IDJ has sent this photo and accompanying short article about the demise of Dragon Kilns in Hong Kong. The technique as shown in the image looks more like hand-to-hand warfare than the manufacturing of bowls and cups. Was the white bucket used to extinguish the fires if things got a little out of control…? Such kilns were certainly found at […]
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York Lo: Jing Wah Garments Manufacturing (正華製衣) Jing Wah Building in San Po Kong (Apple Daily) At 10 Sam Chuk Street (三祝街) in the industrial district of San Po Kong (新蒲崗), stands the 9 story Jing Wah Building. With around 96000 sq ft of factory and office space, the building was built in around 1965 by Jing Wah Garments Manufacturing, […]
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IDJ has sent the link to a recent visit by the HK URBEX (Urban Exploration) Community. They describe themselves as “a group of urban explorers who want to photograph and immortalise the buildings and sites that have been abandoned – but also the items that people have left behind. What results is a uniquely divergent view of our city and […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG Report KWIZ #70, dated 13th October 1944, and noted earlier: After KWIZ #4, the Naval section is not included in the AWM papers, and does not appear again until KWIZ #66, and then in a slightly different format. HF: I am afraid because of time constraints I am no longer able to summarize and list […]
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York Lo: Seasonal Fruit Company (時新鮮菓公司) Seasonal Fruit Company’ store on Des Voeux Road (The red sign on the left is Chung Yuen Electrical, see article) From the 1950s to 1970s, Seasonal Fruit Company was a leading importer and retailer of fresh fruit in Hong Kong and its advertisements could often be found in newspapers from that era. The original […]
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HF: Yates and Thom, (formerly W and J Yates), 9 Canal Ironworks, Blackburn, UK, were makers of engines for mills, collieries and waterworks. And the original engine for the Peak Tram which was opened for public service on 28 May 1888. Construction had begun іn September 1885. Initially a static steam engine was used to power the haulage cable “built […]
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York Lo: Wall of Fame: profiles of players in the HK wallpaper industry – Koo Sun Kee, Coda, Oriental, Sunray and Waly Earlier on the website, several articles were written about paint manufacturers. Another big business which emerged out of the need to cover the walls in the post-War housing boom in HK is wallpaper, which began to gain popularity […]
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York Lo: Bernard Van Zuiden (萬瑞庭, 1899-1979) – Dutch Trader and Philanthropist in Hong Kong Bernard van Zuiden (right) welcoming his visiting elder sister at a cocktail reception in HK in 1959 (WKYP, 1959-12-10) Life and Career of Bernard Van Zuiden Born in Enschede in eastern Netherlands, Van Zuiden studied textile and commerce in his hometown in the 1910s. He […]
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HF: This article was updated on 14th August 2019 with information and cigarette packet images sent by Dheeraj Khiytani, see below. Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company was founded in 1904. At least in Hong Kong. This undated postcard, sent by IDJ, would appear to show its Hong Kong factory shortly after. I am presuming the white building on the right is not […]
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York Lo: Brothers: Knitwear Pioneer Yap Chuin-siu and Financier Simon Yip In the 1960s to 1980s, Yap Chuin-siu and his brother Simon Yip were prominent figures in the HK business scene as the earlier was the founder of Rose Knitting, a leading listed knitwear manufacturer and the latter a high-profile financier with large investments in the Dominican Republic who was […]
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