HF: Tai Ping Carpets was founded in 1956 by a group of seven friends. Each of the seed investors contributed HKD10,000 to build a factory to employ mainland refugees. I have found no information about where this factory was. No doubt the Anthony Lawrence book about the company mentioned at the end of this article would provide great detail regarding […]
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HF: The following list shows the product, date when first manufactured in Hong Kong and the company involved. The website has information about only of two of these, Leung So Kee Umbrella Factory, and The Hong Kong Cotton- Spinning, Weaving and Dyeing Co. Ltd. Therefore further information about any of these companies would be welcomed. And confirmation that they were indeed […]
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Hugh Farmer: Elizabeth Ride has sent a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) report from 1st March 1945, An Outline of Conditions in Occupied Hong Kong. One of the BAAG’s aims during WW2 was to gather military intelligence in Japanese occupied Hong Kong which included a great deal of what can loosely be called industrial information. Thus this report covers many […]
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Hugh Farmer: This article is a joint effort of Thomas Ngan, IDJ, Neil Morris and myself. Thomas has done a fantastic job in first translating the Chinese company names and products. And secondly by inserting arrows into the two photos below to link the advertising signs to the index. A lot of work Thomas, thanks very much. * The first […]
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IDJ: These photographs are of a Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong exhibition in Hung Hom in 1968. This aerial photo of the site shows a building that still exists. The KCR/MTR diesel locomotive depot. The low long white building near the waterfront. See: 1957 Trade Fair TST
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Hugh Farmer: The SCMP on 10th Feb 2014 had an article about Lam Leung-tim who was a “toy tycoon”. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1424643/toy-story-how-tycoon-lam-leung-tim-built-his-empire The SCMP on 10th Feb 2014 had an article about the 50th anniversary of G.I. Joe toy soldiers, first made in early 1964 in the Lam Leung-tim’s company made G.I.Joe toys in HK. When and where? http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1424595/hasbros-gi-joe-set-50th-birthday Forward Winsome Industries […]
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Hugh Farmer: These two extracts provide a clear indication of the range of manufacturing and products produced by Chinese in Hong Kong at two periods. It would be of interest to hear a little about some of these goods. “While the expatriate investors set up all the major industrial enterprises , the Chinese community also went beyond handicraft industries and […]
» Read moreLawrence Tsui suggests that the place name Yau Ma Tei originated through the industry there of making marine ropes – literally, ‘Place for the Oily Flex [Flax?] Ropes’. Hugh Farmer adds: Gwulo had a forum about the origin of the name Yau Ma Tei in 2006 to which several people contributed quoting a variety of sources. I have included the […]
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Hugh Farmer writes, The SCMP of 10 Dec 2013, has an article “Museum plans an old school revival” which mentions a plan by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and the Hong Kong Toys Council to set up a permanent museum dedicated to toys produced here. Sounds like an excellent idea given the importance of the toy industry in Hong Kong […]
» Read moreHugh Farmer writes, in Newsletter Seven I mentioned Chinese manufacturing enterprises in the 1870s. These included two for preserving ginger and other processed food including soy sauce and preserved fruit, several machine-makers, a tannery, a paper factory and a manufacturer of matches, workshops for producing cigars, tobacco, clothing, glass, oars, rifles, ropes, umbrellas, spectacles, tooth-powder and soap, as well as […]
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