1910s Queen's Road Central

Where: The building on the right was home to the Mercantile Bank of India, It stood on the corner of Queen's Road Central (QRC), which heads off into the distance on the left, and Ice House Street, exiting to the right.

What: The ornately decorated sedan chair would be hired to carry brides on their wedding day - something like hiring a limousine today.

The small plate on the sedan chair has these Chinese characters:

I asked my wife to read them out and she says that, reading from the right the first two characters look like "sun maan", meaning "new ten thousand" or "new many". Can anyone recognise the last character?

Who: Despite the special sedan chair, I don't think there's a bride in this scene. Some years ago I posted another picture of a bridal sedan chair:

In the comments to that photo, Thomas noted we'd expect to see a band accompanying the sedan chair if it contained the bride, and that the carriers would show more signs of effort from carrying the extra weight. The same points apply to the current photo, so I believe the sedan chair in the current photo was empty.

When: The photographer used a wide aperture setting on the camera that took this photo, so the buildings in the background are out of focus. They're still recognisable though, and can be compared with other views of this scene.

The building at 4 QRC, on the corner of Duddell Street, was redeveloped between the time the first and last photos were taken. In the 1900s it was an ornate building on the same line as the other buildings along the road. The new building, completed in 1921, sits back from the road, probably to allow the road to be widened at some point in the future. We don't see number 4 in the main photo, but we can see two flagpoles that were part of it. They aren't set back from the road, so the the older building was still standing - meaning the main photo was taken before 1921.

The next clue comes from the policeman.

The design of Hong Kong's police uniforms changed around 1920, with the new uniforms having breast pockets on the front of the jacket, and five front buttons instead of six. This man is wearing the old style of uniform, pushing the photo's date back to before 1920.

Do we have any hat-historians reading, who can tell us if the other mens' hats help identify when the photo was taken?

Even without a date from the hats, none of the Chinese men appear to have the pre-revolutionary shaved forehead and queue, which dates the photo to 1911 or later. I'll date it to the middle of the 1910s: c. 1915. Corrections welcome!

Gwulo photo ID: BG008

Further reading: There are lots more old Hong Kong photos and their stories in the new Gwulo book. The printer finished printing the pages and covers this week, so they just need to bind them into the finished book and the books can be delivered to me. If you'd like a copy, you can pre-order the book to take advantage of the pre-order special offers: discounted price, free shipping, and signed copies.

See more photos of the Mercantile Bank of India and 4 QRC, and more photos tagged: hat, police, or sedan chair.