York Lo: The authorized agent for YKK zippers in Hong Kong since the 1950s has been Hung Cheong Import & Export Ltd ( 鴻昌進出口有限公司, incorporated in 1972), which was founded by Kwok Tak-seng (郭得勝, 1911-1990) and Yeung Yiu-chung (楊耀松, 1921-2003). The profits from selling YKK zippers formed the foundations of […]
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Peter Howell has sent further photographs taken during his time stationed at RAF Shatin Airfield, Hong Kong in the early 1950s. See our collection of articles on the airfield below. We are coming to the end of Peter’s photos and the images below show various stages of rice production in the Shatin valley close to the airfield. I realize farming […]
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Karl Spencer has contacted the Group. He says, “I am a collector of old HK uniform buttons and am looking for early buttons from the KCR (Kowloon-Canton Railway) and HK Tramways. I have attached photos of buttons I am trying to find. If anyone has any other interesting early buttons then I would be happy to hear from them.” Karl […]
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HF: A little more information about the Lok On Pai “Desalting” (as Desalination was called in the 1970s) Plant, Hong Kong. Thanks to SCT for proof reading the retyped version of the original book extract. Another important decision in the history of water supply in Hong Kong was the introduction of desalting plants. In 1971 an experimental desalting plant, which […]
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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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Connie Fong: “People in Hong Kong may come across traditional Chinese steelyards, a type of balance, in wet markets and Chinese medicine pharmacies. Yet only a few of them know the proper way to use one, though it was the optimal tool for measuring weight in the olden days. HF: I have tried to leave a comment at the end […]
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HF/Tymon Mellor: “Zonta White House (崇德家福軒) is a western house standing on the summit of a hill overlooking Tai Po Road. It was constructed in 1906 for the accommodation of the managerial staff engaged on the construction of the Kowloon-Canton Railway (九廣鐵路). The house and the adjacent guest bungalow and servants’ quarters sit in six acres of grounds close to […]
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“Lammert the auctioneers have a long history in Hong Kong. Their first association in Hong Kong was with the watchmaking trade. The transition form the watch to the auction hammer occurred as follows. One of the assistants in the watchmaking shop of Charles Weiss in 1852 was M Zobel. He is listed as a watchmaker from 1853 to 1855. In […]
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HF: Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable type into the “bed” or “chase” of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it […]
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Dodwell & Company (天祥洋行) was one of the leading British merchant firms, active in China and Japan during the 19th and 20th century. It was a direct rival to Jardine, Matheson & Co. “It was established in 1858 when W R Adamson and Company (silk dealers) set up in London, with its head office in Shanghai and branches in Hong Kong, […]
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