Thank you tkjho, it is very nice to see this place again.
For those of us who stood on Cheung Sha Wan Road waiting for #4 Bus from Nathan Road - we would catch a glimpse of it before it disappeared as it rounded the centre island, and next it reappeared.
In 1962, I bought my first lottery ticket from a street-friend's mother. We called such gambling 買字花 loosely translated to buying words-flowers where I picked several numbers for about 50 cents. I won $42, and took the mother's younger son to dine at 銀宮餐廳 (Silver Palace Cafe). The top photo's centre shows the cafe's sign with white words on blue background. It occupied two ground level units. We had ox tongue with spaghetti, with ketchup of course. Still remember the good taste! Regards, Peter
In this photo, the Golden Gate Bakery appeared to be at the street corner. In simtang's 10/10/1956 Riot photo, there was another building at the street corner. I vividly remembered that it was not at the corner. Maybe this photo was taken before the corner building was put up or after it was demolished.
I never had the chance to try Silver Palace, even though my dad's shop was almost diagonally across the junction. It had a pink facade and looked kind of expensive and intimidating.
Thank you tkjho , for adding this black-and-white photo of the Silver Palace Cafe. Although they had signs at street corner, they did not occupy the corner unit. Yes, it looked a bit high class in such our neighbourhood. But they did not turn up away. Ours was about $2.50-$3.00 per plate. Ox tongues are now very expensive in Canadian supermarkets.
In the top/colour photo, the camera was at about mid-point of the first blocks of Cheung Sha Wan Road, looking to the southeast. So it captured a small part of their east corners. I remember the Golden Gate Bakery sign on the left, but shopped there only one time. It was a small shop given its location. It looks like the single decker bus circled the island counter-clockwise before entering Cheung Sha Wan Road. In my time using Bus #4, they circled partially the island clockwise.
Regarding the black-and-white photo showing people throwing rocks at the truck, there appears to be a gas station to the left. One possible match is that the truck was heading east on Tai Po Road, after crossing Shek Kip Mei Street. I cannot tell if the sign blocked by the flying horse was Golden Gate Bakery. On the other photo, the two soldiers were standing on the north side of Garden Bakery, and camera looking to the southeast. I don't know much about that Golden Gate on Castle Peak Road. Regards, Peter
My mistake. Probably because there were two Golden gate bread shops around there. According to 1956 年香港年鑑, One was at 6 tai po road. Second one at 17 castle peak rd . The shop on the left in the lower picture here is 17 castle peak rd. The building on the right is Garden bakery at 58 castle peak (yenchow junction) which was destroyed in the 1956 10-10 riot but rebuilt and still exists at the same spot today.
I think the shop was at the small storefront to the north of its huge sign. Initially, I thought that the larger storefront to the sign's south was where it was because the 4 words on the supporting column in the riot photo looked like the word 金 on top. Looking at this 1945 film clip, those 4 words were already there in 1945, and the corner building was an On Lok Yuen Icecream shop. The buildings matched up with those in the 1956 rock-throwing photo. I myself cannot recall seeing that corner building at all.
Golden Gates bread was, in general, more expensive than other shops, and they were different too. Kapok buns were $0.10 each, but Golden Gates' cream bun was $0.20 and they were squarish with the fillings somewhat like those in "cocktail buns", but better. It was the only store I knew that had ham and egg buns at that time, for $0.40 each.
Offals such as beef tongues and tendons were cheap in Canada before they started to export them to China. Now they can be more expensive than beef itself.
Thank you tkjho for the link to the video. I wish I can today ask "Grandpa Grandma, were you there that day?". They were living two blocks away on Ki Lung Street.
I watched the video several times to orient myself. They were marching southbound on Tai Po Road (03:27) few seconds before turning left (03:46) onto Boundary Street. The added current photos are helpful, for example at 04:16 the view is looking north to the bend at Shek Kip Mei Street, and that tree looks the same as the one in the 1947 air photo. Regards, Peter
Do u remember a shop making those heavy fluffy cotton duvets on the east side of Ki Lung, about mid-block? 2 of my schoolmates, Ng & Fan, used to live in the back rooms of that shop with their families before they got into So Uk.
Hi tkjho, I remember only one cotton shop in my immediate neighbourhood. It was at either 94 or 96 (not sure which!) Ki Lung Street, on the north side of Ki Lung Street and between Maple Street and Boundary Street. Lung Hing Tong in the 1950s and 1960s was occupying only the top floor (level 3) at 92-94, and following its rebuild, it now occupies also the street level units.
