Many thanks to Lawrence Tsui for sending his father’s, Paul Tsui’s unpublished Memoirs – My Life and My Encounters see http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/paul/paul.html Paul Tsui Ka Cheung was born in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong on Nov 5 1916. He had a very full life, including some dramatic times during WW2. He started work in Hong Kong as a Cadet Officer Class 2, on […]
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Hugh Farmer writes, The SCMP of 10 Dec 2013, has an article “Museum plans an old school revival” which mentions a plan by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and the Hong Kong Toys Council to set up a permanent museum dedicated to toys produced here. Sounds like an excellent idea given the importance of the toy industry in Hong Kong […]
» Read moreAdapted from Newsletter 3, published 11th January 2013 As part of my research into the West Brother Island Graphite Mine and Lin Ma Hang Lead Mine I came across the name Stephen Hui. From 1956-1970 he was the Chief Mining Engineer and General Manager of the Yan Hing Mining Company Ltd. As such he was involved in the exploration of […]
» Read moreDan Water’s article in Newsletter 8, Recollections of a Visit to a Joss-stick Mill in Tsuen Wan, describes the decline of this once important Hong Kong industry. It is highly unlikely there will be a serious revival of the incense mills (though how delightful it would be to visit a reconstructed, working incense water mill above Tsuen Wan or on […]
» Read moreHugh Farmer writes, in Newsletter Seven I mentioned Chinese manufacturing enterprises in the 1870s. These included two for preserving ginger and other processed food including soy sauce and preserved fruit, several machine-makers, a tannery, a paper factory and a manufacturer of matches, workshops for producing cigars, tobacco, clothing, glass, oars, rifles, ropes, umbrellas, spectacles, tooth-powder and soap, as well as […]
» Read moreThe OED defines the word Comprador(e) as “a person who acts as an agent for foreign businesses” and suggests it originated, in English, in the 17th century from the Portuguese word for “buyer”. It is a term which occurs frequently in the 19th century colonial history of Hong Kong especially concerning trade between, China, Hong Kong and the rest of the […]
» Read more11. The Elm Tool and Die Company Newsletter Seven mentioned American Louis Marx’s Hong Kong “The Elm Tool and Die Company”, established in 1952 and managed by a David Yea. (However, another source suggests this company was registered on 15th November 1958 and dissolved on 2nd March 1991.) It appears this was a toy company as Mr. Yea was destined to […]
» Read morehttps://www.hongkongheritage.org The Hong Kong Heritage Project was commissioned by Sir Michael Kadoorie in May 2007 to consolidate the Kadoorie family business records. Amelia Allsop is the very helpful Collections Manager. Records of HK Industrial companies kept at the archive include the HK and Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd, the HK and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Co. Ltd, the HK Rope Manufacturing […]
» Read moreThe 8th Industrial History of Hong Kong Group newsletter was published on 19th August 2013 Contents: The Silver Mine of Silver Mine Bay – Part One – Andrew Wood Recollections of a Visit to a Joss-stick Mill in Tsuen Wan – Dan Waters In Search of an Improved Industrial Design: The Hong Kong Rickshaw over Time – Fung Chi Ming […]
» Read moreGeorge Fogh, Denmark, read Fung Chi Ming’s article in Newsletter 7 about hand-pulled rickshaws and asks if there were ever bicycle ( also known as tricycle, trishaw and pedicabs) rickshaws in Hong Kong and if so were any manufactured here. Fung Chi Ming will respond in Newsletter 9
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