1959 Gingles Restaurant

Hi there,

The modern day Cheong Hing Store used to be located at the current or folded "Marathon Sports'.  Anyway Cheong Hing's business is more on the whole sale side.  One of the decendents of the store opened up a wine/liquor store in th neighbourhood at Carnarvon Road a few years ago.

Best Regards,

T

Although the chap Gingles was known to be around in Hong Kong prior to WWII, I doubt very much his restaurant was firmly established in Kowloon in the 1930s.

Back to the photo. By looking at the attire of the people on the street, the photo appears to be taken either in  the late 1940s or early 1950s. I cannot explain the presence of the crown and royal cipher.

The Cheong Hing shop photo appears here in the Company's website:

http://210.17.243.203/2_bg2.html

Mention is made in Chinese of the 1940s store. Could the Flickr photo be the one that was taken in the 1940s?

If the assumption is correct, it could be that the decoration of the crown and royal cipher was erected to commemorate the Silver Jubilee Wedding of King George VI and the Queen in April 1948.

George VI Postbox Cipher

I suppose there's also a slim chance it could have been for George VI's coronation on 12 May 1937, though I agree that 1948 seems more likely.

I've seen other photos from 1937 showing lots of decoration. Do you know if there was much decoration in the streets in 1948?

The Silver Wedding in 1948 was a rather tame affair in Hong Kong. Of note, was the royal salute given by HMS London in the harbour.

The 1937 Coronation of George VI  was however, very different as there were parades, floats, decorated pai laus, illuminated buidlings, fireworks in the harbour etc. However, I have not seen the George VI cipher decorated in the same way as the one seen in the Cheong Hing photo.

The closest resemblance I have seen is from this tram photo.

1937 Illuminated Tram

The first mention of a Gingle's Restaurant in Kowloon at 70 Nathan Road appears in the 1941 Licensing Sessions. It was called the Gingle's Annexe.

Between 1935-1940, the Marcel Cafe operated at the same address. The photo of the Cheong Hing Store would most likely be post WWII.

Thank you for sight of the Marcel Cafe business card.

It does say 'on the corner' so I assume it may have been on the corner of Humphreys and Nathan Rd where the Cheong Hing Store was located.

I was just noticing the price list in the next photo sequence on facebook. 70 cents for a T-bone steak - I wonder whether the business card may have been from the 1950s instead?

The Duke of Edinburgh's Monogram as seen here: http://gwulo.com/node/9412?page=0#comment-19135

I've updated the date to 1959 to match the Duke of Edinburgh's visit.

Regards, David

Junction of Nathan Road and Humphreys Avenue.