Hugh Farmer: Land for Oriental Brewery’s plant was acquired in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, in the spring of 1907, when it was announced that the consortium behind it intended to spend “over a quarter of a million dollars on an up-to-date brewery”. The Brewery opened in 1908 with a capacity of 100,000 barrels a year, using brewing equipment imported from […]
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York Lo: Stores for the Elite – Mode Elite (慕愛) and Elite Styles (伊利) In the 1930s to 1960s, two stores in Central with “Elite” in its names – Mode Elite and Elite Styles – catered to high-end customers and imported the latest fashions from the US and Europe. Mode Elite (慕愛公司) – from Shanghai to Hong Kong Left: Mode […]
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IDJ: After the war the school was re-established catering for up to two-hundred pupils at a time. In 1952, the school was absorbed into the Wheelock Marden group of companies. One result of Typhoon Wanda in 1962 was that the school’s hangars housing its training facilities were destroyed, along with a number of its aircraft. Flying instruction then ceased to […]
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IDJ: Probably ‘the first’ formal engineering training school in Hong Kong was the Far East Flying Training School Ltd established as a private venture in November 1933 at Kai Tak Airport. Pupils from Hong Kong, China, Macao and many countries in Asia attended class-room courses on aeroplane structures, engine technology, as well as the use of hand-tools and workshop machine […]
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Hugh Farmer: Recent updated information is highlighted in red. I grew up with Dinky Toys as did many British boys in the 1950s and 60s and had a good collection of battered, tyre less cars. I had always assumed they were made in England and indeed the main factory was at Binns Road, Liverpool. It is perhaps difficult to believe […]
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York Lo: Ching Chun-kau (程振球) – Real Estate, Amusement Park and Resort Pioneer Ching Chun-kau (left, HKBCA) and his most famous project – Kai Tak Amusement Park (right) In the 1950s through 1970s, Ching Chun-kau was a prominent figure in HK business circles as he was involved in a variety of businesses ranging from construction, property development, an amusement park, […]
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Hugh Farmer: If you can add further information on these or other studios please add a comment or email me directly: indhhk at gmail dot com. I have included a couple of film studios in China where they have a Hong Kong connection. Thanks to IDJ for informing me about the illuminatedlantern.com website, linked below, from which I have added to our […]
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James Chan: Dragages Hong Kong, is a very familiar company name on signs at major construction projects around Hong Kong. It’s parent company is Bouygues Construction The company was founded in Vietnam in 1902 as Société Française Industrielle D’Extreme-Orient. It undertook its first project, the dredging and maintenance of a 2,000 kilometre canal system in the Mekong Delta. In 1910 […]
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York Lo: Cheng Keng-chuen (鄭鏡泉) – Developer behind Alhambra Building (平安大厦) and Evergreen Villa (松柏新邨) Ads for two of Alhambra’s most prominent projects – Alhambra Building (left) and Yuet Wah Mansion (right, WKYP, 1964-12-16) In the late 1950s and early 1960s, one of most active property developers in Hong Kong was Cheng Keng-chuan, whose property companies were involved in landmark […]
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York Lo: Lee On and Ying Kee – manufacturers of safes and steel furniture Local manufacturing of safes has existed since the early 1900s and within this specialized industry, Lee On and Ying Kee were two of the oldest and largest players (which also manufacture steel furniture in addition to safes) and both happen to be founded by Cantonese industrialists […]
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