York Lo: Eastern Arts Lantern (東藝宮燈) Eastern Arts booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo. Source: HK Memory In the 1950s and 60s, HK industrialists leveraged the flexibility of plastic as a material and developed a wide variety of products ranging from toys, flowers, Christmas trees, buckets, plates to shoes and sandals and exported them all over the world. One […]
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HF: Further contributions from IDJ on Capt FA Swoffer. Here as a writer cum pilot. The article below was a continuation of the article above with superfluous material removed for clarity. IDJ adds: FLYING magazine was one of many such 1930s publications attempting to motive the general public in aviation matters. Full of articles and pictures of aviators involved with all […]
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HF: In the spring of 1928 Arnhold & Co, Ltd. decided to start selling aircraft and hired WEF Jones to head the operation. The Arnhold Aviation Department was born on 1 April 1928. A two-seat de Havilland DH 60 Moth was purchased for demonstrations in Shanghai and arrived early in 1929 and Captain FA Swoffer was engaged as Chief Pilot. […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent the Naval section of a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) Waichow Intelligence Summary (WIS 27) dated 4th April 1943. This covers shipping movements in and out of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two during late February to mid-March 1943. There are a number of Naval Section Intelligence Summaries covering these months which tend […]
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York Lo: Sunbeam Manufacturing (日昇製造廠): from torchlights to kitchenware Left: old Sunbeam factory; Right: Sunbeam Centre today Founded in 1929 (this is based on the company’s own description although several external sources cite 1931 as the inception date), Sunbeam is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in Hong Kong and one of the few that continues to thrive to this […]
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Tymon Mellor: A silver mine was operating in the hills behind Mui Wo between 1886 and 1896, developed and owned by Mr Ho A Mei, a local Hong Kong entrepreneur and social activist. Associated with the mine was a mineral processing plant, where the ore was crushed and smelted into lead and silver. The location of the plant has never […]
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HF: Jennie Tang, the granddaughter of one of the five Tang brothers, left a comment about the original Historical Building Appraisal article shown below. It should be noted that Jennie doubts the existence of the third brother mentioned in the Appraisal. When I contacted her she kindly sent further information, and the two photos shown here, especially about her grandfather, […]
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IDJ has sent in these pages from HK Government Yearbooks. Can anyone tell us exactly which companies are shown and where these factories/mills were? Click on the images to enlarge. This article was first posted on 31st January 2014. See: The Hongkong Cotton-Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing Company Ltd 1898-1914 Shanghai Spinners: Pioneers of Hong Kong’s industrialization, 1947-1955 About Nanyang Cotton […]
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York Lo: Chung Mei Manufactory (中美製造廠) Chung Mei’s joint booth with Chiap Hua in the 1948 HK Products Expo with Chung Mei on the left and Chiap Hua on the right; Right: Cheng Chek-chee Chung Mei Manufactory was a leading manufacturer of pressure lanterns, hurricane lanterns and kerosene stoves from the 1940s to the 1960s, although it was lesser known […]
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On Monday October 21st 2013 an explosion destroyed the Ching Yuen Bean Curd factory in Sheung Tsuen village (near Shek Kong, NT). One worker was killed and four others injured when a cauldron blew up in the 80-square metre cubicle that housed the furnaces. The factory contained two stoves, one using diesel, the other burning wood, and it was the […]
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