York Lol: Yakult (益力多): 50 Years in Hong Kong Left: glass bottle of Yakult before 1971; Middle: the original Yakult HK plant at 161 Wai Yip Street in Kwun Tong (Yakult HK website); Right: plastic bottle of Yakult today In the late 1960s around the same time when Japanese instant noodle (see our article on Winner Food and Doll noodles) […]
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York Lo: Emcolon Fashion Wigs (愛其麗免恤髮品) Emcolon Wigs lucky draw at the 27th HK Products Expo in 1969-70. Nelson Lee (left) assisting Chuang Chung-wen of Chuang’s Cutlery and CMA (centre) who was the guest of honor. (HK Memory) One of the wig manufacturers that was not covered in an earlier article on the HK wig industry [see link below], is […]
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York Lo: The World-Light Manufactory (光宇製造廠) Left: Lai King-ha at his residence in Tsuen Wan (Chiao Tung Alumni publication); Middle: World Light’s Globe brand logo (HK Government Report, 1935); Right: World Light and Feuerhand lanterns (eBay) From the 1930s to the 1960s, The World-Light Manufactory was one of the most prominent industrial enterprises in Hong Kong, best known for […]
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Three repurposed factories in Tsuen Wan to deliver exhibition space, fashion catwalk shows and co-working opportunities for homespun innovation When the hoardings come down at The [Nan Fung Textiles] Mills, the four years spent on rejuvenating the cluster of disused cotton mills in Tsuen Wan will not be immediately apparent – and the architects wouldn’t have it any other way. […]
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Hugh Farmer: “The boycott of American flour by the Chinese in 1905–6 gave a big fillip to the trade in Australian flour, and prominent amongst the firms to benefit by this were Messrs. Barretto & Co., whose business was established, in 1895, by Messrs. A. A. H. Botelho and F. D. Barretto. The headquarters are in Queen’s Buildings, and as merchants, […]
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York Lo: Pak Kut Noodle (百吉麵) Left: Ad of Pak Kut Noodle in 1947 which also mentioned Temple of Heaven brand of gourmet powder. (區少軒等編《香港華僑團體總覽》,香港:國際新聞社,1947 年) Right: Tong Luk-kut, founder of Pak Kut Noodle (Kung Sheung Evening News, 1954-12-28) While instant noodles in its current form was invented in 1958 in Japan by Ando Momofuku and first produced in HK […]
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The “Castle Peak Pottery Kiln” [青山陶窰] or “Dragon Kiln” [龍窰]) is located at Hin Fat Lane, Tuen Mun, off Castle Peak Road. Information about it can be found in the Antiquities Advisory Board Historic Building Appraisal report N147 shown below. The kiln’s grade 3 status was confirmed on 16th September 2014. However a March 2018 article in the Hong Kong Free […]
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Newsletter 8 included a very short article on The Shiu Wing Steel company, the only steel rolling mill currently operating in Hong Kong, located at Tap Shek Kok, Tuen Mun. As of early March 2018 this claim woul appear to be still true. The mill is capable of producing 700,000 tonnes per year of high-grade reinforcing bars for local and […]
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York Lo: Po Yuen Iron Works (寶源鐵工廠) Advertisement of Po Yuen Iron Works in 1947 (區少軒等編《香港華僑團體總覽》,香港:國際新聞社,1947 年) Fok Wai-man (first from the left) and fellow Kowloon Chamber of Commerce leaders on vacation in Mui Wo (WKYP, 1962-7-22) Aside from garment factories and tobacco factory, Mongkok was also once home to a metal factory by the name of Po Yuen Iron […]
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York LO: Kin Sun Manufactory (建新織造廠) and Longfellow shirts Left: Kin Sun’s ad in Singapore in 1953 warning customers about counterfeited Longfellow shirts (南洋商报, 10 April 1953, Page 7); Right: Kin Sun Manufactory in Sham Shui Po on the right. The bamboo structure was for lowering a coffin from the second floor which was common practice before the 1960s (Uwants) […]
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