HF with thanks to IDJ for the two adverts. The cable used in the Aerial Ropeway constructed to link Takoo Sugar Refinery and its Sanitarium was made by Bullivant & Co. which began as a UK company. William Munton Bullivant was an early innovator in the stranded wire cordage field, invented in the mid-19th century by German mining engineers in the […]
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York Lo: From Bicycles to Lamps and Stoves: Union Metal Works (合衆五金廠) and the two illustrious families behind the firm Left: 1962 Unimet ad showing its entire line of SOLAR brand products; Right: Unimet lamp made in 1965 Union Metal Works (aka Unimet) was one of the leading manufacturers of pressure lanterns in HK alongside World-Light, Glory, Lea Hin […]
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IDJ writes – This excerpt comes from a very useful book published by the Hong Kong government’s Department of Commerce and Industry dated 1955. It is a typical 180 page government handout to prospective overseas buyers outlining where Hong Kong is in the world and what the colony can sell or make for you. Essentially a commercial buyer’s guide […]
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Kader Industrial Company Limited was founded by Mr. Ting Hsiung-chao in 1948. He had previously established the Wei Ming Flashlight and Battery Works and the Pau Chiu Light Bulb Factory, both successful businesses in Shanghai before 1949. Mr. H.C. Ting believed that success is built upon diligence and a dictum that nothing short of perfection was acceptable. Being an unusual […]
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Hugh Farmer: Following our recent articles about the Lok On Pai ‘desalting’ plant I visited the site on 4th December 2014 to see what remains. We know from recent aerial photographs and maps that the main building exists extending west to east, with one main arm at right angles to this running south towards the sea. Here’s what the site […]
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Additional information in red. James Chan: I came across this Report of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs for the year 1921. It would interesting to know where this converted Kowloon smallpox hospital was. No exact date is given as to when the accident happened. And what the name of the company making the firecrackers was. “An unfortunate accident occurred in […]
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IDJ and HF: The origin of Schmidt & Co., (Hong Kong) Limited can be dated back to 110 years ago when Paul Schmidt founded the Schmidt Group of Companies in Tokyo under the name of Schmidt Shoten in 1896. The Group opened its first office in Beijing, China in 1911. In the following years, additional branches were established in major […]
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HF: I would be very interested if anyone could tell me some of the companies that occupied space in Cheung Sha Wan Factory Estate, or about other factory estates in Hong Kong. Cheung Sha Wan Factory Estate was a factory estate in Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong, owned and managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority. It comprised up […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent these British Army Aid Group (BAAG) reports mentioning the South China Iron Works during the Japanese Occupation, WW2. South China Iron Works Ltd., founded in 1938 [incorporated 19th December 1938], lost much of its machinery during the Japanese occupation…but by 1949 had resumed production of diesel engines, including ‘specially designed’ three wheeled vehicles ‘especially designed for […]
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HF: Taikoo Sugar Refinery started producing refined sugar in Hong Kong in 1884 and did not cease operation till 1972. During this period of almost a century, it produced some of the world’s highest quality refined sugar widely consumed in many parts of Asia, Australia and North America. Its history illustrates important aspects of Hong Kong’s industrial development.(1) Taikoo Sugar […]
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