York Lo: South China Tea Corporation (華南茶業) and “Cocktail Tea” (鷄尾茶) Left: Outdoor advertising for South China Tea’s “Cocktail” covering the building which housed the Mayfair Studio in Kowloon (likely 3 Saigon Street); Right: a South China Tea Corp’s “China Beauty” Chinese green tea tin (Worthpoint) While the family of Southeast Asian tycoon Eu Tong-sen might be best known in […]
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York Lo: Shui Hwa Watch (瑞華表行) Ad of Shui Hwa Watch in 1977 listing all the brands it was sole agent of (WKYP HK Yearbook, 1977) From the 1950s to the 1980s, Shui Hwa Watch was one of the leading watch dealers in Hong Kong, best known for being the sole agents for famous Swiss brands such as Piaget (伯爵表, […]
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York Lo: Chow Deuk Sang and Aurora Chow When it comes to prominent HK jewelers with the surname Chow, the first two that comes to most people’s mind are Chow Tai Fook and Chow Sang Sang, which also happens to be the top two chains by the number of stores. From the 1940s to the 1960s, there were two other […]
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York Lo: Fotoprint Service (浮圖攝影) Fotoprint on Stanley Street in 1959 on the right next to Mow Kie Ladies Tailor (ABC); Right: Fotoprint on D’Aguilar Street in 1965. (Gwulo) Fotoprint Service was a prominent distributor of photo supplies and provider of photofinishing service from the 1940s to the 1980s alongside several of the firms covered earlier such as Asia Photo […]
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York Lo: K.K. Lam (林君傑) – the Rise and Fall of a Watch Band Merchant turned Speculator Left: K.K. Lam (Federation of HK Watch Trade & Industries); Right: opening of Ying Kit Stock Co in October 1972 (WKYP, 1972-10-30) Earlier in the group we have covered three HK industrialists whose high-profile disappearances captured the headlines in their respective decade – […]
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York Lo: T.B. Hwang and Benny Tang Hwang Tiong-beng (hereafter referred to as “T.B. Hwang”) was a prominent figure in the shipping and shipbuilding business in the 1960s and 1970s while Benny Tang Kar-hung, the brother of Hwang’s daughter in law was a key figure in the HK construction industry and local football circle from the 1970s to the 1990s. […]
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York Lo: Camera Men: Shum Ming-hin and Yuen Kang-chuen The history of photography in Hong Kong would not be complete without the profiles of two prominent figures in the camera business – Shum Ming-hin, whose A. Sek & Co was a leading distributor of photographic equipment in HK from the 1920s to the 1960s and his son in law Yuen […]
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York Lo: The Kwan family and Yue Ying Can Manufacturing and Asia Can Co Left: Yue Ying and Asia Can co-founder Y.P. Kwan (WKYP, 1963-4-3); Right: profile of Yue Ying Can Manufacturing in 1934 (HK Chinese Factories Survey, 1934) Earlier on the website we covered the Shang family of China Can Company. Another key player and pioneer in the HK […]
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York Lo: Kowloon Confectionery & Bakery Co (九龍糖果公司) “Eat More Bread” ad for Kowloon Confectionery in 1941 (A Century of Commerce) The Kowloon Confectionery & Bakery Co was one of leading confectionery firms and bakeries in Hong Kong from the 1920s to the 1960s but has since faded into history. Sam Shong-won (岑崇運, 1895-1969), the founder of Kowloon Confectionery, went […]
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York Lo: Asia Photo Supply (愛雪影音) Asia Photo Supply ad in 1960 promoting its color photofinishing service, specifically Kodak films. The tagline reads everyone can enjoy the fun of color photography. (WKYP, 1960-5-12) Aside from Stereo Ltd., Asia Photo Supply was another pioneer and leader in the photo-finishing business in HK and a leading dealer of photographic equipment from the […]
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