Back to that cotton shop. To refresh your memory, when you walk from your home along Boundary Street, the shophouse shops along Boundary Street were electricial shop, pawn shop, laundary shop, Kowloon Shoes at the corner (21-21A present numbering system), next wood shop, before reaching the cotton shop.
In early 1960s a couple in their 50s operated the shop, but they did not sell any products. Their work was to make cotton fluffy for shops that made duvets. The man had to be physically able to work with a tool that looks like a giant bow. He strapped one end to his body, let the 8 or 9 feet boom over the cotton, lowered the thick string (under tension) into the cotton, and used a wooden handle to hammer-pluck the string, so its vibration made the cotton fluffy. They have one son named Chan Leung Wah. I don't know if they took on boarders. Does this match your search? Regards, Peter
I vaguely remember that it was on a regular-sized block, probably about midway between Maple and Wong Chuk, though I'm not sure. I had to go through the storefront to the back rooms when I visited them. I don't think those workers wore any masks while they worked, and inhaled lots of cotton fibers into their lungs.
This is how the duvets were made in the most primitive way.
" ...regular-sized block, probably about midway between Maple and Wong Chuk". That would be the next block northwest of the shop which I suggested. I don't remember seeing a shop there showing cotton-beating in action. Perhaps they had a divide between the work and store front. You might remember these near your home ...
in the early 1950s, the noticeable fabric-making machines were the tall rotary type. They started to shut down in the mid-1950s. There was one such shop at or about 22 Apliu Street. Strange feeling playing Mahjong with my friends next to their retired machine while his father made smoke with a bamboo-water pipe!
At Number 12 or about was an electricity shop. I know their son about my age 雷光 華 nickname Num Chi (soft persimmon) my distant relative. He was a few years your senior. Like other street kids there I played with, I heard no more of him after he moved away. Their next door had a curb side children's "library" where we read each comic book for about 5 cents. My favourite seat was inside the staircase a few steps up.
Thank you for the link about the old way making cotton duvet. Beautiful garden, lady and story! Regards, Peter
We were on the back half of the 2nd level of #14 for about 10 years till about 1962. The front half was a factory making fiberboard suitcases. It was pretty noisy 6 days a week until 7 pm.
Fiberboard suitcase.jpg, by tkjho
#12 was the shop that made wooden boxes on the sidewalk. #14 had a shop that bent sheet metals and spot-welded them into containers etc. I remember a shop further up that spun yarns into something As I was not much of a street kid, I did not hang out with the neighborhood kids.
Hi tkjho, this bit of memory just surfaced. Yes, there was a cotton shop on the south side of Ki Lung Street between Maple and Wong Chuk, about mid way of the block as your recalled. That shop must be related in some way to the shop I suggested earier. Because only for this reason my "cotton-beating" neighbour took me along on his visit to that shop. We entered inside, their business counter was on the right and I stood next to it while they discussed business. Regards, Peter
I'm pretty sure it was on the NE side & not on the SW side. Ng and Fan were 2 separate families living in the backrooms. They went to Kowloon Tong Kindergarten with my older brother, then onto the brand new Maryknoll Fathers' School for Primary 1.
Thank you tkjho for the reply. That makes it three cotton shops in our neighbourhood.
On the south side about mid block, do you remember someone started a restaurant in about late 50s? Tt did not last long. Could not compete with those on Lai Chi Kok Road and Nathan-Tai Po, I think. Regards, Peter
I had no knowledge of such a restaurant as I did not go there often.
Now I recall the Ning Nam Restaurant on CSW Rd. you once mentioned. I never went there myself and don't think my dad would go there either as he preferred Cheung Sum Kee dim sum to "western-style" food.
Comments
double 10 riot
Same intersection on 1956-10-10 during the so called "double 10" riot.
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Garden Company
The lower image you just posted is the junction of Tai Po Rd and Castle Peak Rd, not Boundary St, surely? It shows the Garden Building.
Nathan-Tai Po-Boundary-Cheung Sha Wan Junction
Thank you tkjho, it is very nice to see this place again.
For those of us who stood on Cheung Sha Wan Road waiting for #4 Bus from Nathan Road - we would catch a glimpse of it before it disappeared as it rounded the centre island, and next it reappeared.
