York Lo: Pioneer: 60 years of Supplying Construction Materials in Hong Kong Left: Ad for Pioneer Concrete in 1962 with picture of its production site in Hunghom (top) and construction site on Caernavon Road in Kowloon (bottom). (Wah Kiu Yat Po 1962-2-1); Right: Pioneer Concrete co-founder and longtime chief Sir Tristan Antico Hong Kong residents often refer to the city […]
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HF: An SCMP article from September 2006 said “The city’s four dominant asphalt manufacturers are Pioneer Asphalts (Hong Kong), Anderson Asphalt, Asphalt Surfaces (International) and Tarmac Asphalt Hong Kong, and they produce about 1 million tonnes of asphalt a year… The four companies comprise the Asphalt and Macadam Association of Hong Kong.” Anderson Asphalt Ltd Anderson Asphalt Limited, a wholly owned […]
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York Lo: Tak Chuen Distillery (德泉酒庄) and “Double Happiness” Wines Left: Ko Ho-ning; Center: Close-up of Tak Chuen’s display at the 1954 (KSEN, 1954-1-13); Right: Yau Chi-ho, manager of Tak Chuen (HK Pun U District Association) While the family of Ko Ho-ning (高可寧, 1878-1955) might be best known for their pawn shops, many properties, movie star daughters in law (Grace […]
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HF: I found this report while searching for information about American companies with a presence in Hong Kong in the latter part of the 19th century. My effort to provide a source for the report, shown below, leaves me somewhat mystified about where it was originally published. Feel free to clarify me and us on this. The Hong Kong Report […]
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HF: The following article about Dadabhoy Rustomjee Banaji and Maneckjee Rustomjee Banaji was written by Sooni Shroff-Gander and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has kindly granted permission for it to be posted here, but retains copyright over this material from 2012. I have been […]
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IDJ has kindly sent two newspaper articles from the Hong Kong Sunday Herald about the removal of a 33 year old wall of the Orient Tobacco Manufactory Company on Nathan Road. We have several articles about this company, all linked below. This article was first posted on 23rd June 2020. Related Indhhk articles: Orient Tobacco Manufactory – many questions, any […]
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York Lo: Lau Shiu-yuen (劉紹源): Jeweler and Developer from the 1960s Left: Lau Shiu-yuen (WKYP, 1963-4-1); Right: advertorial for Man Hee Mansion developed by Lau Shiu-yuen in Wanchai in 1963 (WKYP, 1963-8-24) In the 1960s, Lau Shiu-yuen was a major player in the jewelry business with three branches of his Mays Jewellers (美時珠寶) in prime locations in HK and Kowloon […]
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Mary Anne Le Bas has sent an SCMP article, Six home-grown Hong Kong trades at risk of dying out, published on 21st June 2015. The fifth of these is a product that has been around for around 200 years. The company was founded by current manager Yuen Yee Lum’s great-great-grandfather in Guangzhou, in 1835. Mr Yuen believes his is the last company making […]
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IDJ sent the English version of what the piece calls Rat Boxes. Mak Ho Yin has kindly translated it. 「香港電燈公司和煤氣公司與老鼠箱關係密切，因為老鼠箱是掛在電燈柱上的。由於華人極為抗拒（滅鼠人員）進入私人住宅，政府於是鼓勵華人在殺死家中的老鼠後，將鼠屍放在就近的老鼠箱內，由衛生部門職員每日收集清理。老鼠箱掛在電燈柱一景，還衍生了一句香港獨有的俗語「電燈柱掛老鼠箱」，以形容夫妻二人中丈夫瘦削兼且二人身高矮懸殊。」 Ho Yin continues: This paragraph raised my curiosity on the topic of rat bins so apart from translating it I also did a quick check about its history. I have no memory of seeing them hanging at lamp-posts, and I […]
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York Lo: Star Envelopes & Printing Co. (福星信封印刷) Left: Sat Wing-cheung (1959); Center: ad for Star Envelopes in 1971 (HK Pun U District Association); Right: Sat Wing-chung (1967) Within the highly competitive HK printing industry dominated by natives of the Heshan (or Hok Shan) district in Guangdong province (see article on Lee Yat-ngok and Local Printing Press), the Sat family […]
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