HF: W C Gomersall was born in London, UK in 1895 and died in Hong Kong in 1960. In 1928 he founded China Engineers Ltd in Shanghai. Post WW2 Gomersall and the company moved to Hong Kong. This obituary is extracted from the journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers a British professional organisation. This article was first posted on 23rd July […]
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York Lo: J. Ullmann (烏利文) – Swiss Watchmaker and Jeweler in HK and China Pictures of the interior and exterior of J. Ullmann’sTientsin store in the 1900s. (Directory and Chronicle of China, 1905) Founded in HK in the 19th century by a Swiss native of the same name, J. Ullmann & Co was a leading watchmaker not just in Hong […]
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A short 1984, Hong Kong Government Publication about Hong Kong’s Country Parks contains information to add to that which we have in already posted articles about the pearl industry in Hong Kong. I would imagine that there must an academic article on this subject hiding away but I have not been able to find one yet. Naturally, I would be […]
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Tymon Mellor: Following a ground breaking ceremony held in October, 1998 construction of West Rail gathered pace. The southern section of the line was in tunnel, while from the northern tunnel portal in Kam Tin, the route passed through the at grade depot before adopting an elevated arrangement, approximately 13.4 km, between Kam Tin and Tuen Mun. Construction of the […]
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Linda Kernan: The history of the soybean and its byproducts stretches back more than 3,000 years in China. The humble soybean was known as the “Cow of China” because it was the main source of protein for the Chinese people. It took a local man, however, to spot the potential of the little bean and transform it into the most […]
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“This firm was founded in 1902 by Mr. E. C. Wilks, as a marine engineers’ and surveyors’ bureau. Mr. Wilks was joined in 1903 by Mr. W. C. Jack, formerly Ingenieur en Chef of the Tonkin River Mail Service, and late assistant manager at the Kowloon establishment of the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company. During the five years of […]
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HF: I have been unable to find an image of the SS Sai On either before or after the fire detailed below, and would be very grateful if someone could send me one. The image below was sent by IDJ and shows the resurrected Sai On in its new guise as the Tak Shing. A few decades later, Hong Kong […]
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Travis Ling: My uncle bought a brand new Tissot watch in 1969 before he left Hong Kong for college (and for good) in the States. The watch still has its original stainless steel band, marked “Kreisler Stelux Stainless Steel Made in Hong Kong” on the clasp , as shown below. I researched “Kreisler Stelux”and found that it was a popular brand […]
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York LO: Kin Sun Manufactory (建新織造廠) and Longfellow shirts Left: Kin Sun’s ad in Singapore in 1953 warning customers about counterfeited Longfellow shirts (南洋商报, 10 April 1953, Page 7); Right: Kin Sun Manufactory in Sham Shui Po on the right. The bamboo structure was for lowering a coffin from the second floor which was common practice before the 1960s (Uwants) […]
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Mike T: There’s an interesting connection to the 555 undershirt brand made in Hong Kong by Chuen Sun Knitting Factory Ltd in the book “Design History: An Anthology”. “Early modern Hong Kong industrial design Hong Kong industrial design during the first half of the twentieth century developed much the same adaptive and synthetic strategies as that of graphic design. The silversmithing […]
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