York Lo: The Queen of Pens – Holia Chow and Rox Industrial In the 1960s, Hong Kong had a pen manufacturer by the name of Rox Industrial (樂士實業), which made a variety of writing instruments including ballpoint pens, fountain pens, markers, sign pens and mechanical pencils. Although Rox focused on the export market, the firm was known locally as it […]
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HF: “Henry B. Endicott joined Butterfield & Swire as Head Shipping Clerk in February 1873, after being headhunted from the US firm of Augustine Heard & Co. An American and a fluent Chinese speaker, he was known to have excellent connections throughout the chartering and shipping community, and John Samuel Swire believed he was the right man for what he […]
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Thanks to IDJ for sending the following newspaper article titled New Year Honours for H.K. Residents. Of particular interest is mention of U Tat-chee, “genial Ginger King and Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Manufacturers Union, who becomes an officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division).” HF: I have retyped a further extract from the original article and […]
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Hong Kong’s neon-drenched streets were just one aspect of his home that Justin Wong missed while studying in Canada. A lover of cinema, he would become nostalgic for the city whose urban landscape has been beautifully evoked and captured in films such as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) and Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express (1994)(1) As a fast-growing metropolis, Hong Kong always arouses people’s longing and […]
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York Lo: Spear and Yips – Pioneers of the HK Shirt Industry Before the war, shirts in Hong Kong were dominated by imported brands from overseas (e.g. Arrow Shirt from America) or the mainland (e.g. Smart Shirt and 555 Shirt from Shanghai). The first two domestic shirt brands to emerge in the post War period were Spear Shirt (槍牌恤) and […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent the following BAAG reports and sketches about Japanese plans to expand Kai Tak airport during their occupation of Hong Kong, World War Two. As you can see by the first report the Japanese were apparently ambitious. At one point around 10,000 workers were involved including POWs. Residential buildings were demolished, agricultural land cleared and a nearby […]
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York Lo: Union (V-Tex) Shirts (伊人恤) – the Rise and Fall of an Iconic Hong Kong Brand Left: Close up view of the Union V-Tex booth at the 23rd HK Products Expo in 1966. Right: Governor David Trench (lower right with the hat and glasses) walking by the booths of Union V-Tex (left) and Pak Fah Yeow (right) at the same […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article which mentions the early history of the company. Watsons still exists today in Hong Kong, around 181 years since it started out. HF: I have retyped this to increase legibility and searches. MESSRS A.S. WATSON & COMPANY CELEBRATE 100th anniversary A brief outline of the early history of the Company, which celebrated its […]
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Tymon Mellor: Looking at some old mapping of Tuen Mun I noted a ceramics factory in the area, see below: This looks quite a factory as the mapping indicates rails, so I suspect it is more likely to be a brick works that is mentioned in the early alignment studies (1905) for the KCRC: “There is one brick works in the […]
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Connie Fong: “People in Hong Kong may come across traditional Chinese steelyards, a type of balance, in wet markets and Chinese medicine pharmacies. Yet only a few of them know the proper way to use one, though it was the optimal tool for measuring weight in the olden days. HF: I have tried to leave a comment at the end […]
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