1920s Sheung Wan
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Where: There's a shop sign for "Lee Jim Kee / 李占記" that shows the address:
Although the text is a bit fuzzy, we can see it's a single digit address on Bonham Strand East. That's close to the junction with Queen's Road Central.
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17 May, Gwulo talk: Online research and time travel via Gwulo HKICON* have invited me to talk about using Gwulo for research. I'll give a live demonstration of how this Gwulo.com can be used to find information, ask questions, and share knowledge. I'll finish up with a look at how Central has changed, using several old photographs from my collection. It is open to the public too, hope to see you there! Click for details and booking. * HKICON = The Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists |
Lee Jim Kee was a well known watch company, with its headquarters at 9, Bonham Strand and branches in Canton and Macau [1]. They sold international brands like Rolex, but also sold watches under their own company's name. It would be great to see a picture if anyone owns one of their watches.
Who: In front of the shop a group of children are deep in discussion: "Should we go for the cheaper shop brand, or stick with the Rolex?"
People are hurrying along, some on foot, some in rickshaws,
And all under the watchful eye of the local policeman.
What: We've seen this type of policeman's shelter before. The raised platform gave him a better view, and in theory the small roof gave some protection from the sun & rain. Here's one at the bottom of Garden Road, and another at the top of Pedder Street.
We've also seen the policeman's black & white striped baton before, held by the policeman with his back to us in this Pedder Street photo:
When: The photos we have of the small shelters for traffic police date to the 1920s and 1930s. I'm interested to hear if you have more exact dates for when they were in use.
Similarly for the striped baton, when and how were they used?
Last there's the policeman's uniform. The first generation of Chinese policeman's uniform looked like this (the colours aren't accurate, but it shows the design):
The governor, F H May had written to the UK in 1914, requesting permission to make changes to the uniform. No doubt WW1 meant the request was put on hold, but it was brought up again in 1919 [2] by the then governor, R E Stubbs.
I don't see the introduction of new uniforms mentioned in the annual "Police and Fire Brigade" reports for 1919-21. But a letter to the Hongkong Telegraph in November 1919 complaining about "the latest evolution in the dress of Chinese Police Sergeants" [3] suggests the change was already underway by then.
I'll date this photo to the mid-1920s, but if you can be more accurate please let us know.
Regards, David
Gwulo reference: A197
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Also on Gwulo.com this week:
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References:
- Discussion about the history of Lee Jim Kee:
http://www.allreadable.com/bdd3I7A7 - Correspondence about HK Police uniforms in the UK National Archive, see page 119 and following of document ref: CO 129/456
- Letter titled "Police Uniform" on page 8 of the Friday, 7 Nov 1919 issue of the Hongkong Telegraph.
Comments
Queen's Road Central and Traffic Staves
Perhaps a typo - junction with Queen's Road Central.
Traffic staves for policemen on traffic signalling duty were first introduced in November 1922. The staves were painted black and white and were two and a half feet in length. The policeman on point duty was required to hold the stave in his left hand. When desiring to halt traffic in any particular direction, he would hold the stave at a right angle to his left side and all traffic behind the stave was required to stop. HK Daily Press 22 November 1922 refers.
Thanks for catching the typo,
This photo should be taken no earlier than 1925
The sign gave me a clue to the time of the picture. Although blurred after enlargement the shop address is still legible to certain extent. No.9 Bonham Strand East was the Head Office address of Lee Jim Kee. Beneath this was the addresses of Lee Jim Kee's Canton Branches : No. 70 Sap Pat Po & No. 334 Wai Oi Road Central (The middle number "3" is uncertain as it is unclear in the English and part of the Chinese was blocked by another sign of the shop's name.) . This section of the road was later renamed as Zhong Shan 5th Road). Since Lee Jim Kee's 4th Branch was opened in the year of 1925 at Wai Oi Road Central, Canton, this photo should be taken no earlier than 1925.
"no earlier than 1925"
Thanks Alan, that is valuable to know.
Regards, David
Queues
Another thing that puts this picture date after 1911 is that no men are wearing queues on their heads.