In 1962, I bought my first lottery ticket from a street-friend's mother. We called such gambling 買字花 loosely translated to buying words-flowers where I picked several numbers for about 50 cents. I won $42, and took the mother's younger son to dine at 銀宮餐廳 (Silver Palace Cafe). The top photo's centre shows the cafe's sign with white words on blue background. It occupied two ground level units. We had ox tongue with spaghetti, with ketchup of course. Still remember the good taste! Regards, Peter
Boundary St/Nathan Rd/Tai Po Rd
In this photo, the Golden Gate Bakery appeared to be at the street corner. In simtang's 10/10/1956 Riot photo, there was another building at the street corner. I vividly remembered that it was not at the corner. Maybe this photo was taken before the corner building was put up or after it was demolished.
I never had the chance to try Silver Palace, even though my dad's shop was almost diagonally across the junction. It had a pink facade and looked kind of expensive and intimidating.
BoundarySt-NathanRd-TaiPoRd
Thank you tkjho , for adding this black-and-white photo of the Silver Palace Cafe. Although they had signs at street corner, they did not occupy the corner unit. Yes, it looked a bit high class in such our neighbourhood. But they did not turn up away. Ours was about $2.50-$3.00 per plate. Ox tongues are now very expensive in Canadian supermarkets.
In the top/colour photo, the camera was at about mid-point of the first blocks of Cheung Sha Wan Road, looking to the southeast. So it captured a small part of their east corners. I remember the Golden Gate Bakery sign on the left, but shopped there only one time. It was a small shop given its location. It looks like the single decker bus circled the island counter-clockwise before entering Cheung Sha Wan Road. In my time using Bus #4, they circled partially the island clockwise.
Regarding the black-and-white photo showing people throwing rocks at the truck, there appears to be a gas station to the left. One possible match is that the truck was heading east on Tai Po Road, after crossing Shek Kip Mei Street. I cannot tell if the sign blocked by the flying horse was Golden Gate Bakery. On the other photo, the two soldiers were standing on the north side of Garden Bakery, and camera looking to the southeast. I don't know much about that Golden Gate on Castle Peak Road. Regards, Peter
correction
My mistake. Probably because there were two Golden gate bread shops around there. According to 1956 年香港年鑑, One was at 6 tai po road. Second one at 17 castle peak rd . The shop on the left in the lower picture here is 17 castle peak rd. The building on the right is Garden bakery at 58 castle peak (yenchow junction) which was destroyed in the 1956 10-10 riot but rebuilt and still exists at the same spot today.
Golden Gate bakery
Hi Peter,
I think the shop was at the small storefront to the north of its huge sign. Initially, I thought that the larger storefront to the sign's south was where it was because the 4 words on the supporting column in the riot photo looked like the word 金 on top. Looking at this 1945 film clip, those 4 words were already there in 1945, and the corner building was an On Lok Yuen Icecream shop. The buildings matched up with those in the 1956 rock-throwing photo. I myself cannot recall seeing that corner building at all.
https://youtu.be/0AsKBchSq88
Golden Gates bread was, in general, more expensive than other shops, and they were different too. Kapok buns were $0.10 each, but Golden Gates' cream bun was $0.20 and they were squarish with the fillings somewhat like those in "cocktail buns", but better. It was the only store I knew that had ham and egg buns at that time, for $0.40 each.
Offals such as beef tongues and tendons were cheap in Canada before they started to export them to China. Now they can be more expensive than beef itself.
Victory Parade Tai Po Road - Boundary Street
Thank you tkjho for the link to the video. I wish I can today ask "Grandpa Grandma, were you there that day?". They were living two blocks away on Ki Lung Street.
I watched the video several times to orient myself. They were marching southbound on Tai Po Road (03:27) few seconds before turning left (03:46) onto Boundary Street. The added current photos are helpful, for example at 04:16 the view is looking north to the bend at Shek Kip Mei Street, and that tree looks the same as the one in the 1947 air photo. Regards, Peter
Ki Lung St.
Hi Peter,
Do u remember a shop making those heavy fluffy cotton duvets on the east side of Ki Lung, about mid-block? 2 of my schoolmates, Ng & Fan, used to live in the back rooms of that shop with their families before they got into So Uk.
Making cotton fluffy for duvets - the old fashion way
Hi tkjho, I remember only one cotton shop in my immediate neighbourhood. It was at either 94 or 96 (not sure which!) Ki Lung Street, on the north side of Ki Lung Street and between Maple Street and Boundary Street. Lung Hing Tong in the 1950s and 1960s was occupying only the top floor (level 3) at 92-94, and following its rebuild, it now occupies also the street level units.
