HF: This Michael Rogge film from 1962 is of interest as it begins with the Peak Tram and views of HK harbour showing how much has been reclaimed in the last half century. 0.13-0.50 Peak Tram and views from the Peak 0.51-1.20 Views of HK Harbour 1.21-2.07 Views of and from the Peak 2.08- 2.38 Repulse Bay […]
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HF: Chavalier R Pescio was a man with vision. Especially when it came to trams and tunnels in Hong Kong. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 11 August 1909 contains this article which notes “rents in the Colony of Hongkong are abnormally so, more than in any part of the world in proportion to the accomodation offered”. Even then […]
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York Lo: Asia Provisions (亞洲辦館) and Asia Cold Storage (亞洲凍房) The Asia Company’s ad in 1960 (HK Police Magazine) Aside from Wang Kee and Wing Sang Cheong covered in earlier articles, The Asia Provisions Co Ltd (incorporated in 1970) and its predecessor The Asia Company (亞洲公司,1925-1970) has been a major player in the food provisions business in HK since its […]
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HF wrote this in response to a comment on the article below by Sally Trainor: Your comments made me dig out a book, Victoria Finlay, Colour: Travels Through the Paintbox, Sceptre, 2002, which is an extensive account of the history, origins and places of production of all the colours an artist would use. And that got me thinking about the textile […]
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York Lo: Wing Sang Cheong (榮生祥) – A Century of Food and Wine Provisions The original Wing Sang Cheong store (blue arrow) on Queen Victoria Street in Central in the 1940s Aside from Wang Kee which was covered earlier, another provisions firm which has been in existence for over a century is Wing Sang Cheong, which was founded in 1911 […]
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York Lo: The Ho family of Tsuen Wan and Caltex in New Territories and Southern China Left: Ad for Yiu Kee Hong in the 1960s; Right: Ho Chuen-yiu and son with Caltex executives – managing director Jack Wolf, PR manager Chow Sang-wah, kerosene department head Yew Man-kit and Wah Kiu Yat Po manager Shum Choy-sang in front of Yiu Kee […]
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HF: Dan Waters wrote a short piece in 1990 about the Dairy Farm Ice and Cold Storage Company. Dan has kindly drawn my attention to this and given permission to reproduce it. This was part of a longer article, Hong Kong Hongs with long histories and British connections, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol […]
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York Lo: William S.T. Lee & Co (曉莊貿易) – the firm which brought Montblanc pens, Rodenstock glasses, Seiko watches, Ricoh cameras and Kenwood stereos to HK Left: William ST Lee (second from right) with winners of the Montblanc coloring competition his firm sponsored in 1965 (KSDN, 1965-5-3); Right: Montblanc ad by William S.T. Lee Co From the 1960s to the […]
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HF: The engineerng consultancy Binnie & Partners, though British, has had a close connection to Hong Kong through several large-scale engineering projects. From the late 1990s it has been part of the multi-national consultancy Black and Veatch which has its HK office in Ngau Tau Kok. In 1909 AR Binnie and Son merged with another UK engineering consultancy to become […]
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York Lo: Cheong Hing Co/Cheung Hing Construction (祥興建造) – leading building contractor Left: Cheong Hing ad with picture of the Queen’s Garden civil servant quarters on May Road which was completed in 1949. (HKBCA) Right: Cheong Hing founder and manager Yee Chung (HKBCA yearbook) Cheong Hing Co and its successor firm Cheung Hing Construction Co Ltd (the Chinese name stayed […]
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