York Lo: Eastern Arts Lantern (東藝宮燈) Eastern Arts booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo. Source: HK Memory In the 1950s and 60s, HK industrialists leveraged the flexibility of plastic as a material and developed a wide variety of products ranging from toys, flowers, Christmas trees, buckets, plates to shoes and sandals and exported them all over the world. One […]
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HF: Elizabeth Ride has sent information about four Shipyards from BAAG reports made during the Japanese occupation. This information is of interest with regard to what was (or wasn’t ) happening in them in 1944. The first Taikoo Docks is well known. The other three much less so. Kwong Hip Lung Shipyard, Wing On Shing Shipyard and Tai Kok Tsui […]
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York Lo: Wan Tat-ming (溫達明) and Ling Nam Weaving (嶺南布廠) Left: Wan Tat-ming(Kung Sheung Evening News 1956-12-24); Right: Ad for Ling Nam Weaving in 1948 (Tung Wah Monthly, 1948) Like Shum Choy-wah who was covered earlier in another article, Wan Tat-ming (1911-1988) was a major figure in the weaving mill business and community leader in the 1940s through 1960s who […]
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James Chan: I was out walking during Christmas time around the Aberdeen reservoirs on Hong Kong island. I saw an AFC Department sign which said, “Aberdeen Lower reservoir was built in 1890 by Tai Shing Paper Mill. It was taken over and reconstructed by the government because of the Aberdeen Valley Water Scheme. It was re-opened in 1932.” I had […]
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York Lo: New China Enamelware (新華琺瑯廠) New China on Castle Peak Road in 1959 (HKU Libraries Image Collection) New China Enamelware Co, known for its “Horse Head” brand (馬頭牌) of enamelware, was one of the leading enamelware manufacturers in Hong Kong before its closure in 1970. In fact, it ranked number two behind I-Feng Enameling at one point and was […]
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HF, IDJ and Mike T: The company was founded on 15th July 1955. This advert from 1963, sent by IDJ outlines China Engineers Ltd’s interests including Hong Kong Knitters which at that time was manufacturing, ‘Easeley’ cotton and woollen knitted shirts, combed cotton underwear. In June 1990, Hong Kong Knitters Ltd. was acquired by Yangtzekiang Garment Ltd (YGM) through an associated […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Enamelware Factory (香港搪瓷廠) 1953 ad for Hong Kong Enamelware Factory Hong Kong Enamelware Factory was one of the leading enamelware manufacturers in HK in the 1950s with its factory located at 608 Castle Peak Road in Kowloon and its office in Edinburgh House in Central.The firm was known for its Diamond brand of enamelware products. Incorporated in […]
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York Lo: The Tam Brothers behind Wai Yee Co, King’s Shirts and Yau Sun Shoes From the 1920s to 1970s, the families of two brothers – Tam Lap-chiu and Tam Lap-kee – were active in both the manufacturing and retail of garments and shoes. Old timers might recall their retail outlets on Des Voeux Road Central in Sheung Wan. Tam […]
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York Lo: Sunbeam Manufacturing (日昇製造廠): from torchlights to kitchenware Left: old Sunbeam factory; Right: Sunbeam Centre today Founded in 1929 (this is based on the company’s own description although several external sources cite 1931 as the inception date), Sunbeam is one of the oldest industrial enterprises in Hong Kong and one of the few that continues to thrive to this […]
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HF: For more information about the Hongkong Milling Company and AH Rennie please refer to our related articles shown at the end of this article. AH Rennie was born at Hamilton, Ontario on 17 November 1857, he was educated at the Hamilton Collegiate Institute and Upper Canada College at Toronto. He then worked as a junior clerk in the wholesale […]
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