In 1921, at age 24, Frederick Harris Jewell began a career in advertising by heading off to Shanghai, China, to represent the marketing interests of The British-American Tobacco Company (BAT). Fred spent 13 years as an expatriate, living in China and based in Shanghai. He regularly traveled throughout the northeast of China, as well as Manchuria, Mongolia and Chosen (Korea).
In 1925 Fred took a cruise around the world in order to see the places he knew only from history books... places like IndoChina and the Pacific, India, Egypt and more.
Hi two companions, a typewriter and his camera were always nearby and in frequent use. During this time abroad Fred exposed thousands of negatives and shot 16 mm movies as well. Throughout this journey, he was putting his impressions into a four volume set of journals which he filled with photos and momentos of his trip.
On the following pages, are images created and collected by Fred while living in China and traveling around the world between 1921 to 1937... before World War Two and between two Chinese Revolutions... between the old way and the new.
Fred’s time in China begins only 9 years after the abdication of Puyi, China’s last emperor. When he traveled through VietNam, Laos and Cambodia, those countries were referred to as IndoChina and Saigon was a very French place. Fred photographed the pyramids only 3 years after Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb. Traveling through India, he trekked 7000 feet up into Darjeeling, Srinegar and Peshawar; into the Khyber Pass (populated by Afghan guerrillas even then). While traveling through the Mughal Sarai in India he heard Ghandi speaking to a crowd and wrote in his journal...
“While I think of it, I want to mention that I heard Ghandi speak at the market last Friday afternoon. There was a big crowd and they did a lot of applauding. Ghandi was a little man, all wrapped up in the white cotton material that the Indians wear, except that one shoulder was bare. His hair was turning grey. He did not make much of an appearance but he sure has stirred up things in this country. He is trying to do away with the caste system and many Indians are angry at him for that ”.
On the last leg of his trip around the world, Fred flew from Paris to London and observed:
“This is my first trip in the air and it’s great stuff. We have been in the air for 30 minutes and it’s like riding in a Pullman car. We are up 3,000 feet and are making over 70 miles per hour. There are six of us. We all have box lunches and it’s sort of an air picnic!” This was two years before Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. Radio was still a novelty.
Fred had a Kiplingesque view of foreign lands and always approached the people he encountered with kindness. You can see that in his photographs. Strangers posing for him were sometimes shy or guarded but more often smiling broadly, as though he amused them. His kind face, 5 foot stature, sincere curiosity and affable demeanor won him friends wherever he travelled.
Digital restoration of Fred’s images is ongoing and this site will show updated, restored images when available. There are many more images in Fred’s body of work. Visit us often to see what’s new. Comments are welcome. Please use the email link at the bottom of the page.
