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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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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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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New information in red regarding Hong Kong lighthouse ladies. IDJ: The script below comes from one of my aviation books related to the 1930s China Coast. It’s an interesting aside about the wives of lighthouse keepers:- “Chinese keepers of the lights had invariably been pirated so often for their large supplies of specially refined kerosene, the lighthouse service found it […]
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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: Siu On Realty (兆安地產) Left: Siu On Realty founder Lee Siu-lun; Right: Siu On Centre in Wanchai In late January 2020, low-key real estate developer Lee Siu-lun (李兆麟) passed away at the age of 98. While he was relatively low profile compared to his younger brother Lee Shau-kee of Henderson Land, his Siu On Realty was one of […]
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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: Marklin Advertising (美靈廣告) Left: Chinese New Year ad of Marklin Singapore in 1958(Singapore Free Press, 1958-2-16); Middle: BOAC “Visit Hong Kong” poster in 1960 designed by Marklin; Right: Marklin founder Derek Nurse (HK Album, 1967) From the 1950s to the 1970s, Marklin was one of the leading ad agencies in the Far East with branches in Hong Kong, […]
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York Lo: Hit Maker: Yam Wu-fa (任護花) and his Novels, Newspapers and Movies Yam Wu-fa (second from right) with his family in 1959 (WKYP, 1959-8-21) When it comes to a novelist whose works were adopted into movies who was also a newspaper publisher in the Chinese world, the first name that comes to most people’s mind is probably Louis Cha, […]
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