York Lo: Joe Law (1922-2015) – HK Plastic and Toy Industry Pioneer Ignatius Joseph Law Cho-Yiu (羅祖耀, 1922-2015), aka Joe Law, was one of the founding fathers of the plastic and toy industry in Hong Kong. His involvement in plastic spanned six decades in products ranging from plastic flowers and toys to Christmas novelties and L.E.D. lighting. Along the way, Law […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article… The article contains a couple of grammatical mistakes and slight oddness of word choice which I have included in the retyped version below. HF: I have retyped the original newspaper article to improve clarity and to aid searches. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article. The drive to Castle Peak has always […]
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Hugh Farmer: Elizabeth Ride has sent another part of 1945 BAAG report on a variety of subjects in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in WW2. This time the report covers: Motor Bus Services – the removal of most buses from HK, bus services post Sept 1942 Ferry Services – Harbour and Island/NT/Aberdeen, use of auxiliary junks, fuel […]
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Cecilia Young: My brothers and I are trying to gather information about my father’s company Yuen Hing Hong & Co. Ltd which he and my mother established in Hong Kong. HF: If you can provide further information about this company I would be delighted to hear from you. My father was Norman Young Sze-kuen and mention is made of him in […]
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HF: The article, I-Feng Enamelling Company and Freezinhot Bottle Co., Ltd. includes: In 1937, after buying the assets of Keung Hwa Aluminium and Enamelling Company, Mr. Dung Ji-fu founded I-Feng Enamelling Company in Hong Kong to sell aluminium and enamel ware. York Lo adds: I believe the English name of Keung Hwa should be “China Klinwares Manufacturing Co”. Dung Ji-fu should also […]
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Duncan Tong (唐鼎康) died a few years ago aged 103. He was a pioneer of the plastic flowers industry and owned the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works in San Po Kong (and apparently not Li Ka-Shing as is often incorrectly reported) where the 1967 riots started. “The political struggle between the colonial government and the leftist camp started in a […]
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York Lo: Millie’s (妙麗)– the Iconic Handbag and Shoes Brand Left: the iconic Millie’s neon sign on Nathan Road at night; Right: Millie’s founder Alan Lau on the cover of Economic Digest at the height of his success in 1982 In the 1970s and early 1980s, Millie’s was the leading handbag and shoes manufacturer and retailer in Hong Kong. Its […]
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York Lo: From Chaoan to HK: Kai It Battery Factory (蓋一電池廠) Left: Kai It plant at 15 Mok Cheong Street before its re-modeling into Kai It Industrial Building. Right: Blue Dove batteries manufactured by Kai It Aside from Hing Wah, a major player in the battery industry from the 1940s to the 1980s was Kai It Battery Factory, which also operated […]
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York Lo: Flip Flops Across the Globe: How HK Exporters John Cowie and Nylex Left their Global Footprints with Plastic Sandals In the 1950s, plastic sandals (known as flips flops in America, jandals in New Zealand, thongs in Australia, slops in South Africa etc) became popular around the globe. Modeled after Japanese sandals known as zoris, some of the first […]
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York Lo: Tale as old as Wine: the Rise and Fall of Chinese Distilleries in Hong Kong Wing Lok East Street/Morrison Street in 1965 where the giant signs of Chinese distilleries such as Yan Wo Yuet and Wong Kwong Shin Tong were visible. From the 1900s to the 1960s, Hong Kong had a thriving local Chinese wine industry that not […]
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