HF: The following article about Ann Tse-kai was written by Liu Oi Yan and first published in the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography, edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn. The publisher, HK University Press, has kindly granted permission for it to be posted here, but retains copyright over this material from 2012. Our article was first posted on 10th April 2019. […]
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York Lo: Lucky Plastic Factory (好彩塑膠廠) Article about Lucky Plastic Factory in 1959 (WKYP, 1959-12-31) Earlier on the website, we covered plastic industry pioneers such as Chieng Han-chow of China Plastic and Wah Sun Hong, H.C. Ting of Kader Industrial and Shen Bing-su of Yee Sing Industrial who came from the North. Many pioneers of the HK plastic industry, however, […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Cement Manufacturing (香港水泥) Left: present day HK Cement plant at Ngau Kok Wan in Tsing Yi; Right: The original HK Cement plant in Tsing Leng Tsui in Tsing Yi looking in from Tsing Yi Bay Established in 1962 by the principals of Taiwanese cement industry leader Taiwan Cement Corporation (台灣水泥, TCC) and connected businessmen, Hong Kong […]
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York Lo: Star Power: E. Penn Industrial Manufactory (興華實業) and “Butterfly” (胡蝶牌) Vacuum Flasks and Torch Cases Left: the wedding of Eugene Penn and Butterfly Wu in Shanghai in 1935. The maid of honor was Koo Lan-kung (顾兰君) and bridesmaid Yuan Mei-yun (袁美雲); flower girls were Wu Yun-yun and Lo Siu-tik, and ringbearer Lai Hang (黎铿, son of Lai Man-wai, […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent BAAG reports included in the article World War Two – 1945 BAAG report on Dockyards in occupied Hong Kong. These included this extract regarding the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock company, also and commonly known as the Kowloon Dock. It illustrates the extensive damage caused to the docks by allied bombing towards the end of WW2. IDJ […]
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HF: The manufacturing of rubber products was one of Hong Kong’s six leading industries in the late 1950s. However, the industry emerged well before the World War II. This an initial article about the industry and rubber companies in Hong Kong. As further information comes in about the individual companies or products, eg rubber footware, torches, swimming/diving equipment, rubber bands, separate […]
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York Lo: From American tourist to HK garment industry pioneer – the story of June Carroll and Carroll Manufacturing Article in the Chinese press about June Carroll’s from American tourist to HK industrialist in 1963 with picture of her and her workers at her factory (WKYP, 1963-8-29) In the 1950s and 1960s, many American entrepreneurs played critical roles in the […]
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York Lo: The tale of two knitting factories with the same Chinese name (建成織造廠) Earlier on the website I wrote an article about two famous companies in the HK garment industry which shared the “Smart Shirts” name although one is the name of its famous product while the other is the firm’s name. As it turns out, two famous HK […]
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York Lo: Yick Kwan Gripe Water (益群肥仔水) Left: Yick Kwan Dispensary in Central in 1948 next to Chinese Optical and Sam Tai Distillery. Right: newspaper ad of Yick Kwan gripe water in Shenbao in Shanghai, 1948 Flipping through old pictures and old newspapers from Hong Kong in the 1940s through 1960s, one can often find the ads or street signs […]
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York Lo: From Shanghai to HK and West Africa: The Global Quests of 4 Hong Kong Enamelware Makers From the 1940s through the 1960s, Hong Kong had a vibrant enamelware industry, which like the cotton spinning industry was dominated by Shanghainese industrialists, who brought with them from Shanghai their technological know-how in addition to financial and human capital. When these […]
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