York Lo: The Kung family and Sam Kwong Weaving Factory (三光布廠) Left: Kung Yeuk-man (HK Pun U District Association, 1971); Center: ad for Sam Kwong in 1935 (Tin Kwong Po, 1935-11-1); Right: ad for Sam Kwong in the 1970s (HK Pun U District Association) Sam Kwong Weaving Factory was one of the leading weaving mills in Hong Kong from the […]
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HF: Can anyone supply information about the period when these toys were made in Hong Kong? “In 1893 William Britain Jr., a British toy manufacturer, invented the process of hollow casting in lead, and revolutionized the production of toy soldiers. The company quickly became the industry leader, and was imitated by many other companies, such as Hanks Bros. and John Hill […]
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HF: Hong Kong has several locations where there are still clusters of small shipyards. Stonecutters Island, Ap Lei Chau and the north coast of Tsing Yi spring to mind. Another is Tam Kung Temple Road which lies between the Shau Kei Wan MTR station and the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence. Its couple of hundred yards contains about dozen […]
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York Lo: Sing Fat Construction (成發建築) Two Sing Fat projects in 1954-55 – left: two residential buildings in North Point and right: Tak Ming Middle School on Argyle Street in Kowloon (HKBCA Yearbook, 1954) Incorporated in 1960 but founded earlier, Sing Fat Construction has been a notable player in the HK construction industry for over seven decades and has evolved […]
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York Lo: Sau Tao and Chewy – Noodle Giants Aside from “Doll” noodle covered earlier in the group, two of the leading local manufacturers of instant noodles are Sun Shun Fuk, maker of “Sau Tao” brand and Chewy, which were founded in the 1960s and 1970s respectively. Sun Shun Fuk (新順福食品) and “Sau Tao” brand (壽桃牌) Left: Sun Shun Fuk […]
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Tymon Mellor: In 1904, as the Hong Kong Island tram system was readying for operation, attention focused on the opposite side of the harbour on the development of a tram network for Kowloon. After many false starts, just when it seemed that work was about to start on a Kowloon tram network, the Government had a major change of approach […]
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York Lo: Yew Sang Hong (耀生行) – distributor of electrical appliances and equipment Left: 1958 ad for Yew Sang Hong listing brands of refrigerators carried by the firm and promoting monthly installment plans for radios starting at $13 and refrigerators starting at $50. (WKYP, 1958-5-14); Right: 1966 ad for Yew Sang Hong with pictures of appliances carried by the firm […]
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HF: Desalination (or “Desalting” as it appeared to be called at that time) was a source of water in Hong Kong between 1975 and 1981. A large desalination plant was commissioned at Lok On Pai, near Tuen Mun, in 1975, but was decommissioned in 1981 because its operation was more expensive than importing water from Dongjiang in China. A Water Supplies […]
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IDJ has sent this newspaper article about a vehicle built by the South China Iron Works for a rally held in Hong Kong in 1950. We have quite a lot of information regarding this company, all linked below. IDJ notes, “Unfortunately, the micro-film image of the vehicle that heads the article is too obscured to make much out of it. […]
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IDJ has sent a series of articles about managers at Taikoo Dockyard: “John Finnie, the present Manager, was born at Greenock in 1897 and served his apprenticeship with Scotts’ Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd. He came to Taikoo Dockyard as Ship Draughtsman in 1924, became Assistant Manager in 1930, and was appointed Manager in 1937 on K.E. Greig’s retirement. The […]
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