Back to that cotton shop. To refresh your memory, when you walk from your home along Boundary Street, the shophouse shops along Boundary Street were electricial shop, pawn shop, laundary shop, Kowloon Shoes at the corner (21-21A present numbering system), next wood shop, before reaching the cotton shop.
In early 1960s a couple in their 50s operated the shop, but they did not sell any products. Their work was to make cotton fluffy for shops that made duvets. The man had to be physically able to work with a tool that looks like a giant bow. He strapped one end to his body, let the 8 or 9 feet boom over the cotton, lowered the thick string (under tension) into the cotton, and used a wooden handle to hammer-pluck the string, so its vibration made the cotton fluffy. They have one son named Chan Leung Wah. I don't know if they took on boarders. Does this match your search? Regards, Peter
Cotton duvet shop
Hi Peter,
I vaguely remember that it was on a regular-sized block, probably about midway between Maple and Wong Chuk, though I'm not sure. I had to go through the storefront to the back rooms when I visited them. I don't think those workers wore any masks while they worked, and inhaled lots of cotton fibers into their lungs.
This is how the duvets were made in the most primitive way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR4DiU8wcVk
Cotton duvet shop
Hi tkjho,
" ...regular-sized block, probably about midway between Maple and Wong Chuk". That would be the next block northwest of the shop which I suggested. I don't remember seeing a shop there showing cotton-beating in action. Perhaps they had a divide between the work and store front. You might remember these near your home ...
in the early 1950s, the noticeable fabric-making machines were the tall rotary type. They started to shut down in the mid-1950s. There was one such shop at or about 22 Apliu Street. Strange feeling playing Mahjong with my friends next to their retired machine while his father made smoke with a bamboo-water pipe!
At Number 12 or about was an electricity shop. I know their son about my age 雷光 華 nickname Num Chi (soft persimmon) my distant relative. He was a few years your senior. Like other street kids there I played with, I heard no more of him after he moved away. Their next door had a curb side children's "library" where we read each comic book for about 5 cents. My favourite seat was inside the staircase a few steps up.
Thank you for the link about the old way making cotton duvet. Beautiful garden, lady and story! Regards, Peter
Apliu St.
Hi Peter,
We were on the back half of the 2nd level of #14 for about 10 years till about 1962. The front half was a factory making fiberboard suitcases. It was pretty noisy 6 days a week until 7 pm.
#12 was the shop that made wooden boxes on the sidewalk. #14 had a shop that bent sheet metals and spot-welded them into containers etc. I remember a shop further up that spun yarns into something As I was not much of a street kid, I did not hang out with the neighborhood kids.
Cotton Duvet Shops
Hi tkjho, this bit of memory just surfaced. Yes, there was a cotton shop on the south side of Ki Lung Street between Maple and Wong Chuk, about mid way of the block as your recalled. That shop must be related in some way to the shop I suggested earier. Because only for this reason my "cotton-beating" neighbour took me along on his visit to that shop. We entered inside, their business counter was on the right and I stood next to it while they discussed business. Regards, Peter
Cotton Duvet shop
I'm pretty sure it was on the NE side & not on the SW side. Ng and Fan were 2 separate families living in the backrooms. They went to Kowloon Tong Kindergarten with my older brother, then onto the brand new Maryknoll Fathers' School for Primary 1.
Cotton Duvet Shopsss...
Thank you tkjho for the reply. That makes it three cotton shops in our neighbourhood.
On the south side about mid block, do you remember someone started a restaurant in about late 50s? Tt did not last long. Could not compete with those on Lai Chi Kok Road and Nathan-Tai Po, I think. Regards, Peter
Ki Lung St.
I had no knowledge of such a restaurant as I did not go there often.
Now I recall the Ning Nam Restaurant on CSW Rd. you once mentioned. I never went there myself and don't think my dad would go there either as he preferred Cheung Sum Kee dim sum to "western-style" food.
Silver Palace X'mas Dinner
MENU
1. Mixed fruit cocktail
2. Bird's nest & minced chicken soup
3. Grouper cutlet with tartar sauce
4. Duck in Swiss sauce with baked cabbage
5. Roast turkey and ham with lettuce
6. Baked spaghetti au gratin
7. X'mas pudding
8. Seasonal fruits
9. Coffee or tea
$5 each person