York Lo: New Asiatic Chemical Works (新亞藥廠): Pharmaceutical Star Left: Trademark for New Asiatic Chemical Works Hong Kong (HK Government Report, 1939); Right: Advertisement of New Asiatic Chemical Works’ tuberculosis drug Tibilon in Hong Kong from the 1950s Founded in Shanghai in 1926 by K.C. Hsu and two others, New Asiatic Chemical Works was one of the largest pharmaceutical and […]
» Read more
York Lo: Live Long and Prosper: Longevity Condensed Milk (壽星公煉奶), Black and White Evaporated Milk (黑白淡奶) and Friesland Ice Cream (菲仕蘭雪糕) Left: Longevity milk from 1980 HK TV commercial (YouTube); Right: Friesland Ice cream factory on Hennessy Road in 1953 (Gwulo) Since the 1930s and 1940s, Longevity sweetened condensed milk and Black & White evaporated milk have become staples […]
» Read more
York Lo: Crowning Achievement: Crown Motors (皇冠汽車) and 50 years of Toyota in HK Article about the opening of Crown Motors in 1966 with picture of one of its Toyotas (KSDN, 1966-12-21) Earlier on the website we covered three auto dealers which primarily focused on British cars that are part of the Inchcape group – Metro, Dodwell and Gilman. The […]
» Read more
Nicholas Kitto has a family connection to the Asiatic Petroleum Company. His grandfather, John ‘Jack’ Kitto, was recruited directly from school by Royal Dutch Shell in 1910. After training in their London office he travelled to Shanghai on the Trans-Siberian Railway and commenced work with The Asiatic Petroleum Company (North China) Limited on 16 September 1912. He remained with APC […]
» Read more
York Lo: From Dodwell Motors and Gilman Motors to Metro-Dodwell and MD Motors As a result of a series of acquisitions by the Inchcape group in the late 1960s, Metro Cars, the distributor of Austin automobiles covered earlier merged with Dodwell Motors and Gilman Motors to form Metro-Dodwell, the largest auto dealer in Hong Kong in the early 1970s. Below […]
» Read more
York Lo: Five Stars (五星牌) and Three Rings (三元牌) – Aluminum Pioneers Wah Chong (華錩) and Ting Tai (鼎大) Production of aluminum (or aluminium based on the British spelling) sheets and products in Hong Kong began in 1949 with two firms – Wah Chong, the maker of the “Five Stars” brand of aluminum ware which opened its branch factory in […]
» Read more
York Lo: Advertising & Publicity Bureau (湯臣廣告公司) APB’s booth at the British Industries Fair in 1939 in Birmingham, UK. APB was the first overseas ad agency to have exhibited at the show, which was the most popular attraction in the UK from the 1920s to the 1950s (Malaya Tribune, 1939-3-28) As mentioned earlier in the article about the HK neon […]
» Read more
York Lo: City of Neonlights: HK Neon Light Industry and some of its key players Hong Kong owed its reputation as “the Pearl of the Orient” to its neon light industry which lit up the city from signs for small shops on busy streets to giant record-breaking signs atop skyscrapers on the Victoria harbor front from the 1930s to the […]
» Read more
The following article has been extracted from the Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. The article about Ho A-mei was written by Elizabeth Sinn 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 […]
» Read more
David Bellis, Mike T, Hugh Farmer and Elizabeth Ride: In 19 Queries & Answers: Amakusa Marine Products Industrial Company, 1942, HF wrote, “By December 1942 around 18,000 Hong Kong Chinese fishermen were reported to be receiving instructions from the Amakusa Marine Products Industrial Company.” (Snow) I said I could find nothing out about this company which if the above is […]
» Read more