York Lo: From Ships in Cheung Sha Wan to Shoes in Sham Shui Po – the Chan family, Wing On Shing Shipyard and Po Shing Shoe Company Left: Po Shing Shoe in the Posco building at 165 Un Chau Street (Source: Flickr). Right: The original Po Shing building in 231-247 Un Chau Street in the 1950s. (Source: Facebook) The Group has […]
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Hong Kong’s neon-drenched streets were just one aspect of his home that Justin Wong missed while studying in Canada. A lover of cinema, he would become nostalgic for the city whose urban landscape has been beautifully evoked and captured in films such as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) and Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express (1994)(1) As a fast-growing metropolis, Hong Kong always arouses people’s longing and […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article which mentions the early history of the company. Watsons still exists today in Hong Kong, around 181 years since it started out. HF: I have retyped this to increase legibility and searches. MESSRS A.S. WATSON & COMPANY CELEBRATE 100th anniversary A brief outline of the early history of the Company, which celebrated its […]
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Centenarian Mary Wong presenting a lace handkerchief to Princess Margaret and her then husband the Earl of Snowdon in March 1966 when they visited her shop. Her son and daughter in law Mr & Mrs Jimmy Tse were by her side. Source: Wah Kiu Yat Po, 1966-3-4. York Lo: Mention the Japanese name Oshin, (“Ah Shun” or 阿信 in Cantonese), […]
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York Lo: Sennet Freres Left: Sennet Freres jewelry – likely after WWII (Gwulo); right: the revived Sennet Freres brand as a three story bridal shop on Russell Street in Causeway Bay Earlier on the website we covered the watchmaker and jeweler J. Ullmann and Levy Hermanos. Closely associated with these two firms was Sennet Freres, another prominent watch and jewelry […]
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York Lo: Shantung Guild (山東庄): Yee Tai Hong, Shun Tai Hong and Lee Yuen Cheung The traditional Chinese trading firms in Sheung Wan are known as “Nam Pak Hong” or South-North trading associations and earlier on the website we covered some of the firms which deal with the “South” trade – trading with Southeast Asia such as Pak Wo Cheung […]
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York Lo: From Thompson Wong (堂煌廣告) to FCB (博達廣告) Formed as Thompson, Wong & Associates in 1971 by Peter Thompson and Jenny Wong, Thompson Wong was one of the four largest ad agencies in Hong Kong and has gone through a dozen English name changes (but only one Chinese name change) over the past half a century thanks to a […]
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York Lo: The Chan/Tyson Family and Gande, Price & Co The Chan/Tyson family is one of the most prominent Eurasian families in Hong Kong. Family patriarch Chan Kai-ming made his fortune serving as the secretary of the Hong Kong Opium Farm and he acquired the control of Gande Price, which remained one of the leading distributors of liquor in Hong […]
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York Lo: Paramount: Ad Agency and Interior Decorator Although it is largely forgotten today, Paramount Advertising Agency (百樂門廣告) was one of the leading Chinese-owned ad agencies in Hong Kong which was also involved in interior design and neon lights. The firm which counted many Japanese clients and business partners was responsible for interior decorations for major hotels in HK and […]
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York Lo: Kwong Chan Timber Merchants (廣棧木行) Left: Kwong Chan founder Wong Shui-leung; Right: Ad for Kwong Chan Timber Merchants in 1967 (Pun U District Association, 1967) Earlier in the group, we have covered several players in the timber business in HK such as Wong Tong Kee, Wing Tai Cheung and Ng Jim Kai. One of the leading players in […]
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