HF: The first mention of a bakery in a Hong Kong newspaper I can find is that of Dorabjee Nowrojee’s in Queen’s road next to P&O Steam Ship Company’s office. The advert, published in 1864, is dated 1860 so it’s rather odd that it suggests a newly opened business. James Chan: The Wanchi Steam Bakery Company and The Colonial Bread […]
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York Lo: Jaime Chua Tiampo (蔡天普) – Developer of Chungking Mansions (重慶大廈) Left: Jaime and Josefina Chua Tiampo as a young couple; Middle: Chungking Mansion in the 1970s with I-Feng’s signage still visible on the 3rd floor; Right: Ad for Chungking Mansions in 1960 (WKYP 1960-4-17) Built in 1961, Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui is probably one […]
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Hugh Farmer: When Hong Kong was established as a free trading port in 1841, there was no local currency available for daily circulation. Foreign currencies such as Indian rupees, Spanish and Mexican 8 Reales, Chinese cash coins and British currency were used instead. Coins specially issued for Hong Kong did not appear until 1863 when the first regal coins of Hong […]
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York Lo: Union Construction Co/Union Contractors (華聯建築) Left: Union Contractors founder Kew Chan (Geni); Right: Ad of Union Construction Co in 1950 (HKBCA Yearbook) Earlier in the group, I wrote a series of articles on Shanghainese builders and in Part 7 of the series, the firm Union Contractors was misclassified as a Shanghainese builder as its proprietor Chan Bing-quan(陳炳鈞, 1924-1988) was […]
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To follow the history of the Kwan family is to trace a complete history of Hong Kong graphic design. In 1845 the ‘China Trade’ artist Kwan Chuk Lam, known to the West as ‘Lamqua’ settled in Hong Kong. He was the only known pupil of the English painter G. Chinnery, and had exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy in the […]
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York Lo: The King of Watchbands: Poon Yuen-sang (潘遠生) and Yuen Sang Hardware (遠生金屬) Poon Yuen-sang delivering a speech as chairman of the HK & Kowloon Watch and Clock Merchants Association in 1961. Left to right: Mrs. Gertrude Kwok (郭贊夫人), Poon Yuen-sang, Lau Kam-fat (劉錦發), Lun Tin-lok (倫天樂), Chan Peng-fei (陳鵬飛) (WKYP, 1961-9-10) In the 1950s and 1960s, the HK […]
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York Lo: Yu Yat Kee Watch Co (余日記) Yu Yat Kee Watch’s main store on Johnston Road in Wanchai in 1960 (Paul Almasy, Artnet) Yu Yat Kee Watch Co was one of the leading watch retailers in HK from the 1920s through the 1970s alongside firms, such as Lam Yuen Fong and Budson, which were covered in earlier articles, with […]
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HF: W C Gomersall was born in London, UK in 1895 and died in Hong Kong in 1960. In 1928 he founded China Engineers Ltd in Shanghai. Post WW2 Gomersall and the company moved to Hong Kong. This obituary is extracted from the journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers a British professional organisation. This article was first posted on 23rd July […]
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York Lo: Evergreen Plastic & Industrial Co (異奇塑膠實業) Left: Booth of Evergreen Plastics at the 29th HK Products Expo in 1971 featuring its dolls (Source: HK Memory); Right: a vintage made in Hong Kong doll by Evergreen (Source: eBay) Founded in 1954, Evergreen Plastic &Industrial Co was one of the leading plastic toy manufacturers in the 1950s through 1970s. The founder […]
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James Chan: This advert from 1951 is courtesy of Grace’s Guides: British Industrial History. However, the company doesn’t appear to have operated in the UK. So I wonder if it was a Hong Kong based company. If so did it manufacture here? I can find no mention of Walter Dunn & Co. in the HK Public Records Office newspaper search. […]
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