HF: The postal system in the British colony of Hong Kong began in 1841 when the Royal Mail established the first General Post Office in the region. Between 1841 and 1862 no stamps were issued, and postmarks were used to certify payment of the postage instead. The earliest postmarks were used by military field offices and read ”MILITARY POST OFFICE […]
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York Lo: Chung Kai Knitting (中溪織造廠) – maker of Eagle Pagoda singlets Ad of Chung Kai Knitting in 1955. Source: IDJ Chung Kai Knitting Factory, best known for its Eagle Pagoda (鷹塔牌) singlets, was a major player in the HK garment industry from the 1930s to 1960s before shifting its focus and production to Malaysia. Its founder Lun Chak-sum (倫澤森, […]
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Tymon Mellor: Introduction The mine workings on the south-west slopes of Ma On Shan mountain are now no more than mere scars in the hillside, but in the middle of the last century, the mine provided employment for up to 6,000 people and supplied high grade iron ore and other minerals to the Japanese steel industry. This article describes the […]
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HF: Taikoo Sugar Refinery was located at Quarry Bay, at the eastern end of Hong Kong Island, an area hitherto largely undeveloped except for granite mining. Though isolated by land from the rest of the island, the harbour provided easy local access by boat as well as deep water berthing for ocean ships to discharge raw sugar and local processed […]
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York Lo: Merchant Prince: the life and many pursuits of real estate pioneer Lee Sai-wah (李世華, 1916-1975) Left: S. W. Lee (Source: liuhan.org.hk); Right: S.W. Lee’s Waldorf Hotel at 2-6 Causeway Road in the 1950s From the 1930s to 1970s, Lee Sai-wah (hereafter refer to as “S. W. Lee”) was a colorful figure active in Hong Kong’s business world and […]
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HF: IDJ has kindly sent the following newspaper article. Any images have been added by myself and were not included in the article. MARSMANS LOOK TO BRIGHTER FUTURE This photograph is of Jan Hendrik Marsman who was born in 1892 in the Netherlands and died in 1956, I think in the Philippines. Marsman is of interest to us because he […]
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Rob Weir: The following information comes from War Office (WO) and Foreign Office (FO) documents held at The National Archives at Kew, London, UK. These notes were basically made “in passing” as a diversion to my main interests and so are fairly rough. I’ve put them in ascending date order from the first reference I found until the last. This doesn’t mean there […]
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York Lo: Eastern Arts Lantern (東藝宮燈) Eastern Arts booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo. Source: HK Memory In the 1950s and 60s, HK industrialists leveraged the flexibility of plastic as a material and developed a wide variety of products ranging from toys, flowers, Christmas trees, buckets, plates to shoes and sandals and exported them all over the world. One […]
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HF: The Ma On Shan Iron Mine operated for 70 years between 1906-1976. Small-scale open cast mining was carried out between 1906-1949, with underground mining beginning in 1953. Mining had moved entirely underground by 1959. Major development work occurred in the 1960s, after all the reserves in the upper levels had been exhausted. In 1963, 5,458 metres of main tunnels […]
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HF: Elizabeth Ride has sent information about four Shipyards from BAAG reports made during the Japanese occupation. This information is of interest with regard to what was (or wasn’t ) happening in them in 1944. The first Taikoo Docks is well known. The other three much less so. Kwong Hip Lung Shipyard, Wing On Shing Shipyard and Tai Kok Tsui […]
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