York Lo: Finland, London and Swiss – 3 Ice Cream Brands from the 1960s Aside from Dairy Farm, On Lok Yuen and Yan Chim Kee which have been covered in earlier articles, three other HK ice cream makers from the 1960s were Finland Ice Cream, London Ice Cream and Swiss Ice Cream – all with European sounding names but 100% Chinese […]
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York Lo: Emcolon Fashion Wigs (愛其麗免恤髮品) Emcolon Wigs lucky draw at the 27th HK Products Expo in 1969-70. Nelson Lee (left) assisting Chuang Chung-wen of Chuang’s Cutlery and CMA (centre) who was the guest of honor. (HK Memory) One of the wig manufacturers that was not covered in an earlier article on the HK wig industry [see link below], is […]
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York Lo: Lap Shun – the Fallen Knitwear Giant Law Shiu-lun (left) of Lap Shun Textiles presented with a congratulatory gift by Tai Tung-ngok, chairman of Yau Yat Chuen Development on his appointment as District Councilor of Sham Shui Po. (Kung Sheung Daily News, 1982-11-18) In the mid-1980s, a wave of major business failures took place in HK and […]
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York Lo: The World-Light Manufactory (光宇製造廠) Left: Lai King-ha at his residence in Tsuen Wan (Chiao Tung Alumni publication); Middle: World Light’s Globe brand logo (HK Government Report, 1935); Right: World Light and Feuerhand lanterns (eBay) From the 1930s to the 1960s, The World-Light Manufactory was one of the most prominent industrial enterprises in Hong Kong, best known for […]
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York Lo: Fung Tang: The Firm, the Family, the Transpacific Metals Trade and Tin Refinery For almost three quarters of a century from the 1870s to the 1940s, HK-based Fung Tang (馮登記, Fung Tang Kee in Chinese) was a powerhouse in the transpacific metals trade with branches in Shanghai and three cities in Yunnan, affiliates in the US and Japan and […]
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York Lo: Y.C. Liang and HK Macao Hydrofoil Left: a scene from the 1974 James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun in front of the HK Macau Hydrofoil ticketing booth; Right: a HKMH ticket from 1983 In the history of transportation between Hong Kong and Macau, the legendary Yuen-Cheong Liang CBE (梁潤昌, but better known as Liang Cheong […]
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York Lo: Great China Match Co. (大中國火柴廠) Great China Match Factory in Peng Chau in 1956 (Land Use Survey, HKU Libraries collection) Founded in 1939, the Great China Match Factory on Peng Chau was once the largest match manufacturer in Hong Kong, with over 1000 workers at its peak in the late 1940s and its “Kowloon” and other brands of […]
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York Lo: The Forgotten Jewish American Tycoons behind the HK Plastic Flowers Industry Plastic flowers production in HK in the 1960s In the late 1950s, artificial flowers made out of plastic were in high demand in the West and Hong Kong emerged as the world’s leading producer of plastic flowers thanks to its significant cost and labor advantage. Starting with […]
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York Lo: The Sim family and Yu Chun Loong Canning (裕全隆罐頭公司) Ad of Yu Chun Loong listing all the canned goods it manufactured in the late 1940s (HK Factory Survey) Founded in 1907, Yu Chun Loong Canning Co (also written as Yu Chun Loong Cannery) was one of the earliest, if not the oldest cannery in Hong Kong. Its founder […]
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York Lo: The Faded Glory of Bang Bang Fashions (繽繽) Left: Print ad of Bang Bang; Jimmy Yip at the Bang Bang factory as featured in the 1977 New York Times article. In the mid-late 1970s, Hong Kong became the largest garment exporter in the world and one of the brightest stars in the HK garment industry at the time […]
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