Title:
1970s Hong Kong Central District Ladder Street Steps Rickshaw Shops China N835 Postcard
Front Description:
A lively colour photographic street scene of a typical stepped “ladder street” in the Central District of Hong Kong Island, bustling with everyday life. A steep flight of stone steps climbs the hillside through the centre of the image, thronged with pedestrians going up and down — men in 1970s office attire (short-sleeved shirts, ties, and slacks), women in dresses and skirts, and casually dressed locals — creating a busy crowd on the steps and at their foot. The narrow street is tightly lined on both sides with small shops, stalls, and open-fronted businesses, their goods spilling out onto the pavement: racks of colourful umbrellas and fabrics, a stand of postcards and printed matter on the left, hardware, and sundry goods, all shaded by canvas awnings and shop signboards bearing Chinese characters (including “文記” on a shop sign at right, and a vertical hardware/goods sign on the far right). Overhead, laundry, wires, and the upper storeys of tenement buildings crowd the frame, with more signs and shophouses receding up the hill. In the foreground, two traditional hand-pulled rickshaws stand at the kerb — one with its barefoot/sandalled puller in a white singlet and straw hat resting on the footrest — and a bright yellow fire hydrant stands at the centre of the pavement. The scene vividly captures the crowded, atmospheric character of old Central’s stepped shopping streets in the 1970s.
Back Description:
A View of A Typical Street With Steps in Central District, Hong Kong.
街中の坂を利用した商店街風景
POST CARD
STAMP
N835
PUBLISH BY National co.
(The card is unused/unposted with no handwritten message or postmark.)
Estimated Era:
Approximately 1970s. The fashions (short-sleeved shirts with wide ties, 1970s dresses and hairstyles), the presence of traditional hand-pulled rickshaws still in everyday use, and the old stepped shophouse streets of Central all point to the early-to-mid 1970s. The divided back with bold “POST CARD” lettering, the paired English and Japanese captions, and the “Publish by National Co.” imprint with catalogue code N835 place it firmly within the same National Co. Hong Kong tourist series as the other N-series cards in this group (anchored to circa 1975–1980 by the dated N818 and postmarked N829 cards).
