York Lo: Big and Tall from Nanking Rd to Nathan Rd: Jefferson Young (楊撫生) of Crane (鶴鳴), Chancellor (大人), Da Da (大大) and the rise and fall of his retail empire The 1986 closure and liquidation sale of Da Da department store (which means “Big Big” in Chinese), one of the most prominent casualties of the confidence crisis at […]
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York Lo: David L.F. Sung (孫麟方) and Hong Kong Flour Mills (香港麵粉廠) Left: The Hong Kong Flour Mills in Kwun Tong which operated from 1978 to 1995; Right: Golden Statue brand wheat flour made by HK Flour Mills (Ipoh World) In the history of the flour industry in Asia, the Sung/Sun family of Anhui can probably be considered as the […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Jade Industry and some of its pioneers The trading and manufacturing of jade is one of the oldest businesses in HK but the industry did not form its group until June 1965 when the US government imposed an embargo on HK jadeite goods and in response, J.D. McGregor, then Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry suggested […]
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York Lo: Rosalind Henwood of Flying Cargo – Pioneer of the Air Freight Industry in Hong Kong According to HKTDC, there were 1314 air cargo forwarders in HK employing 17287 that handled 4.5 million tons of air freight in 2016 and the HK International Airport also ranked first in the world in terms of international air cargo throughput last year. […]
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York Lo: The Faded Glory of Bang Bang Fashions (繽繽) Left: Print ad of Bang Bang; Jimmy Yip at the Bang Bang factory as featured in the 1977 New York Times article. In the mid-late 1970s, Hong Kong became the largest garment exporter in the world and one of the brightest stars in the HK garment industry at the time […]
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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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