Russell & Company ( 旗昌洋行) was the largest and most important American trading house in Qing dynasty China from 1842 to its closing in 1891. Samuel Russell founded Russell & Company in Canton, China, in 1824. Dealing mostly in silks, teas and opium, Russell & Company prospered, and by 1842, it had become the largest American trading house in China. Russell withdrew from the company in 1836 and returned to […]
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HF: We recently posted the article, Q+A 45 Proposed fixed crossing to Lantau Island, late 1970s. In this I wrote: The Tsing Ma bridge and its neighbour the Kap Shui Mun bridge both opened in 1997 but I have not come across any proposed bridge to Lantau prior to the opening of the new airport. Any information regarding government or private […]
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According to Claire Grey’s excellent family history website, linked below, W R Loxley and Company (China) Ltd was established in Hong Kong in 1872 and… ‘…J. M. Beattie bought it possibly in 1900. Later two brothers: A. Beattie and M. P. Beattie joined the firm. The business was sold to J. A. Russell and D. O. Russell in 1919 and under the agreement A. Beattie […]
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HF: The SCMP of 26th July 2015 carried a report about the death of Ho Hung Yee who ran an umbrella stand on at the top end of Peel Street for decades. The article begins…”A fixture of the Central street scene dubbed the “Umbrella Man” for the decades he spent helping Hongkongers stay dry has died at the age of […]
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HF. While walking in the Kwun Tong area on 23rd January 2016 I came across this delightfully old-fashioned looking outlet for the Sam Tak Uniform Company. It’s located at 307 Kwun Tong Road which is actually in Ngau Tau Kok. The main window reminded me of shops I used to see in the UK in the 1950s and 60s frequently […]
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HF: Tse Tsan Tai, 謝纘泰, 16th May 1872 – 4th April 1938), was one of the earliest Chinese revolutionaries of the late Qing Dynasty and co-founded the South China Morning Post. A man with a wide range of interests. Tse Tsan Tai was born in Sydney, Australia on 16th May 1872 the son of Tse Yat Chong, a native of Kaiping County Guandong […]
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IDJ has sent this paper on the construction of the “Big” Buddha, at the Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island. It took 10 years to plan and build the bronze statue which was finally opened to the public at the end of 1993. The paper was written by Peter PK Ng, of P K Ng Associates (HK) Ltd, whose website is linked […]
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Hong Kong has had seemingly hundreds of trading agents. They are of interest in their own right but also often offer an introduction to companies of a more directly industrial nature. This advert from 1950 is for the agent Tsang & Company with two initials. The second is C but what was the first, H,M,K or? York Lo: I believe […]
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York Lo: Yick Kwan Gripe Water (益群肥仔水) Left: Yick Kwan Dispensary in Central in 1948 next to Chinese Optical and Sam Tai Distillery. Right: newspaper ad of Yick Kwan gripe water in Shenbao in Shanghai, 1948 Flipping through old pictures and old newspapers from Hong Kong in the 1940s through 1960s, one can often find the ads or street signs […]
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York Lo: Shui Hwa Watch (瑞華表行) Ad of Shui Hwa Watch in 1977 listing all the brands it was sole agent of (WKYP HK Yearbook, 1977) From the 1950s to the 1980s, Shui Hwa Watch was one of the leading watch dealers in Hong Kong, best known for being the sole agents for famous Swiss brands such as Piaget (伯爵表, […]
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