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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong’s toy industry boomed in the 1960s and 70s, and by 1972 the city had overtaken Japan to become the world’s biggest toy exporter. Here is a look back at some South China Morning Post photographs from those bygone factory floors... and keep an eye out for a very special cameo.







In pictures: crossing the Hong Kong-mainland China border through the decades

In 1961, Typhoon Alice claims 4 lives in Hong Kong – SCMP archive

Hong Kong’s HK$690 million Central Library opens in Causeway Bay in 2001 – SCMP archive

Hong Kong’s iconic Bank of China Tower opens in 1990 – SCMP archive

From our archives

In pictures: when Hong Kong was the centre of toy manufacturing

Doll heads are sorted at the Kader factory in 1973. Photo: SCMP Archives

A young woman assembling toys at Elm Tool and Machinery’s factory in Quarry Bay in 1967. Photo: SCMP Archives

A worker at Kader’s toy factory in Hong Kong in 1971. The company was founded in 1948. Photo: SCMP Archives

Workers in a toy factory in 1972. Photo: SCMP Archives

Prince Charles (third right) tries a remote-controlled toy car at Sun Chung Precision Metal Factory in San Po Kong in 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

Paul Kwan, joint managing director of toymaker Playmates Holdings, with the company’s biggest hit, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, in 1989. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Central Market has been serving Hong Kong for almost 170 years

Workers prepare chickens before the market opens in August 1998. Photo: SCMP Archives

A shopper buys vegetables in January 1989. Photo: SCMP Archives

A chicken stall is inspected as part of the first Clean Market Stalls competition in October 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

Central Market, which is located between Queen’s Road Central and Des Voeux Road Central, pictured in November 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

Newspaper vendors get to work early at 5.30am in August 1998. Photo: SCMP Archives

A dai pai dong in Central Market in November 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: Hong Kong’s long lost landmark buildings

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip disembark at Queen’s Pier, Hong Kong, accompanied by the governor, Edward Youde, in 1986. Queen’s Pier was dismantled in 2007. Photo: SCMP Archives 

The Furama (right) and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Central, Hong Kong, were torn down for redevelopment in 2001 and 2008, respectively. Photo: SCMP Archives 

The Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Hong Kong, in 1990. The restaurant, which closed in 2020, capsized and sank in the South China Sea in 2022. Photo: SCMP Archives 

Singer Frances Yip outside Lee Theatre, in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, in 1991. Built in 1925, the Beaux-Arts-style theatre was demolished in the 1990s. Photo: SCMP Archives 

The 1930-built Tung Tak Pawn Shop, in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in 2015, just before it was demolished. Photo: SCMP Archives 

The old General Post Office building in Central, Hong Kong, was built in 1911 and torn down in 1976. Photo: SCMP Archives 

The 1967-built Mariners’ Club in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, was demolished in 2018. Photo: SCMP Archives 

In pictures: summer fun on the beach of Hong Kong’s Repulse Bay

Water skiing skills on display in 1978. Photo: SCMP Archives

Soaking up the sun as temperatures in Hong Kong hit the mid-30s in May 2002. Photo: SCMP Archives

A warning over polluted seawater leaves the beach unusually quiet in August 1994. At the time the Post reported heavy rains were blamed for flushing pollutants into Hong Kong’s waters. Photo: SCMP Archives

A sunny Hong Kong Sunday in June 1994 sees beachgoers pack the foreshore to soak up the rays. Photo: SCMP Archives

A young woman gets a friend to act as her diving board as they have fun in the sea off Repulse Bay’s beach in August 1987. Photo: SCMP Archives

It’s standing room only as crowds cool off in the summer of 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: how typhoons have wreaked havoc on Hong Kong through the decades

Typhoon Rose caused severe damage to a Hong Kong squatter area after making landfall on August 16, 1971, packing winds of up to 165km/h. Photo: SCMP Archives

Monster Typhoon Wanda pummeled the city on September 1, 1962, with 260km/h winds and torrential rains that saw 434 people reported killed and 72,000 left homeless in what the Post headlined as “Hong Kong’s Day of Terror”. Photo: SCMP Archives

Workers remove cracked panes at Central Plaza, Wan Chai, after Typhoon York brought 234km/h gusts in September 1999 that hit Hong Kong with such force that hundreds of windows on skyscrapers imploded. Photo: SCMP Archives

The three vessels grounded at Kap Shui Mun, on the north-eastern tip of Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, by Typhoon Rose, in August 1971, include the Macau ferry Fatshan which capsized with the loss of 88 lives. Photo: GIS

Torrential rains dumped by the severe tropical storm Mac flood King’s Road on Hong Kong Island in September 1979. Photo: SCMP Archives

The boom of a crane on a building came crashing down onto Jaffe Road, Wan Chai, from 30 storeys up after it was felled when Typhoon York hit Hong Kong in September 1999. Photo: SCMP Archives

In pictures: how Hong Kong celebrated Father’s Day through the years

Children and their dad enjoy a family day at Kowloon Park on Father’s Day in 1993. Photo: SCMP Archives

An ice-cream treat in 1985. Photo: SCMP Archives

Sharing is caring on Father’s Day in 1984. Photo: SCMP Archives

A nappy-changing game at a Father’s Day fête in Chai Wan in 1994. Photo: SCMP Archives

Liberal Party legislator Henry Tang Ying-yen with his children in 1995. Photo: SCMP Archives

Fun in the sun in 1977. Photo: SCMP Archives

Wong Sek-fai is named one of Hong Kong’s 10 best fathers in 1990. Photo: SCMP Archives

PostMag

Culture

There was a time when the toys of children all around the world bore the stamp ‘Made in Hong Kong’


There was a time when the toys of children all around the world bore the stamp ‘Made in Hong Kong’.


In pictures: when Hong Kong was the centre of toy manufacturing

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}There was a time when the toys of children all around the world bore the stamp ‘Made in Hong Kong’

There was a time when the toys of children all around the world bore the stamp ‘Made in Hong Kong’