Wandering around the city center, we encountered shops which sell propaganda posters.
Most of them were printed about 30 – 40 years ago. Though being printed on normal papers, old – time posters were still attractive. Each refers to a contemporary message or a historical narrative, for example, “We Must Cultivate Rice”, “Defeat the enemy”, etc. The paintings remind us of the old days, when our country was still backward and there were not so many forms of transferring information like today.
Propaganda posters were multi – printed and pasted on walls at public places like railway stations, ports, schools, factories … To keep such old fashioned paintings printed tens of years ago was a very difficult job. Several artisans in Hanoi kept collecting propaganda posters for years. Gradually collecting propaganda posters became popular. Not only Vietnamese collectors but also foreigners were increasingly interested in such hobby. More and more shops which sell propaganda posters were now available on Ly Quoc Su St., Hang Trong St,, Nha Tho St., Nha Chung St. … Paintings retraced the vivid picture of the old Hanoi.