York Lo: The Chan Family of Sun Wui and the Entertainment Business in HK and Macau Natives of Sun Wui in Guangdong province, the family of Chan Wai-ting has been involved in the entertainment business in Hong Kong and Macau for close to a century through the operations of at least five movie theaters, the Kai Tak Amusement Park covered […]
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The history of explosive storage in Hong Kong is an interesting one. The earliest location appears to have been Magazine Island, originally named One Tree Island, which lies just to the West of Aberdeen Harbour. From 1887 to 1908 it was leased for an annual rent of $100, by the Nobel Explosives Company, who built a magazine, a road and […]
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York Lo: Mixing Concrete and Construction Equipment with Cantonese Opera and Wing Chun: the Wan family of Wai Hing and Modern For over six decades, the family of Wan Wai-yin has been supporting the construction industry in HK and beyond by supplying building materials and equipment such as gravel, concrete, timber, scaffolding and elevation platforms through various Wai Hing and […]
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York Lo: Lun Sang & Co (聯星建築) and The Pressure Piling Co (HK) Ltd (香港壓力打樁) Left: Lun Sang & Co founder Henry Luk Hing-yao (the spelling in the Chinese and English caption are inaccurate, a mix-up with the Malaysian Chinese millionaire/philanthropist Loke Yew); Center: ad for for Lun Sang and its affiliate Pressure Piling; Right: Luk Ping-sheung, second generation leader […]
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York Lo: Luks Industrial (陸氏實業) – Maker of Etron TV Left: Luks founder Luk King-tin (Capital, 1990); Right: logo of Etron TV from a 1988 TV ad in HK listing Luks as its manufacturer and Yin Kin Ltd as its distributors and being available in the Sheung Wan, Yaumatei and Mongkok branch of Wing On (VCRBase) A history of television […]
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HF: Our article, A Brief History of Hong Kong Cinema to 1988 – Film Studios and Personalities states that in 1913, the American, Benjamin Brosky and Li Minwei co-founded HK’s first film studio, Huamei (Chinese-American). [Brosky appears to have been actually called Brodsky but has also been written about as Brasky and Polasky.] Here is a brief biography of Brodsky. […]
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York Lo: Far East Candle Works (遠東燭業) and Ki Yip Chemical Works (基業化工廠) Article about Far East Candle & Chemical Works’ booth at the 1964 HK Products Expo with a picture of its products in its booth (KSEN, 1964-12-28) Earlier in the group, we have covered Mark V, the HK-based affiliate of US retail chain Cost Plus Bazaar which was […]
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York Lo: Chow Yau (周有, 1912-1983) – Vertical Integrator of the HK Death Care Industry With over 45,000 deaths per year, the death care industry is a huge business in Hong Kong. While many Chinese articles have covered Siu Ming, the king of funeral homes who monopolized the business in the 1960s and early 1970s, little has been written about […]
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Our article, G Falconer & Company, Watchmakers & Jewellers, mentions that Falconer were the HK agent for Ross Optical Ltd, Clapham, London. The following information and images about Ross come from the excellent Grace’s Guide website, linked below. Ross of Optical Works, 3 North Side, Clapham Common, London, SW4 (1922) Ditto Address. Telephone: Battersea 3876-7. Cables: “Rossicaste, Phone, London”. (1929) […]
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York Lo: Kun Wing Fook Medicine Co. (靳永福藥廠) and “Coconut Tree” brand carminative oil (椰樹牌驅風油) Left: Kun Wing Fook booth at the 1971-72 HK Products Expo (HK Memory); Right: article and picture of Kun Wing Fook booth at the 1959 HK Products Expo featuring a tree with coconuts imported from Singapore (TKP, 1959-12-6) Kun Wing Fook Medicine Co, best known […]
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