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: 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: Lee Yu Hing Knitting Factory (李裕興織造廠) Front view of the Lee Yu Hing Knitting Factory at 132-136 Un Chau Street in Sham Shui Po in 1949 (Source: HK Memory) In the 1940s to 1960s, Lee Yu Hing Knitting Factory was a leading manufacturer of singlets, underwear and socks in Hong Kong with brands such as Jazz (爵士牌), Singing King […]
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York LO: Lee Kung Man (利工民): maker of the Golden Deer (金鹿) and Cicada (秋蟬) singlets and hosiery While many of the prewar singlet manufacturers in Hong Kong such as Chow Ngai Hing, Ngai Sang, Chuen Sun and Lee Yu Hing have long faded into history, Lee Kung Man Knitting Factory and its popular Golden Deer and Cicada brands (with […]
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York Lo: May Sun Shoes Manufactory (美新鞋廠) Ad for May Sun Shoe in 1938(Source: 新型畫報 – 民國廿七年（1938）創刊特大號) May Sun Shoes Manufactory was founded in the 1930s by Yip Chi-shing (葉智成) with its factory located at 18B Aberdeen Street in Central. From the 1938 ad above, its phone number was the auspicious and easy to remember 28662 and its leather shoes […]
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York LO: Blood Protection Co (保血有限公司) and Fish brand mosquito incense Left: old package of Blood Protection Co’s Fish mosquito destroyer featuring the portrait of its founder H.L. Sum (right) and his brother/son. Right: Blood Protection Co’s ad from the early 1960s – the tagline reads what’s the point of having money when you cannot protect your blood. The warm […]
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York Lo: HK Cutlery Manufacturers from the 1960s and 1970s – Chuang’s, Trinity, Foo Kwong, HK Tableware and Good Friend In the 1960s, the cutlery industry emerged in Hong Kong thanks to the UK government’s policy of Commonwealth preference which favored imports from HK over Japan. The industry grew very rapidly in the early 1960s, with total exports grew from […]
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