York Lo: Millie’s (妙麗)– the Iconic Handbag and Shoes Brand Left: the iconic Millie’s neon sign on Nathan Road at night; Right: Millie’s founder Alan Lau on the cover of Economic Digest at the height of his success in 1982 In the 1970s and early 1980s, Millie’s was the leading handbag and shoes manufacturer and retailer in Hong Kong. Its […]
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York Lo: Easey Garment Factory (依時製衣廠) The founders of Easey Garments (Left to right): S.P. Tong (WKYP, 1972-12-10), Wu Yiu-kwan, Chan Lee-pak, Ursula Tong For the past half a century, Easey Garment has been one of the largest jean manufacturers in Hong Kong although the firm has been relatively low key despite having been a public company and owning prime […]
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York Lo: Po Yuen Iron Works (寶源鐵工廠) Advertisement of Po Yuen Iron Works in 1947 (區少軒等編《香港華僑團體總覽》,香港:國際新聞社,1947 年) Fok Wai-man (first from the left) and fellow Kowloon Chamber of Commerce leaders on vacation in Mui Wo (WKYP, 1962-7-22) Aside from garment factories and tobacco factory, Mongkok was also once home to a metal factory by the name of Po Yuen Iron […]
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York Lo: Wader Film Studio (華達製片廠) Left: Wader boss William CK Hu (aka CK Woo); Right: Aerial view of the Wader studio Wader Studio was a major film studio in HK in the 1950s and 1960s, at one time being the largest and most advanced in the industry. Between 1953 and 1973, 1287 films were shot in the studio on […]
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York Lo: Sanda Shoes (山打皮鞋) and Manning Shirt (萬寧恤) c Neon sign of Sanda Shoe/Manning Shirt on 630-632 Nathan Road in Mongkok in the 1960s (next to Yips Shirt at 636 Nathan Road, see our Indhhk article) Sanda Shoes is one of the brands from the 1950s through 1970s which is permanently etched in the memories of most HK residents. […]
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York Lo: Moving Mountains: the Life and Mines of Ko Ming-fan (高銘勳,1906-2012), proprietor of Flat Hill Quarry (平山石礦) and HK Clays & Kaolin Co Ko Ming-fan visiting mainland China in the 1980s (Courtesy: Bonnie Sellars) The post war construction boom created significant demand for construction materials and unprecedented opportunities for the HK mining industry. One of the handful of tenacious […]
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York Lo: The Chan Family of Sun Wui and the Entertainment Business in HK and Macau Natives of Sun Wui in Guangdong province, the family of Chan Wai-ting has been involved in the entertainment business in Hong Kong and Macau for close to a century through the operations of at least five movie theaters, the Kai Tak Amusement Park covered […]
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York Lo: Lucky Enamelware (立基搪瓷)and Leader Manufactory (立泰製造廠) Left: Chow Yuk-Ho; Right: Chow Yuk-ho (second from right) with his wife, son Donald and daughter Audreyin the 1950s. (CUHK website) As profiled in several articles earlier on the website, many players in the once thriving HK enamelware industry in the 1950s-60s had either shut down or relocated their operations to West […]
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York Lo: Teh Hu Steamship (德和輪船公司) Left: T.Y. Wu at an international shipping convention in Taipei in 1971 (National Repository of Cultural Heritage, Taiwan); Right: “New Teh Hu” on slip at the Taikoo Dockyard (presumably in the 1960s) Since 1949, Shanghainese shipowners had dominated the shipping industry in Hong Kong but while most are familiar with Y.K. Pao of Worldwide […]
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York Lo: Tai Loong Weaving & Dyeing Factory (大隆織染廠) Tai Loong plant in 1961 in Kwai Chung (Land Use Survey, HKU Libraries) Tai Loong was one of the major pioneering weaving & dyeing factories in HK. The firm manufactured various colored fabrics under the Dear trademark, and in such varieties as homespun fabric, colored fabric, cohesive fabric and woven fabric. Chong […]
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