York Lo: Canton Brothers Rubber Co (廣東兄弟樹膠) – China’s and HK’s First Manufacturer of Rubber Shoes Left: Canton Bros poster, likely from the 1930s; Right: Canton Brothers Rubber ad in HK in 1941 (A Century of Commerce) Founded in Canton in 1919, Canton Brothers Rubber Co was the first rubber shoe manufacturer in China and opened its factory in Hong […]
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“With its outstanding record of safety and continuity, the Peak Tramways Company has always been conscious of the requirement to keep the Tramway’s operational heart in top shape. Surprisingly, since the beginning, the haulage plant has seen only one complete change – in 1926 when the original boilers and steam engine were replaced with an electrically-powered system.” Many thanks to […]
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York Lo: Charm Hoi-sang (湛海生)and Harbour Engineering and Hoi Sing Holdings Reclamation and the other water-related construction work such as the building of piers, reservoirs, pumping stations and seawalls have been an important part of the construction business in HK. Charm Hoi-sang, whose name contained the Chinese character for sea, was a key figure in this aspect of the industry […]
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Peter Howell has sent a number of images of taken in the early 1950s, when Peter was involved in 1900 Flight at RAF Shatin Airfield. Peter says, some photographs depict the wider role in which the unit took part – Air Days and Ceremonial occasions. If you wish to know more about Peter’s involvement in 1900 Flight, the Shatin Airfield, […]
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York Lo: Cheong Sun Development (昌生興業) and the Trio Behind the Firm Cheong Sun Development was a notable listed property developer in the 1970s which was founded in 1972 by a trio from Shanghai (K.S. Cheng, T.O. Liu and K.L. Kung) and acquired by Far East Consortium in 1981. Most of the buildings in HK starting with the character “Cheong” […]
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3rd June 2021 An additional image and information sent in by Dheeraj Khiytani was added. See 1907. HF:Watson’s is possibly the oldest retailer still in existence in Hong Kong and unquestionably among a tiny few that have opererated continuously since the early days of the colony… By 1941 Watson’s was already the largest chemist, retailer of health and beauty products, […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article. For more information about the West Point gas explosion in 1934 please see our other articles below. HF: I have retyped the article for clarity sake and to assist searches. The script occasionally uses phrasing which would not be used in contemporary English which I have not changed. I am unfamiliar with the […]
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York Lo: Wing On Cheong (永安祥): From Fabric and Cameras to Securities and Real Estate The Wing On Cheong group has ties to both the Kar Cheung Chong Bank and Holga Cameras covered earlier in the group as its founder Li Ting-chung (李定中) was a senior executive at Kar Cheung Chong and his brother Lee Ting-mo (李定武) is the founder […]
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York Lo: N. Lazarus (明晶洋行)– Leading Opticians of the Far East Left: N. Lazarus store in Central; Right: ad for N. Lazarus in HK in 1900 (China Mail, 1900-4-10) Eyeglasses is a big business in Hong Kong and one of the first opticians in record in the city was N. Lazarus, started in the late 19th century by oculist-optician of […]
» Read moreRose, Downs and Thompson of Hull, UK, maker of plant for processing edible oils and for making animal feeds, opened branch offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the 1910s. This company biography comes from the excellent UK Industrial History website Graces Guides, linked below. 1777 Company established. 1871 Christiana Rose, of Rose and Downs, died 1874 Christiana’s grandson, John Campbell Thompson, joined […]
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