York Lo: Bakilly – the forgotten maker of perfumes, hair cream, toothpaste and other personal care products Founded in the 1910s, Bakilly (百家利) was a major local personal care product brand in Hong Kong for over half a century alongside firms such as Kwong Sang Hong, Sam Fong and Sincere. The firm produced a wide variety of personal care products […]
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Anna Marie Lowe recently left a comment below our article, The National Lacquer and Paint Products Co Ltd. Anna is the granddaughter of Huang Yang-yin, 黃仰賢, aka Harry J. Lowe,co-founder of NLPP and says he never lived in the United States, as claimed in the original article though her father Huang Chu-chi and grandmother Mary Cang did. She met the other […]
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Anna Marie Lowe recently left a comment below our article, The National Lacquer and Paint Products Co Ltd. Anna is the granddaughter of Huang Yang-yin, 黃仰賢, aka Harry J. Lowe,co-founder of NLPP She met the other co-founder Yan Ben-Kwan, 甄秉鈞, aka Alfonso J. Ben, (1898- 1972) a few times as a child. “The National Lacquer and Paint Products Company, Limited was […]
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“This firm was founded in 1902 by Mr. E. C. Wilks, as a marine engineers’ and surveyors’ bureau. Mr. Wilks was joined in 1903 by Mr. W. C. Jack, formerly Ingenieur en Chef of the Tonkin River Mail Service, and late assistant manager at the Kowloon establishment of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company. During the five years of […]
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STRIKERS GET THREE MONTHS IN PRISON “Sixty-four men and women strikers of the Hong Kong Match Factory were sentenced to three months hard labour at Central yesterday. The strikers on Friday had refused to sign a bond of $50 to be of good behaviour for two years following a disturbance they created in the Factory’s offices in the Bank of […]
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“Cookson and Co of Milburn House, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1827 Cookson and Co established soda works at South Shields; Thomas Doubleday gave them the plans of his chamber, furnaces, etc, when they established the works[1] 1852 Messrs J Cookson were lead merchants at Upper Thames Street, London, with manufacturing works at Newcastle[2]. 1855 William Isaac Cookson and Co, were paint and colour […]
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York Lo: The Three Kings of Biscuits – M.Y. San, M.P. San and Pacific In the history of the biscuit and confectionery industry in Hong Kong, M.Y. San, M.P. San and Pacific Biscuit & Confectionery were three prominent firms which shared a common root – they were all started by members of a Filipino Chinese family hailed from Zhongshan (formerly […]
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Louis Heermann was an assistant in the shop of Charles Weiss from the year 1854. After the shop was closed upon the death of Henry Vaucher, Mr. Heermann opened his own shop on Queen’s Road in February 1858 (Friend of China 1 Feb 1858)… Not long after opening his own store, Mr. Heermann left Hong Kong. (Adapted from source 1) Thanks […]
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“It is interesting to note that as years go by the wants of the inhabitants of even the most distant parts of the world are steadily increasing, and while the older generations were satisfied with comparatively little in the way of luxuries, the rising generation look upon many of these luxuries as necessities. Perhaps one of the best examples in […]
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Carl Smith wrote a lengthy article, The German Speaking Community in Hong Kong 1846-1918, published in the the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch, 1994. The article mentions several people and companies involved, mid-19th century, in the business of selling chronometers and watches in HK. Were these actually made here or in Europe? It seems unlikely that […]
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