世界日報
- The Commercial Press: thirtieth-anniversary sale
- Dongfang University admissions
- Beijing school admissions and a telephone tariff notice
A commercial front page advertises books, school admissions, theatre and everyday services. Readable deadlines turn the old display slogans into a concrete late-summer and autumn calendar.
Selected advertisements and notices; small discount figures, full medical claims and contents lists are not comprehensively transcribed.
Translation
The Commercial Press: thirtieth-anniversary sale
The Commercial Press
Thirtieth anniversary: greatly reduced prices and generous gifts
An unprecedented promotion in support of education
Period: 28 August to 30 September
(A) Purchases of primary-school textbooks
(B) Purchases of secondary-school textbooks
(C) Purchases of our other publications
(D) Purchases of instruments, stationery and toys
(E) Purchases of original Western-language books and consignment books
A detailed leaflet and catalogues for categories A and B are printed separately. Sent on request.
Dongfang University admissions
Dongfang University admissions
Year-level examinations for regular and preparatory courses in the university and specialist divisions
Applications close: 29 September
Examination: 30 September
Middle-school division
Classes: English, mathematics, physics and chemistry
[Title incomplete] Ye Gongchuo; Deputy Head Zheng Hongnian; Principal Yu Tianxiu
Beijing school admissions and a telephone tariff notice
Beijing Specialized School of Law, Politics and Commerce seeks new students
Applications close: 28 September
Term begins: 1 October
Address: 144 Dongcheng Shidajie
[...]
Urgent notice from the Beijing General Telecommunications Bureau
From 1 September, the charge for each fifteen-minute telephone call between Beijing and Tongxian, Xiangshan or Tangshan is uniformly changed to two jiao in silver currency, or eight jiao and five fen in May notes.
Context
A sale organized around schools and their supplies
The Commercial Press had developed from a Shanghai printing business founded in 1897 into an educational publisher. The advertisement sorts customers’ purchases by textbook level, other books and equipment, then offers separate catalogues for the school categories. This makes the promotion useful for planned purchasing rather than a single impulse buy. Its claim to support education also links the publisher’s commercial growth to the expansion of teaching and reading.
An admissions calendar for several kinds of study
Dongfang’s notice places university, specialist, preparatory and middle-school offerings together. It presents education as a set of entry points rather than one undifferentiated course. The close spacing of the application deadline and examination date required prospective students to act promptly. Naming administrators and teaching subjects also gave readers practical details with which to identify and compare the institution.
Using the front page to organize everyday transactions
The specialist school and the telecommunications bureau both used newspaper space to announce when arrangements changed. One set a deadline before an October opening; the other dated a revised tariff and distinguished forms of payment. For readers, the page therefore served as a public reference for tasks requiring action—applying, preparing for classes or paying for a call. Advertising and official notices were part of its daily usefulness alongside news.
Original
商務印書館 三十年紀念
商務印書館
三十年紀念 大廉價 大贈品
補助教育 空前盛舉
期限
自八月廿八日起
至九月三十日止
（甲）購小學教科書
（乙）購中學教科書
（丙）購其他本版圖書
（丁）購儀器 文具 玩具
（戊）購原版西書寄售圖書
另印詳細傳單及甲乙類書目 索閱即寄
東方大學招生
東方大學招生
大學部專門部本科預科年級試驗
報名日期 九月廿九日止
考期 九月三十日
中學部
科目 英文數理化各班
長葉恭綽 副長鄭洪年 校長余天休
北京法政商業專門學校招新生
北京法政商業專門學校招新生
報考期 九月二十八日止
開學期 十月一日
校址 東城市大街一四四號
[...]
北京電訊總局緊要通告
北京與通縣香山湯山間傳電話每次十五分自九月一日起一律改收大洋二角五月票八角五分