Luna Park, North Point [1949-1954]

Hi there,

There is an entry in the Chinese version of Wiki.  It said the park folded in July 1954.  The park had been scaling down in it's last years.  There is a street name after it, called 月園街 Yuet Yuen Street.  The entrance of this short street is on Java Road, between Tin Cheong Street and North Point Road.  It's actually closer to the City Garden.  If you look up North Point Road in your map, Yuet Yuen Street is on its west.  It would be difficult to mark the exact area that Luna Park took up back then, but it should be safe to use Yuet Yuen Street as the focal point.

Best Regards,

T

Hi David,

Do we have a tag for similar establishments?  If not I guess we should create one.  There are earlier amusement parks\theme parks\entertainment establishments which might then be marked up on maps.

We might have to define what should be included and whiat should not though.

T

Hi David,

Thanks.  

I may create a few more locations with this tag later as I have some older entertainment establishments in mind.  Some of them are already listed in Wiki but they are all in Chinese only.

T

Accidentally I found this clip in YouTube of Luna Park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62VyA5Yqvjc

My father took a lot of 8mm shots of me when I was small, which I had converted to thumbdrives/DVDs over the years. I divided the converted versions into small "shots" on YouTube.

I *think* this clip was when my baby amah, Ah Pah, and my folks took me to Luna Park in 1950  but ... big *BUT* ... it could also have been filmed at Laichikok's amusement park.  Would really love it if someone could either confirm it was taken on HK side or not!! 

On this aerial photograph for 8 May 1949, Luna Park should be visible.  Are these the dark patterns near the water west of the North Point Wharves? The park should be visible in May 1949 as it opened in December this year.

North Point aerial photograph 1949, by hkms2.0

The 1952 map shows 'coal bunkers' near where the dark patches are at top-left in the 1949 aerial photo: 

https://gwulo.com/luna-park#16/22.2919/114.1960/Map_by_ESRI-1952_All-Mar...

I was a toddler when I went to Luna Park. My recollection is that was on King's Road near or at North Point Road. Yuet Yuen Street led to the rear entrance of Majestic Apartments and at the corner of King's and North Point Roads, Coronet Court was erected. 

Thanks Eddie, I've added an approximate outline to the map, based on your memories and a closer look at the photos.

Photos showing 1951 and 1953 King's Road in the vicintiy of North Point Road appear here Is the junction with the open space and flag poles the entrance to Luna Park?

The 1953 photo is most interesting. Let's have a closer look. The bus is exactly at the junction of King's Road and North Point Road. Presumably, at that time, there was no terminus for the trams at North Point so the tracks along North Point Road, Chun Yeung Street and Tong Shui Road were laid yet. The roundish stand-alone building (with the flag posts) could be the entrance or ticket office to Luna Park. Immediately to the left there is a large vertical signboard with four Chinese characters, namely "Yuet Koon Mo Tang" which in English mean "Moon Palace Ballroom". Since "Luna" in Latin means "moon", I would think that either the park was named after the ballroom or vice versa and/or the word "moon" was mutually used as they were adjacent to each other. Any idea what was the Chinese name of "Luna Park"? 

"Yuet Yuen" or Moon Garden as noted here An overview of the Park and its rides etc can be read here in The Billboard (The World's Foremost Amusement Weekly) dated 14 October 1950.

"Is the junction with the open space and flag poles the entrance to Luna Park?"

Yes, I think so. Looking at the building on the left, the dividing walls on its balconies are solid, exept for the wall at the far end which is a grid of open squares to let in light and breeze:

1951 King's Road, North Point, by Eternal1966

Here's a view in the opposite direction, showing the entrance to Luna Park, and same end-of-balcony walls with the grid design:

Luna Park entrance-North Point, by IDJ

With this "new" photo, it confirms that Luna Park was at the junction of King's Road and North Point Road. The name "Luna Park" can be seen at the entrance. 

Source: Tse Yin "Hong Kong Stories in 1900s" (2012)

Luna Park (月圃, 22nd December, 1949 to 27th July, 1954), also known as "Great World Amusement Park (太世界进半场)", it was located at King's Road (英皇道), North Point (北角).

U.S. businessman Mr. Charlie and Hokkien businessmen Kwok's brother join venture to invest over 6 millions Hong Kong dollars to built a 187,000 square feet (17,382 m2) amusement park in 6 months, it claimed as the most bigger amusement park in far east. The manager was Mr. Alex Richardson, the admission charged was HK$ 1, it offers carousel, ferris wheel, roller coaster and various machine games, children games (railway, vehicles, boats and aeroplanes), zoo shows hamsters, piggies, doggies and monkeys, with monkeys cycling show, outdoor cool drink stall, swimming pool, Kamkiang Restaurant (Sichuan Cuisine), 2 cinemas (天仙大放院 for Cantonese Opera; 天蟾雹影院 for Western films), and Sky Room Night Club (天宫舞瘾 23rd December, 1949 to ?) employed a 11 Filipinos live band, with Carrier air conditioner, and a 300 vehicles car park, however, due to economic fall, it was closed in the summer of 1952. Mr. Li Shih-hua (李世苹), a property businessman renamed it as "Great World Amusement Park ( 大世界迸半场)", and reopened in November, 1952, the admission charged was reduced to 20 cents, and operate until July, 1954.

The author refers that they: built a [.....] amusement park in 6 months. This is surely the reason why the park is not visible yet on the aerial photograph from 8 May 1949.

Thank you Klaus for your very informative input and also drawing our attention to the write-up in Tse Yin's article on the Luna Park. It is very detailed and I can picture the lifestyle in Hong Kong in those days. Thanks for sharing. 

This photo popped up as Random Photo on my computer. It shows the entrance to Luna Park.

1950s King's Road, by Joseph

The South China Morning Post on the right side of the photo was probably placed there to show the date the photo was taken since, in those days, it was no technology to date-stamp it, as can be done today. Pity the photo is too blurry to make out the date of the newspaper.