R&R Destination Taipei

As the military opened the doors to Taipei as an R&R destination in the mid 1960s, it looks like the Taipei bar owners came together to begin advertising their establishments in ways never before seen. I suppose this may have been an idea of an up and coming advertising company or newspaper classified editor.  No matter who came up with the idea, it did get done, and one would think, it paid off for bar owners.

This has to be a "first" in the history of published advertising directed to foreigners by bar owners in Taiwan.

What am I talking about?

I saw this photo displayed in Flickr, the photo sharing program.  It was one of the photos Doug Price had included in his photo collage. Looking at the photo, I could see that it was a booklet of some sort.

I wrote to Doug asking about the photo and booklet.  Today, Doug sent me scanned pages from the booklet.

There is no question, this advertising was directed toward R&R men arriving daily in Taipei.

The bars had no reason to advertise to the US military personnel who were stationed in the Taipei area.  Those folks learned about the bars by word-of-mouth from friends and associates.

The photo above was the cover on a small booklet, approximately the size of a business card.  Easy to keep in your pocket.

I'm guessing these booklets were stacked-up inside the R&R Processing Center and were probably available at all the hotels in Taipei where R&R troops stayed during their Taipei visit.

 




















Above ....."Welcome to enjoy a very pleasant vacation in Taipei."

Directly geared to GI's arriving on R&R.

Had this advertising been for others, it would not be written in English.

Here are the 26 bars advertised on the booklet cover.

Most bars were within easy walking distance of most hotels.

The price list.  Easy to understand.  Note:  "Drinks for Girls" are expensive!

And here's your handy-dandy conversion chart - very easy to read.  Many GI's came into town with a pocket full of money and had the time of the life during their short R&R visit.

Others, thinking they should be a little bit more conservative with their cash, probably used this chart day and night to be sure they were not being robed. 

The cops were as close as a phone call.  PMO was all over Taipei during those days.

F.A.P. = Foreign Affairs Police.  I believe a FAP officer rode along with all PMO vehices.

 Here's an article we published a few years ago about the Military Police in Taipei.

The back cover of the small booklet. 

The woman is shaking hands with a visitor.  Not many women in Taipei wore nail polish in the 1960s.  This photo speaks words.

Enough information inside for any GI to find a bar right down the street from his hotel.

Perhaps you spent your R&R in Taipei.  Please write and tell us about those days.

Thank you so much Doug Price, USN,  for sharing this interesting booklet.

More history,  of our time in Taiwan.