Hong Kong 1960s & 70s : Mike Cussans' photos

Thank you so much Mike for your photos! No images anywhere else have come close to capturing the Hong Kong that I knew as a child. Many of the places in your pictures were also part of my growing up.

I was born in 1963 at St Teresa’s Hospital, Kowloon City. For most of my childhood, I lived in a flat near St Teresa’s Parish, and went to a primary school adjacent to the church. My first memory of Waterloo Road was with that nullah running down the middle, just like in one of your photos.

Often Mom would take us kids to a bakery/restaurant called Coffee House, at the intersection of Waterloo and Prince Edward Road, to buy pastries for tea. The air-conditioning inside was always welcome relief on a hot day.

Sometimes, we would go on a longer walk, past Maryknoll Convent School to Oxford Road. A Dairy Lane used to be there, between Moray and Selkirk Roads, where one afternoon Mom bought us soft ice cream in a cone, and we ate it in the little park just behind the store. That was special, because ice cream for me usually came in Dairy Farm paper cups.

Going to Ocean Terminal was always a treat. I remember Maxim’s on the upper deck – my favourite dish was chicken à la king – and I loved the Swindon bookstore, with its shelves stuffed to overflowing. Then there were the big ocean liners; I dreamed of getting on one of them someday.

Thanks, Mike, for the opportunity to relive some of our shared memories.

Dan.....thank you for your kind comments,I'm glad the photos brought back memories.

I was very lucky to have l been able to have lived there from the 50s to 70s,such wonderful times.

Regards

Mike

Mike,

Thank you for sharing these wonderful photo's. Having worked for JATS/JASL at CLK i was enjoying the historical insight. I then realised my father Chris and yourself must have worked together at BOAC/ BA T3 Dispatch/ Load Control. I will get him to have a look! All the best - Nick

Hi Nick,

Your old man has just phoned me....guess it was Gwulo that you had looked at.

I remember you at BA in PSU and then as a Duty Manager.

Chris and I had some good memories of those days and glad to hear he's recovering from illness.

Regards Mike

Mike - yes, you're right we also knew each other. My years at Jardine Aviation were less regimented than your father's but his looked good fun as well. I understand the old man got in touch yesterday - how wonderful and all credit to Gwulo!

Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing your fabulous photo's!  I was wondering if you possibly knew Michael or John Butterworth?  Both went to DBS.  John would have been about 7 years older than you so you might not have crossed paths with him however Michael was born 1948 so you may know him.  

Regards, Rebecca

Rebecca.....sorry I did not know your family,both Michael&John from DBS.

I attended KJS before being shipped off to boarding school in Ireland.

Hope you enjoyed the memories of HK with my pictures.

Regards Mike

Thank you so much for bringing me back to the good old days in the 1960s and 1970s.

I have found two photos which are identical in the album as follows:

1968     Nairn House-China Light & Power
1968     Argyle Street-CLP building

Was Nairn House in Argyle Street?

Also, for the photo with the title "1960s     Law Courts?", Yes, for sure. You may rename the title to "The Supreme Court".

Once again, thank you so much for your contribution.

Best Regards

Jimmy Ho

Hi Jimmy,

The two photos of CLP and Nairn House are very similar, but slightly different - look for the bus at bottom right in one of them.

Yes, Nairn House is on Argyle Street, see: https://gwulo.com/node/15029

Regards, David

Hi Mike, thanks for sharing your photos. I spent my first five tears in hong kong with my family, from 58-63. My father was in the RAF.

my favorite place to visit was Tigerbalm gardens, and Stanley beach. i have a photo of me and my family posing at the Pokfalum reservoir, ive tried finding a simaler picture but no luck im afraid.

Hi Mike,

Great set of photos. I think you and your parents knew my step-mother who worked with your mum at the Ocean Terminal.

Mark

I happened on this site in my quest to research the possibility of finding information on a furniture house on Hankow Rd. Kowloon 1961. My dad told me it was Y.S. Ma, I found a S.Y. Ma. but other than a name nothing. I cant imagine there still there real estate prices being what they are, but worth a shot. My parents  moved us from Plainfield NJ to Hong Kong in 1960. My dad Mr. E.L. Behr was with Pfizer Pharma. His partner was a man named Leonard Chan. We moved to Bangkok in 1962 then Taiwan 65 then stateside in67. My parents gave a large furniture commission to the Ma shop. 5 capitol pieces and 7 accessory pieces. i spent 40 years in the High end furniture business. The last 20 years as  master finisher in the NY City millwork industry, working exclusively for architectural firms. I gained a reverence for the hand craftmanship in the furniture that is being passed down to me. All the surfaces, all the profiles, were done with hand planes, hand chisels, saws, there are no mill marks, just amazing the mastery of craft. I would love to hear from someone who might have been there, but my folks are 89 and 94, i was 5, so not expecting much,and just saying Billy Tingle sucked.

The photos of the Macau hotel, with Mike in the doorway, brought back memories of when I was about the same age and stayed there a few times.

I'm pretty sure it was called the Pousada, on the Esplinade next to the Governor's place.