York Lo: Wing Tai Cheung (榮泰祥木廠) – Timber Merchant and Saw Mill Ad for Wing Tai Cheung Co in 1958 (HKBCA yearbook) For most of the 20th century, Wing Tai Cheung operated by three generations of the Kan family was one of the leading timber merchants and saw mills in Hong Kong with branches across Hong Kong and Kowloon and […]
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Rico Lee: ‘Just encountered a rare short documentary about “French technology in the Far East” on ina.fr featuring an aluminum production plant in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, construction of Shek Pik Reservoir, and the Jatiluhur Dam in Indonesia. All the result of French involvement.’ The Shek Pik-related part was clipped and reposted by Save Lantau Alliance to rally support against development of Lantau […]
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York Lo: Stanley Kuo (郭正達, 1923-2009): King of Threads, Textile Industrialist and Credit Card Pioneer Earlier on the website, we covered the aluminum pioneer Wah Chong founded by the Kuo family from Shanghai. Stanley Kuo Cheng-dai, the eldest son of Wah Chong founder K.Y. Kuo, had achieved success independent of Wah Chong as the co-founder of successful businesses in three […]
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Stephen Davies/Hugh Farmer SD: The largest vessel I know for certain to have been built at the Ah King yard, in 1938/39, was the wonderful exploration junk Cheng Ho, 100ft long and with the most marvellous history. She was built for Ann Archbold, daughter of the founder of Standard Oil to amazingly extravagant specs (some of the interior shots are […]
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Ian Wolfe has sent a photo from an unknown source. Ian: It’s undated but the time taken should be before 1949. The Green Island plant with an interesting aerial ropeway can be seen here – Tower A is approximately at the present ELDEX building,[location shown below], while pylons B,C,D,E and F stretches the ropeway towards the coastline and ended up going […]
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Earlier in the group, we have covered several major torchlight manufacturers such as Sonca (formerly V.K. Song & Co), Sunbeam, Nam Jam, Tang Fun Kee and Everlight. But the first torchlight manufacturer in HK was Sing Chow Electric Factory, which was founded in 1920 by Nanhai natives Chan Ting-yu (陳定宇), his older brother Chan Shek-hou (陳碩候) who returned from Peru […]
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Brian Edgar’s blog, linked below, is about the experiences of his parents Thomas and Evelina Edgar in Hong Kong 1941-1945. The photograph shown on the Home page is of their wedding on the 29th June 1942. Thomas was a baker and worked in Hong Kong for the Lane Crawford, Garden and Ching Loong bakeries. Here we are concerned with the Lane Crawford […]
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York Lo: Tai Hang Rubber Factory (大行樹膠廠) Left: ad for Tai Hang Rubber Factory in 1941; Centre: Tai Hang Rubber founder Yau Kim-fee (A Century of Commerce); Right: News article about strike at Tai Hang Rubber in 1941(HK Daily Press, 1941-9-15) From the 1930s to 1960s, Tai Hang Rubber was one of the big four manufacturers of rubber shoes in […]
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York Lo: Yung Tack Cheong Hardware Manufactory (翁德祥金屬製品廠) Ad for Yung Tack Cheong Hardware Manufactory in 1941 (A Century of Commerce) Kerosene lamps was a major industrial sector in Hong Kong and earlier in the group we have profiled some of its key players such as Union Metal Works, World-Light Manufactory, Lea Hin and Glory Metal Works. Yung Tack Cheong […]
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