1950s Connaught Rd C shop houses

Mon, 09/22/2014 - 20:15

Reader IDJ has sent in this photo, an earlier view of the same shop houses shown in this photo. He writes:

Alas the image was not taken by me but by a Dutch photographer visiting in the late 1950s.

Date picture taken
1950s

Comments

Hi there,

Finally got the chance to zoom into the photo and take a look at the individual houses.  From the signs on each floor I spotted some of these:

Two (2) Restaurants;

Two (2) Trade Associations;

Four (4) Traveller Hostels

Two (2) Labour/Trade society

One (1) Chinese Clan Association;

One (1) Chinese Herbalist Clinic;

The rests are various merchants, tranders and shops.  We should be able to see more if we have the original photo blown up to close to A3 size.

Best Regards,

T

I wonder if the Dutch photographer in question was Ed van der Elsken. It's very much in his style. If you search with his name on Amzon for a book called Hong Kong, it's still available from a few affiliated dealers, and contains some of the most atmospheric photos of Hong Kong you'll ever see.

Centre right is the six-storey TWGH's Lee Sai Chow Memorial School. Completed in 1959 next to Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road. Thus the "empty space" next to the school. Matches the time frame of the Dutch photographer's visit to Hong Kong.

According to 1967 年香港年鑑, street on the left is Hiller st.

The 11th shop from the left is:
Chung Wah motel 中華旅店
138 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan

chung wah hotel 1967
chung wah hotel 1967, by simtang

Interesting to note that the last shop house on the left bordering Hillier Street i.e. 128 Connaught Road Central had been modified to include an extra floor level when compared with the view of the building from 1927 here