Welcome to GwuloHere you'll find over 50,000 pages about old Hong Kong to explore, including over 30,000 photos. The content is added by a friendly community of people who enjoy sharing what we know about Hong Kong's history, and you are very welcome to join us. Kind regards, David P.S. To receive more old Hong Kong photos and stories, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter. |
This week’s video explores the second of the two 1909 panoramas I received recently. The photos that make up the panorama are sharp enough that we can see details as far away as Lai Chi Kok, even though the photographer took the photos from mid-levels on Hong Kong island.
What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
General
Stanley Internment Camp was a happy place on 9 Nov 1942, when a shipment of Red Cross parcels was distributed to the internees: "A prize giving wasn’t anywhere near it, and when we opened our parcels in our room we were like a lot of little kids at Christmas!" Read the diary entries for 9 Nov 1942.
Last Monday was the centenary of the first aerial photography of Hong Kong by the RAF.
Stephen has some ideas about the ship at the right edge of last week's 1909 Panorama video, and would welcome other readers' input.
Memories of Honiton Road and Westbourne Villas in the sixties
Memories of chanting at the Ammar Mosque in Happy Valley
American pilot Donald Kerr was shot down over Hong Kong in 1944. Here is the Missing Air Crew Report that was created for him.
Thank you to everyone who came along to my talk on Wednesday, held at the local library here in Wales. Special thanks to Tom who joined us from Bridgend, and Rod who'd come all the way from Scotland! Finally, thank you to Tracy for organising the event, and Sam for his help on the day.
Readers are looking for any information about:
Who owned "Sammy", a luxury goods store located on the ground floor of the Union Building on the corner of Connaught Road and Pedder Street.
Organisations & People
I've scanned in the pieces of the panorama that I carefully softened and unrolled in the previous video, and reassembled them in Photoshop. The original photos are sharp, so the panorama enlarges well:
In this week's video I show the finished result, introduce a surprise bonus, then explore the panorama’s details. The final image is over 500 megapixels in size, so there’s lots to see!
(If the new video isn't shown above, please click here to view it on Youtube.)
If you'd like to see more photos or information about the places I mention in the video, please use these links:
What's new and updated on the Gwulo website:
General
UK readers - I'll be giving a free talk in Wales on 6 Nov. Details here in English and Welsh. It'll be great to see you if you can join us.
Here are clearer, scanned copies of a couple of photos we looked at in my recent videos. (If you'd like to take a closer look at any of these photos, first click the photo to visit its page, then click the 'Zoom' tab to see a copy you can zoom in to and / or display full screen.)
Selwyn-Clarke's report on health and medicine in Hong Kong in WW2
Readers are looking for any information about:
Any photos or additional information about the first Shatin Police Station, which opened in 1899 in the old Customs Station
Was there a Tram drivers dormitory (housing block) at North Point on the King's Road?
Organisations & People
Old photo paper often becomes hard and brittle, and I recently received a pair of 1909 panorama photos with exactly that problem. As they’d been kept tightly rolled, if I tried to unroll them I’d likely crack the paper. In this video I’ll show how I first softened the photos’ paper and restored its flexibility, then was able to safely unroll the photos. The whole process took several days, but the results are worth it.
(Please click here to watch the video on Youtube if it isn't shown above.)
