York Lo: The Hioe family and Yoeng Nam Hien & Co (榮南興) From the 1930s to 1960s, Yoeng Nam Hien & Co was one of the leading trading companies in Hong Kong specialized in trading between HK/China and Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia where the firm’s owner the Hioe family had built an enormous fortune tracing back to the late 19th […]
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HF: This is an initial attempt to analyse the impact of World War One on industry in Hong Kong. HF: May 2019 I have not been able to research further on the topic since originally posting this article in September 2015 and would be grateful if someone could poke around a bit and send in more information/images on the subject. […]
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York Lo: Oriental Pacific Mills (東亞太平) – the Largest Wool Textile Producer in HK Left: Oriental Pacific Mills at Sheung Kwai Chung in 1966 (Land Use Survey, HKU Libraries); Right: logo of Oriental Pacific Mills Oriental Pacific Mills (refer to as “OP”) was the largest worsted and woolen spinning group in HK which was formed in 1959 as the result […]
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Vaudine England has kindly sent a link to what she describes as a typically 1900-era directory of the European empires in the east. The author was D Warren Smith. We have already posted the following extracts from this account, Part One – Industries in Hong Kong, Part Two – Shipyards in Hong Kong, and Part Three – The Peak District […]
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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: Wah Mei Electric – Leading Distributor of Electronics from the 1920s to 1960s and related firms Left: Wah Mei ad in 1927 (8th Far East Games brochure); Right: the old Wah Mei store in between Sunlight Hing Kee and Kin Ming Radio on Des Voeux Road Central Wah Mei Electric was one of the oldest and largest distributor […]
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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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HSBC Main Building (香港滙豐總行大廈) is a headquarters building of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which is today a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based HSBC Holdings. It is located on the southern side of Statue Square near the location of the old City Hall, Hong Kong. The previous HSBC building was built in 1935 and pulled down to make way for the current building. The current building is the […]
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York Lo: Charles L. Corn (陳耀坤, 1898-1973) – operator of quarry in Shau Kei Wan and Chinese leader in Guam Left: Ad for Charles L. Corn & Co in 1950 (HKBCA yearbook); Right: Charles L. Corn (left) shaking hands with Vice President C.K. Yen in Taipei (National Cultural Database) In the 1950s, a colorful Chinese businessman in Guam and the Philippines […]
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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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