera. Maybe it is T. Kishida himself that is looking at us from the second door of the shop...

For our next photo we will stay more or less in the same spot and just turn around...