1950s hk macau pier

simtang
Mon, 10/23/2023 - 22:33
oldernewer
1950s hk macau pier

Late 1950s or early 1960s. Note that this pier at Gilman street moved to a new location on Jun 1 1961. So the picture should be taken before Jun 1 1961. After that, it was no longer active.

https://gwulo.com/media/47247

Reports in Chinese newspapers almost always referred to this Gilman street pier when they say Hong Kong Macau pier (港 澳碼頭) before 1961 . Also known as Osaka pier.

Date picture taken
1950s
Shows place(s)
Osaka Shosen Kaisha (O.S.K.) Wharf / Custodian Wharf / Hongkong Macao Wharf [????-c.1961]
Central Star Ferry Pier (3rd location, Edinburgh Place) [1957-2006]
Vehicular Ferry Pier / United Pier, Central [1933-1994]
Hong Kong Club Building (2nd Generation) [1897-1981]
Electra House / Mercury House [1950-????]
62-73 Connaught Road Central [c.1905-c.1977]

Comments

Port works to the west of the Hong Kong Star Ferry Piers were ongoing in 1961.

Despite the reclamation work in progress, Custodian Wharf and other wharves are still mentioned on Page 452 of the Hong Kong Annual Report for 1961. As mentioned in other threads, there is no mention of a "United Pier" to support what can be seen in the main photo.

On this map from 1952 年香港年鑑, the pier at Jubilee street was called united pier in Chinese

HK_Central_Map_1952
HK_Central_Map_1952, by simtang

and in  Chinese newspapers . For example this 1935 report mentions passenger ferry to Mongkok was on the left side of united pier. Most people living in Hong Kong knew what united pier is.

1935-4-07 news report united pier
1935-4-07 news report united pier, by simtang

 https://mmis.hkpl.gov.hk/coverpage/-/coverpage/view?_coverpage_WAR_mmis…

The pier at Gilman street was also called HK Macau pier in Chinese (港 澳碼頭). The 1961 Jun 1 news report referred to this pier at Gilman street. It also mentioned the ships which used this pier included "Fatshan" "Tai Loy" etc. As a matter of fact, names of these ships were displayed in big signs above the pier. The report says passengers going to Macau should take notice. Apparently this Gilman street Osaka pier was the only pier going to Macau, at least in 1961.

(In earlier days, Wing Lok pier and Yuen On pier were operating trips to Macau. Probably in the 1950s, their roles were taken over by this Gilman st pier shown here.)

In order to avoid confusion, I have made changes so that the name would be consistent with the ones used here.

Thanks for the explanation. Suggest to merge the Chinese name for "United Pier" with the Vehicular Ferry Pier for consistency. Otherwise there will be two locations for the same spot. Perhaps David can assist. 

Hong Kong ferry company limited has a web page about its history

https://www.hkf.com/en/milestone.html

Its 1933 milestone is like this:

Commenced the United Pier/Jordan Road passenger and vehicular ferry services

So the official names used by the company are:

English: United Pier

Chinese: 統一碼頭

The pier operated both passenger and vehicular ferry services. Later on more structures appeared beside it going to more places.

 

Actually, I have never used the "United" name for the pier in Cantonese. The meaning given would probably be "Combined" for combined passenger and vehicular ferry service.

as mentioned in other comments, doesn't the "United" name still refer to a pier that already existed as a place on the Gwulo map (here)? If so, I suggest rather than argue semantics, the original place is updated to include the "United" term (in English and Chinese) so that subsequent readers are aware of the two names rather than being misled into thinking it was a separate entity. It will perhaps save a lot of confusion and doubling of info in the future.

The discussion/disagreement was never about the Chinese name for the pier, but rather the English term "United Pier" and how widespread was the use of that term. 

Putting that into the same MMIS search only returns 6 items...

Anyhow, the place name has been updated now.