Hong Kong, apartment buildings

Tue, 09/23/2014 - 20:18

View the original, larger copy of this image at the UWM website: http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/u?/agsphoto,4034

See this photo for a close-up.

Date picture taken
1940s
Author(s)

Comments

Submitted by
Anonymous (not verified)
on
Mon, 04/04/2011 - 06:42

When someone died in an apartment it's  customary for the relatives to build a ramp passage with bamboo poles and planks of wood leading down to the street where the funeral prossession would take place.

 

Hi there,

I guess it had had its practical use as the Chinese style coffins wouldn't possible go through the narrow staircase of the houses back in those days.  I also tend to believe back then, when somebody dies, they would have some traditional rituals to be performed at home before moving to the cemetory.

Best Regards,

T

Just want to provide some supplementary information. The address of 德貞國語研究社 *Tack Ching Mandarin Study Club ("study club" was commonly used for the informal schools), as shown on the sign outside the building on the third floor, was 175 Thomson Road in the 1939 educational record.