The publications on show at Nha Nam Thu Quan Coffee Shop includeprestigious dailies and weekly magazines like Dan Ba (Women), Sai Gon,and Phong Hoa (Customs and Mores).
Among the most impressive fortheir layout and variety in contents are issues of Phong Hoa and Sai Gonpublished in 1935 and 1939.
Phong Hoa has a cartoon on its cover lampooning some bad customs originating in northern villages.
Thepopular weekly was published by Tu Luc Van Doan (Self-relianceLiterature Group), a literary club founded in 1933 in Ha Noi by a groupof well-known writers under Nguyen Tuong Tam, also known as Nhat Linh.
The group published many important literary works by famous authors including Khai Hung, The Lu and Xuan Dieu.
SaiGon features a series of reports about the families of revolutionariesTa Thu Thau, Duong Bach Mai, Nguyen An Ninh, Nguyen Van Tao and NguyenVan Nguyen, who were incarcerated by the French colonial regime.
All the exhibits belong to city-based collectors Duong Thanh Hoai, Hoang Minh, Vu Ha Tue, Nguyen Huu Triet and Vu Dinh Dau.
Theexhibition is being organised by the Nha Nam Publishing House whichalso owns the coffee shop at 43 Ho Van Hue Street, Phu Nhuan District,where customers can read old books for free.
The exhibition, which opened this week, runs until late March./.