York Lo: Reiss Bradley (泰和洋行) – the Forgotten Hong Left: Article about the formation of Reiss Bradley in 1936 (HK Telegraph, 1936-6-30); Right: Reiss Brothers warehouse on Quay Street in Manchester, UK (Manchester Libraries) In an earlier Q+A on the website questions were raised about the origins of Reiss Bradley, which was the parent company of Far East Flying School […]
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York Lo: Pao Hsing Cotton Mill(寶星紡織廠) 7 story Pao Hsing Mill – the largest cotton mill in Kwai Chung in 1961 (HKU Libraries) While Pao Hsing Cotton Millmight not have been one of the largest and best-known cotton mills in HK, it was a notable firm in the history of HK cotton spinners for several reasons – its unusual origin […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent this very brief mention of the Wai Chap Timber Yard in a BAAG report dated 15th September 1944. It reads Timber, big oil tins and scrap iron stored, with an Indian guard of some men – over 100 Chinese coolies load and unload timber. Any further information or an image of Wai Chao would be of […]
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York Lo: Great South Fishing Industries (廣南漁業) Great South Fishing chairman Chan Shu-woon (right) as head of the Tak Ming schools and president of Tak Ming Alumni Association presenting Parker pens to association staff (Facebook) In the 1950s and early 1960s, Great South Fishing Industries Ltd was the largest commercial fishing company in Hong Kong. Incorporated in November 1949, the […]
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York Lo: From Bicycles to Lamps and Stoves: Union Metal Works (合衆五金廠) and the two illustrious families behind the firm Left: 1962 Unimet ad showing its entire line of SOLAR brand products; Right: Unimetlampmade in 1965 Union Metal Works (aka Unimet) was one of the leading manufacturers of pressure lanterns in HK alongside World-Light, Glory, Lea Hin and Chung […]
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York Lo: New China Enamelware (新華琺瑯廠) New China on Castle Peak Road in 1959 (HKU Libraries Image Collection) New China Enamelware Co, known for its “Horse Head” brand (馬頭牌) of enamelware, was one of the leading enamelware manufacturers in Hong Kong before its closure in 1970. In fact, it ranked number two behind I-Feng Enameling at one point and was […]
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em 8/5/18 York Lo: Pacific Enamelware Factory (太平洋搪瓷廠) Pacific Enamelware Factory was one of the leading enamelware manufacturers in Hong Kong in the 1950s-60s before its closure in 1970. Pacific Enamelware Factory next to vegetable fields in Tsuen Wan in 1957 (Source: HKU Libraries) The firm was a partnership between Chua Kian-bun (蔡建文, 1898-1983), a prominent Fukienese businessman with business […]
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York Lo: Glory Metal Works (光榮五金製品廠) Glory Metal Works was one of the leading manufacturers of pressure lanterns and kerosene lamps alongside World-Light (covered in an earlier article), Lea Hin and Union Metal Works (to be covered later). The firm traced its origin to Kwong Hing Electroplating Co (廣興電鍍), which was founded by Lee Pun-yee (李彬義, 1888-1972), a native of […]
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Swire’s story begins with a young man setting off to seek his fortune as a result of family bankruptcy. While this is not a classic rags-to-riches tale, resilience in the face of adversity was a characteristic that was to stand the firm he founded in good stead on more than one occasion over the following 200 years. The founder of […]
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York Lo: S.S. Yu (虞兆興): King of Menthol and Camphor The three founders of Yung Zeng: S.S. Yu (left), Kao Pei-liang (center) and Fang Yexian (right). Source: 現代實業家(1935), p 153, p243 and p105 As profiled in many articles on the Group’s website, Shanghainese industrialists played important roles in the post-War industrial development in Hong Kong, most notably in textiles but […]
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