York Lo: In the 1950s and 1960s, Cosmos Aerated Water (大同汽水廠) was a major soft drinks manufacturer in Hong Kong. The Wong family, which founded and managed Cosmos in HK, was also the founder and owner of Cosmos Bottling, which was the first and second largest soft drink manufacturer in the Philippines. The Cosmos story began in 1918 when Wong […]
» Read more
York Lo: Lo’s Mee Kwong and Join-In Shirt Left: the name Lo’s Mee Kwong lives on in the LMK Development Estate in Kwai Chung; Centre: an advertisement from the early 1980s promoting the “colorful world” of Join-In Shirt; Right: Early 1980s picture of Join-In Estate (now Prosperity Centre) in Kwai Chung. From the late 1970s to early 1980s, Join-In Shirt (鍾意恤) […]
» Read more
York Lo: The Tales of the Two Smart Shirts – Standard Shirts Dyeing, Weaving & Finishing Mills and Smart Shirts Manufacturers Ltd In the history of the garment industry in Hong Kong after WWII, there are two “Smart Shirts” and both had ties to Shanghai. The first “Smart Shirt” (司麥脫) is a popular shirt brand made by Standard Shirts Dyeing, Weaving […]
» Read more
York Lo: Hua Nan Motors – HK distributor of DeSoto, Peugeot and Renault automobiles from the 1940s to 1960s From the 1940s to the 1960s, Hua Nan Motors Federal Co Inc (華南汽車公司) was a major car dealership in Hong Kong which served as exclusive distributor of American automobile brand DeSoto and French car brands Peugeot and Renault. In the 1950s, the […]
» Read more
Jennifer Lang: I just returned from a visit to Shanghai and a look at the many wonderful Bund buildings from the 20th century. Here is more detail on the Asiatic building. It was designed by the architectural firm of Moorhead & Halse and built in 1916. The records I accessed show that it was originally called the McBain Building and […]
» Read more
York Lo: Unsung Kingmakers – the low-key Song Brothers who conquered the Shanghai Bund and Victoria Harbor and backed the development of several key industries in post-War Hong Kong V.J. Song (left) and V.K. Song in Hong Kong in the 1950s (Wendy Song) Before the emergence of Chinese tycoons such as Li Ka-shing and Sir Y.K. Pao in the 1970s, […]
» Read more
York Lo: From No 1 on the Bund in Shanghai to Kaolin Mine in Cha Kwo Ling – the Century Old China Coast Saga of the McBains Left: The former Kaolin mine in Cha Kwo Ling; Right: The former McBain Building at No 1 on the Bund in Shanghai (now known as Asia Building) From 1903 to 1983, kaolin clay was […]
» Read more
“… Macau Aerial Transport (MAT) was the first commercial airline company to be established in Macau or Hong Kong. [Founded by Charles de Ricou he] found it wise to set up MAT as a British company but public opinion in Macau was generally against having yet another ‘foreign’ enterprise in their midst. The Government of Macau, however, sensing the obvious […]
» Read more
York Lo: Shanghainese Wood Carvers and the Development of the Wooden Furniture Industry in Hong Kong As mentioned in the article “There was Something About Hong Kong Old Mary…”, Chiuchow natives Mary Wong and her son Jimmy Tse of HK Old Mary Sing Shun Co. were pioneers of the export carved wood furniture industry in Hong Kong and Jimmy himself actually […]
» Read more
HF: Vol. 34 of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch published in 1994 contains a lengthy article about German speakers in Hong Kong and of the companies they were involved in. It was written by Carl Smith. I am familiar with only a small number of these companies and even fewer of those persons working for […]
» Read more