HF: The paint industry is capital and machinery intensive. To set up a paint factory a large amount of capital is needed for the purchase of land and building of the factory, buying machines and setting up of a laboratory, etc., thus in the course of the industry’s development there are only not more than ten paint plants in Hong […]
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York Lo: The King of Watchbands: Poon Yuen-sang (潘遠生) and Yuen Sang Hardware (遠生金屬) Poon Yuen-sang delivering a speech as chairman of the HK & Kowloon Watch and Clock Merchants Association in 1961. Left to right: Mrs. Gertrude Kwok (郭贊夫人), Poon Yuen-sang, Lau Kam-fat (劉錦發), Lun Tin-lok (倫天樂), Chan Peng-fei (陳鵬飛) (WKYP, 1961-9-10) In the 1950s and 1960s, the HK […]
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Rose, Downs and Thompson of Hull, UK was a manufacturer of plant for processing edible oils for making animal feeds and was also involved in supplying dredgers and excavators. This company biography suggests that in the first decade of the 20th century the company opened branches in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. 1777 Company established. 1871 Christiana Rose, of Rose and Downs, […]
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HF: There were at least two slaughterhouses/abattoirs in Kennedy Town. As always additional information, photos, maps, clarification and corrections would be appreciated. I have highlighted specific questions in red. This 1889 map of Kennedy Town shows a slaughter house, adjacent incinerator and a sheep and pig depot south of Forbes Street. Their total length was about 200 metres. For the […]
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York Lo: Goodyear(嘉年): The Rise and Fall of a Real Estate Giant Pang Kwok-chan’s lecture for the HKU Department of Extramural Studies (precursor of SPACE) in 1966 about the 5 stages of post-War development of the HK real estate industry with the only picture of him available in the public domain (香港工商日報, 1966-10-26) Goodyear was a major Hong Kong real […]
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IDJ has sent the following newspaper article in. This adds further information to a couple of articles planning to lengthen the Peak Tram down to Queen’s Road in Hong Kong. HF: I have retyped the article to aid clarity and searches. The images of the interviewees were not in the original article. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped version […]
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Tymon Mellor: As you walk down the path from Lead Mine Pass to Tai Po, you will see along the route a number of concrete blocks that once formed the pipe supports from some long abandoned water supply project. The location of the pipeline is isolated and there is no obvious scheme associated with the works. However, this was part […]
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IDJ has sent two more images of stone breaking, or “cutting” as the second image is titled, in Hong Kong. Related Indhhk articles: Stone breaking in early 20th Century Hong Kong Film of quarry stone breaking by hand 1953 – location The Index contains several articles about quarrying and the transportation of stone in Hong Kong.
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Tymon Mellor: The Shing Mun Valley Scheme was implemented in two stages. The First Section established a new water supply and distribution system including the first cross harbour pipeline. The Second Section provided for the construction of the Jubilee Reservoir with a capacity greater than the total existing storage and possibly “the highest in the British Empire” [i] along with […]
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York Lo: Friends & U’Land (友聯磁磚潔具): Leading Distributor of Sanitary Ware Left: Ad of Friends & U’Land in the 1950s (HKBCA Yearbook); right: an old ad of Friends Company listing all the products it carried (U’land website) Earlier on the website, we covered three leading pioneers in the HK plumbing industry. Another important player in the industry was Friends & […]
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