HF and IDJ: Up until 1926 steam power was used to drive the Peak Tram. In that year an electricity-powered haulage gear Ward Leonard system was installed incorporated within the double reversible funicular railway. Details of this system are provided below under the basic concept first link. I don’t fully understand this and wonder if anyone can provide an even simpler […]
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HF: If you have ever walked the Wilson Trail going up from Tai Po to Cloudy Hill you will have gone past a hundred metre long rectangular factory located at 155, Tai Po Tau village, Tai Po. I went there on 24th February 2015. As I entered the building Thomas Lam approached me and politely asked me to leave. However, he […]
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James Chan: I found this 1889 map while looking through an archaelogical assessement of the MTR West Island line. The map shows Kennedy Town. On it are a silk works betwen Cadogan and Davis Streets. And a rope works along Forbes Street between Davis Street and Smithfield. What does anyone know about either of these two works? This article was […]
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Hugh Farmer: The SCMP on 10th Feb 2014 had an article about Lam Leung-tim who was a “toy tycoon”. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1424643/toy-story-how-tycoon-lam-leung-tim-built-his-empire The SCMP on 10th Feb 2014 had an article about the 50th anniversary of G.I. Joe toy soldiers, first made in early 1964 in the Lam Leung-tim’s company made G.I.Joe toys in HK. When and where? http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1424595/hasbros-gi-joe-set-50th-birthday Forward Winsome Industries […]
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HF: Elizabeth Ride’s (ER) second comment (ER 2) suggests that there were three similarly named companies in HK during the Japanese occupation in WW2. I am assuming that the BAAG agents’ reports mentioning ‘factory’ is because these buildings were of primary interest rather the companies themselves. If so we have these: a) The Hong Kong Oxygen Company b) The Hong […]
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IDJ: These photographs are of a Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong exhibition in Hung Hom in 1968. This aerial photo of the site shows a building that still exists. The KCR/MTR diesel locomotive depot. The low long white building near the waterfront. See: 1957 Trade Fair TST
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HF: Tai Ping Carpets was founded in 1956 by a group of seven friends. Each of the seed investors contributed HKD10,000 to build a factory to employ mainland refugees. I have found no information about where this factory was. No doubt the Anthony Lawrence book about the company mentioned at the end of this article would provide great detail regarding […]
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Carles Brasó Broggi, the author of this very early article on the website has kindly invited any person involved in the companies mentioned in it, or related companies, to contact him at carlesbraso@gmail.com or by leaving a comment attached to the article. He says he can dedicate the following months to carrying out further research, but any help would be […]
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York Lo: Oceania Hawaii Holdings (夏香集團) Left: matchbox from the Oceania Restaurant & Nightclub; Right: Chinese performance at the Oceania Restaurant & Nightclub from a 1970s postcard. Earlier in the group, we have covered Ruby Restaurant, which was one of the first restaurant groups to go public in HK in late 1972. Around the same time Ruby went public, another […]
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York Lo: Kwoon Kwen Metal Ware (冠群金屬製品廠) Left: Kwoon Kwen ad in 1955 (HK Pun U District Association); Right: Kwoon Kwen founder Li Yan (HK Pun U District Association, 1959) Kwoon Kwen Metal Ware, a leading manufacturer of luggage locks and other metal products, was founded in 1948 (although as a firm it was not incorporated until 1965) by Li […]
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