York Lo: Fung Tang: The Firm, the Family, the Transpacific Metals Trade and Tin Refinery For almost three quarters of a century from the 1870s to the 1940s, HK-based Fung Tang (馮登記, Fung Tang Kee in Chinese) was a powerhouse in the transpacific metals trade with branches in Shanghai and three cities in Yunnan, affiliates in the US and Japan and […]
» Read more
HF: This company was established in 1955 and incorporated on 27th October 1964. The building shown in the recent photos below is at 1 Tung Yuen Street, Yau Tong where the company operated from the entire seven storeys. Gloria Weaving is listed as manufacturing cardigans, sweaters, pullovers and winterwear. Photos taken by HF on 25th September 2014. This article was […]
» Read more
Jane Taylor: My grandfather, Robert Taylor, appears to have started out in Macau in 1912 and moved to Hong Kong around 18 months later. He served as manager of the Green Island Cement Company, I think from the late 1920s, until his retirement in 1949. Recently discovered family photographs show the manager’s house clearly, and also its pre- and post-war […]
» Read more
“We’ve had shops there, there, there and here,” says Antony Yu Kai-chiu, director and general manager of chilli-sauce maker Yu Kwen Yick, as he points out various shopfronts on Third Street, in Sai Ying Pun. Yu Kwen Yick has only strayed once from Third Street – and that was for a four-year stint on nearby Second Street. “We’ve always been […]
» Read more
For anyone over the age of 35, and if you came to Hong Kong before 1998, you are likely to remember the first time you landed at Kai Tak. It may have been the dramatic approach from the north-west, skimming over the buildings where you could see the laundry hanging on the washing lines. Or if arriving over the sea, […]
» Read more
Duro Paint Company was established in 1937. 1948 Orient Paint merges with the Duro Paint Manufacturing Co. in Hong Kong.(1) During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong Duro Paint remained in operation. (As did China Paint and The National Lacquer and Paint Products Co Ltd.) After the WWII, China Paint, NLPP, Duro Paint and Island Paint quickly resumed productions. In 1946, […]
» Read more
York Lo: Great China Match Co. (大中國火柴廠) Great China Match Factory in Peng Chau in 1956 (Land Use Survey, HKU Libraries collection) Founded in 1939, the Great China Match Factory on Peng Chau was once the largest match manufacturer in Hong Kong, with over 1000 workers at its peak in the late 1940s and its “Kowloon” and other brands of […]
» Read moreHugh Farmer: In Newsletter 9 posted on 9th Nov 2013 I included the following: The Tak Chong Kee Bamboo Steamer Company [sic] Producing a wide variety of handmade steamers, as far as I know this company is the last remaining such enterprise in Hong Kong. Located at 12 Western Street, Sai Ying Pun, a range of other products is also on […]
» Read more
Hugh Farmer: The SCMP of 10th Feb 2014 contained a letter from Tony Price complaining about the enclosure surrounding the Fu Tei Wan Lime Kiln. This, the kiln, was originally on Chek Lap Kok island but was relocated to its present location beside Tung Chung Battery and close to the old pier. Mr Price commends The Antiquities and Monuments Office […]
» Read more
James Chan: R.E. Dietz Company Limited was founded by Mr. Robert Edwin Dietz in New York, USA in 1840 and began manufacturing kerosene lanterns, which are commonly known as hurricane lanterns… …In order to reduce production cost and increase market share, Dietz relocated its production facilities from New York, U.S.A. to Hong Kong in 1956 and subsequently from Hong Kong […]
» Read more