Cotton Padded Quilt masters and Shops, New Territories

James Chan: The following appears in the Hong Kong Museum of History. It would be very interesting to hear more about this traditional industry that has died out.

“Traditional New Territories markets had speciality cotton padded quilt shops but many “mountain” goods” and firewood shops also had a sideline in the quilt business. Essentially a seasonal trade a quilt shop only operated from late summer to winter ie the eighth to the third moon of the next year. A quilt maker had to look for other employment in the other seasons.

The price of  a quilt was determined by its weight. A quilt master could make three to four eight-catty quilts a day.

The population in the  New Territories grew enormously after World War Two and the quilt-making business enjoyed a ‘golden age’ for the next twenty years. A quilt maker was able to make a modest living for a year from seven months work.”

The image shown on the Home Page is of an unknown location in the New Territories around 1900.

Some of our articles about HK’s Traditional Industries include:

1. Itinerant Hakka Weavers in Hong Kong
2. Salt production, oldest industry in Hong Kong, Tai Ol
3. Dragon Kilns – last Hong Kong one fired in 1990 – dramatic photo
4. Log Sawing by hand in Hong Kong
5. Quarrying and transportation of stone in Hong Kong, 1841
6. Yan O Wan “Log Pond” and Luk Keng Tsuen Lumber Works, Lantau
7. Agriculture in the “New Territory” – 1931 article
8. Stone breaking in early 20th Century Hong Kong
9. Lime-making on Tsing Yi island – 1984 RASHKB article