HF: In 1980 there were 1,187 registered watch factories in Hong Kong during a period when it was one of the largest producers and exporters of watches and clocks in the world. The origin of watchmaking here however possibly goes back 170 years and started very soon after the colony was ceded. Carl Smith wrote a lengthy article, The German […]
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TM Lee is well known in camera and photographic circles as he was the creator of the Hong Kong manufactured Holga Camera. However there is very little biographical information about Mr Lee. He was born around 1930. He was employed as factory manager in HK by the Japanese camera manufacturer Yashica from 1966 for a few years. He later started […]
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HF: ” In January 1942, Hong Kong and Kowloon Jidosha Kabushki Kaisha Ltd took over the following bus routes: No.1 Tai Hang to Sai Wan No.2 The United Pier to The University In October, the Hong Kong bus routes were taken over by HKKJKK Ltd and were changed to: No.1 Star Ferry Pier to Aberdeen No.2 Star Ferry Pier to […]
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HF: Louis Ha and and the late Dan Waters kindly gave permission to post their article, HK lighthouses + men who manned them, on our website. This was originally published in the RASHKB Journal, Volume 41, 2001 linked below. The following is an extract from the article: Green Island Lighthouse started to operate on 1st July 1875, about three months after […]
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HF: In order for the Hong Kong Government to be more closely involved in the production of Hong Kong dollar currency notes, an agreement was reached with Thomas De La Rue plc (DLR) in January 1996 to purchase its note printing plant in Tai Po. Established in 1984, this plant has been producing Hong Kong dollar currency notes for the […]
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HF: “Newspaper hawker licences are no longer being issued, the government confirmed Wednesday. Amid the impending demise of dai pai dong – the practice of selling cheap food in open-air stalls – Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man said the government had not issued newspaper hawker licences “under normal circumstances” since 2000 and had no plans to issue […]
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HF: There is a great deal out there about Diana Cameras but almost nothing on where they were made apart from at Great Wall Plastics Factory, Kowloon Bay starting in 1955. Or ironically photographs of the factory, production, workers etc. Can you tell us more about Great Wall Plastics Factory and the manufacturing of Holga Cameras in Hong Kong? During […]
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Our article,BAAG Naval Section Intelligence Summary, October 1942, ship repair, maintenance and movements,linked below, mentions that the “Tin Shan formerly Jardines vessel is also undergoing repairs [in Shamshuipo – but these two words are almost illegible] Dock. Source 68 [word and number handwritten] Stephen Davies: The ship is actually the Ting Sang or, in most databases, Tingsang. Jardines usually had […]
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Martyn Cornell has kindly given permission for extracts from his article, A Short History of Beer in Hong Kong, to be posted on our website. The article was published in the Journal of the Brewery History Society, Brewery History, Issue 156, 2012 Martyn has his own blog, Zythophile – Beer now and then, linked below. Despite its title the article is […]
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Hugh Farmer: Tai Po Kau station (大埔滘車站) was a railway station on the Kowloon Canton Railway (KCR) when it opened in 1910. It was also known as Tai Po Station. This image shows the KCR being constucted in 1906. “Tai Po Kau (centre) and Yuen Chau Tsai (centre right). In the centre is Tai Po Kau Bay. The construction reaching […]
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