York Lo: Union Construction Co/Union Contractors (華聯建築) Left: Union Contractors founder Kew Chan (Geni); Right: Ad of Union Construction Co in 1950 (HKBCA Yearbook) Earlier in the group, I wrote a series of articles on Shanghainese builders and in Part 7 of the series, the firm Union Contractors was misclassified as a Shanghainese builder as its proprietor Chan Bing-quan(陳炳鈞, 1924-1988) was […]
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HF: I am very happy to offer a little publicity to Lindsay Varty and the recent publication of her book, Sunset Survivors: Meet the people keeping Hong Kong’s traditional industries alive. This has been receiving excellent reviews and I understand from Lindsay that the first print has already sold out. Lindsay first contacted me in March wondering if she could […]
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York Lo: Faithful Trading and Polytek Engineering Industrial trading and engineering firms such as China Engineers, Reiss Bradley and Andersen Meyer covered earlier in other articles played an important role in the industrial development of Hong Kong and the broader region as they facilitated the necessary technology transfer from the West by acting as importers and installers of state of the […]
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HF: Paul Fonoroff, well known Hong Kong film critic and historian, wrote, A Brief History of Hong Kong Cinema. I believe it was published in 1988, in Renditions, a literary magazine published by the Research Centre for Translation (RCT) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The copy of the article I link below comes from the CUHK library. Of particular interest […]
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Elizabeth Ride has sent part of BAAG Report KWIZ #1, dated 31st May 1943. If you haven’t come across the British Army Aid Group before I have linked a gwulo.com summary of its activities below. Elizabeth explains KWIZ was short for Kweillin Weekly Intelligence Summary, with a ‘Z’ substituted for an ‘S’. She has sent extracts from the Report, namely […]
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This article is the result of initial research into industrial development and related matters on Cheung Chau Island. If you can provide information on any of the subjects below, or add to the list, it would be good to hear from you. I can then gradually add to this framework to provide a fuller picture with an acknowledgment of your contribution. […]
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Dr. François Drémeaux, Honorary Professor, Department of History, The University of Hong Kong, is currently working on the presence of French companies in Hong Kong during the interwar period. He has kindly sent three charts showing a selection of these companies. The second one shows: Les principaux commerces de détail français à Hong Kong (1918-1941) which appear to be mainly fashion shops […]
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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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Nan Kang Company Ltd imported luxury American goods such as perfume, cosmetics, silk stockings and nail cutters for department stores in Central.(1) Source: Hong Kong Memory Project This article was first posted on 25th September 2018. Related Indhhk articles: K C Tsang & Company,人和行, trading agent Gande, Price & Company Ltd – Hong Kong agents and wine and spirits merchants […]
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HF: Jennie Tang, the granddaughter of one of the five Tang brothers, left a comment about the original Historical Building Appraisal article shown below. It should be noted that Jennie doubts the existence of the third brother mentioned in the Appraisal. When I contacted her she kindly sent further information, and the two photos shown here, especially about her grandfather, […]
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