The 1960s pointed to Hong Kong's golden era of plastic production and marked the beginning of many Hong Kong success stories, including that of Red A.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong perpetuated its rapid development and expansion in manufacturing. As a vibrant and dynamic city dancing between the East and the West, its economic progress illuminated its presence as one of the Four Asian Tigers on the global stage. It also marked the beginning of a Hong Kong success story: Red A, a brand under Star Industrial Co., Ltd. founded by the Leung family from Shanghai. They created the iconic red lampshade found in Hong Kong's wet markets, besides a range of plastic household staples that still bear one of the few remaining ‘made in Hong Kong’ legacies today.
Video Transcript
(Translated from Cantonese)
JESSICA LEUNG: Those who are familiar with the Red A brand probably know us through our plastic basins, pails, and colanders, which are our most popular products with the widest range. Red A’s injection-moulding, mould-making, and blow-moulding machines are second to none in Southeast Asia.
Under the brand name ACE, Red A’s main product lines were brushes and hair brushes. From 1956 to 1957, the brand gradually repositioned itself to manufacture plastic household products. In 1959, Star Industrial Co., Ltd was established and the Red A brand was born.
At that time, Red A products were practical no-frills items used by every household, like basins, pails, and colanders. We also made other household products, like the faux-crystal product series. Glass products were fashionable back then, but, like crystal products today, the price of glassware was relatively high. So we tested the market before rolling out the faux-crystal series that is still in production today.
The design was derived from a simple soap box. My father thought that rather than just printing a random design on the products, why not try and turn those lines into a design based on varying angles and geometric principles? To create the angle between intersecting lines, our design team devised a certain computation method for the pattern. Back then, of course, we didn’t have computer technology to help us, so we drew every one of the patterns manually. It’s worth noting that besides drawing the length of every line in various angles by hand, the moulds were created by hand chiselling, using a nail in one hand and a hammer in the other.
With our current machinery and technology, we can absolutely recreate these effects. But the beauty of imperfection would definitely be lost. When you see the manpower, ideas, and human touch that we put into our products and consider how products are made today—I’m not saying these qualities are absent in today’s products, but these things are hard to come by in this day and age. And the aesthetics… It would be hard for products today to top the achievement of this series.
We began exporting our products in the early 1960s. Our major markets were the Middle East, Europe, the United States, South America, and Africa. The Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo (HKBPE) was a major event that helped to open up new export markets. The aim of this event was to promote Hong Kong industries and factories and production in Hong Kong. My grandfather used to join dozens of members from the Hong Kong Plastics Manufacturers Association to visit Europe, the US, and the Middle East to exchange ideas, visit exhibitions, or attend talks, not just to promote their brand, although brand promotion has been important. They have also promoted the manufacturing and brand of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong plastics industry as a whole.
So ‘made in Hong Kong’ is something precious. But how one represents it is something I am still thinking about. Generally, products ‘made in Hong Kong’ are made with a human touch. This is how I would define it at this point.
For a year and at its height in 1963, Hong Kong entered a critical phase of water rationing. Residents across the city were supplied water once every four days and each time for only four hours. Long stretches of queues at standpipes became an ordinary sight in various parts of Hong Kong. Everyone, including children, was busy shouldering large and small containers and basins of water—a memory shared by over three million people who lived in Hong Kong during the time. And in a factory in San Po Kong, machines casted molten plastic into six-gallon buckets of red and blue, which were then assembled by hand. Within days, Star Industrial Co., Ltd. produced thousands of buckets for families and trades that needed them for collecting and storing water. The rationing was not only a turning point in the city’s water supply policy but one that would cement Red A as a household name across the city and for generations.
Star Industrial Co., Ltd.. Red A jelly moulds, no. 314. Circa 1960s–1980s. Polystrene. M+, Hong Kong
Star Industrial Co., Ltd.. Red A cups, no. 578. Circa 1960s–1980s. Polystrene. M+, Hong Kong
Red A’s ascent mirrored that of the city. As plastics became a new material that gained widespread popularity and acceptance, it prompted companies to go creative and inventive in all directions. Red A not only continued to manufacture simple plastic items—such as brightly coloured cups and jugs to buckets—but also designed products that furnished households and kitchen tables. From off-white polystyrene chopsticks to translucent jelly cups with scallop lips, Lunar New Year confectionary boxes to decorations that resemble auspicious paper hangings, shimmering faux-crystal chandeliers to self-assembled lamps of congregated plastic prisms, their products represented a uniquely-defined Hong Kong aesthetic.
The rationing was not only a turning point in the city’s water supply policy, but one that would establish Red A a household name across the city, and for generations.
Although the products were mass-produced, many carried along the sentiments of their maker and impeccable craftsmanship. For example, faux-crystal products’ moulds were hand chiselled with a nail in one hand and a hammer in another to create the replicated geometric patterns. ‘We didn’t have computer technology to help us, so we drew every one of the patterns manually,’ said Jessica Leung, the third-generation descendant and Business Development Director of Star Industrial Co., Ltd.. ‘Generally, products’ made in Hong Kong’ are made with a human touch.’
Faux-crystal chandeliers and lamps designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Coloured jelly moulds designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Faux-crystal product designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Off-white polystrene chopsticks designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Faux-crystal chandelier designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Faux-crystal chandeliers and lamps designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Coloured jelly moulds designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Faux-crystal product designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Off-white polystrene chopsticks designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Faux-crystal chandelier designed and produced by Red A in the 1960s to 1980s
Red A’s simple yet thoughtful designs communicated the convenience of plastic to the routines of everyday life with new creative processes, forms, and materials. Its household staples were functional, accessible, and affordable, and the brand eventually found success in various geographic and cultural contexts. It furnished homes, hotels, and restaurants locally and internationally for the following decades. Red A’s ubiquitous products witness the success story of Hong Kong’s plastic manufacturing during the post-war decades. Today, while many companies have relocated their production to elsewhere due to rising costs, Red A continues to manufacture its products locally in San Po Kong.
To some, the photograph holds strong the sociology of objects that illuminate the unspoken connections between design and every day from across time.
Taken at a time when Hong Kong was known as one of the leading producers and exporters of the finest plastics goods in the world, Yau Leung’s monochrome photograph from the M+ Collection captures the pavilion of Star Industrial Co., Ltd. at the Exhibition of Hong Kong Products in the 1960s. The composition, featuring a trove of plastic products stacked between shelves, sheds light upon the city’s golden era as a manufacturing powerhouse. To some, the photograph holds strong the sociology of objects that illuminate the unspoken connections between design and every day from across time.
Yau Leung. No Title. Gelatin silver print. M+, Hong Kong. © Photo Pictorial Publishers
A Chinese-language version of this article was originally published on 15 February 2023 in Ming Pao.
Alison Fung is Editor, Digital Content at M+.