HF: Alfred Herbert Rennie, came to Hong Kong from Canada as the sales representative of the American Company, Portland Flouring Mills. He started the Hongkong Milling Company in what was then called Junk Bay. However, despite backing from several prominent local businessmen his company quickly became mired in multiple problems and Rennie committed suicide while travelling by boat to his […]
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HF: The following notes are an attempt to order chronologically events in AH Rennie’s life mentioned on data cards from the Carl Smith collection held at the HK Public Records Office. I have attempted below to include all references to Rennie in these cards, as recorded by Carl Smith, and which are hand written or typed. However, they are sometimes […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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York Lo: Pro-Quality Electronic (寶業電子) Left: PQE chairman Young Chi-wan; Middle: PQE vice chairman Cheng Wai-kuen; Right: PQE director Dominic Cheng Backed by the Young and the Cheng families behind the Miramar Hotel, Pro-Quality Electronic Co Ltd (hereafter refer to as “PQE”) was one of the largest electronics manufacturers in HK in the 1970s and the early 1980s with over […]
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York Lo: Merchant Prince: the life and many pursuits of real estate pioneer Lee Sai-wah (李世華, 1916-1975) Left: S. W. Lee (Source: liuhan.org.hk); Right: S.W. Lee’s Waldorf Hotel at 2-6 Causeway Road in the 1950s From the 1930s to 1970s, Lee Sai-wah (hereafter refer to as “S. W. Lee”) was a colorful figure active in Hong Kong’s business world and […]
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York Lo: Eastern Arts Lantern (東藝宮燈) Eastern Arts booth at the 1971 HK Products Expo. Source: HK Memory In the 1950s and 60s, HK industrialists leveraged the flexibility of plastic as a material and developed a wide variety of products ranging from toys, flowers, Christmas trees, buckets, plates to shoes and sandals and exported them all over the world. One […]
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From Tai Ping Koon, which opened in 1860 and served Sun Yat-sen, to Gaylord Indian Restaurant, open since 1972, to the award-winning abalone served in Forum since 1977, these restaurants have stood the test of time. In a city where restaurants come and go with dizzying speed, those which have stood the test of time are few and far between. […]
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York Lo: Wan Tat-ming (溫達明) and Ling Nam Weaving (嶺南布廠) Left: Wan Tat-ming(Kung Sheung Evening News 1956-12-24); Right: Ad for Ling Nam Weaving in 1948 (Tung Wah Monthly, 1948) Like Shum Choy-wah who was covered earlier in another article, Wan Tat-ming (1911-1988) was a major figure in the weaving mill business and community leader in the 1940s through 1960s who […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Enamelware Factory (香港搪瓷廠) 1953 ad for Hong Kong Enamelware Factory Hong Kong Enamelware Factory was one of the leading enamelware manufacturers in HK in the 1950s with its factory located at 608 Castle Peak Road in Kowloon and its office in Edinburgh House in Central.The firm was known for its Diamond brand of enamelware products. Incorporated in […]
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York Lo: The Tam Brothers behind Wai Yee Co, King’s Shirts and Yau Sun Shoes From the 1920s to 1970s, the families of two brothers – Tam Lap-chiu and Tam Lap-kee – were active in both the manufacturing and retail of garments and shoes. Old timers might recall their retail outlets on Des Voeux Road Central in Sheung Wan. Tam […]
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