In Search of Industrial Heirlooms

Genealogies and family heirlooms pass on the story of our forebears' hard-earned achievements to future generations. Today, as we reap the fruits of economic progress, "Made in Taiwan" has become synonymous with the Republic of China and the chief foundation of our international standing. However, very few objects have been preserved intact from the industrial growth period of toil and sacrifice after the government's move to Taiwan.

In early September, as part of its activities for National Quality Month, the China Productivity Center displayed something of the early look of Taiwan's industrial development with an exhibition of products from the time. Sinorama took part in planning the exhibition and collecting materials for it, but we found ourselves hampered by the fact that early products of most manufacturers have been lost and written documents such as catalogues and advertisements are also lacking.

"Back then we worked all out at production and sales. How could we imagine saving anything?" exclaims Chen Kuo-shun, operations manager of Hocheng (HCG) Corp., a world renowned manufacturer of bathroom fixtures. The company has been in business for 60 years and is getting ready to set up a "Hocheng Retrospective Village" at its Yingko factory, where its first generation toilets were made. The concept may sound fine, but old products are hard to come by and the company is planning to offer rewards to find them.

For many corporations,old products mean more than just nostalgia. They also mark the company's growth and social change. One senior specialist recalls that when he started working at Hocheng, the slurry for manufacturing toilets was mixed by human foot power. Now that people are fastidious about refined colors and aesthetic design even in toilets, it's hard to believe the early production process was so laborious.

Yet Taiwan's industry advanced along just such an arduous path, or else people would still be holding their noses and closing their eyes when they go to the bathroom.

Tatung, which set up a corporate museum 10 years ago, has been much luckier. Inside the museum are a complete line of television sets from bulky early models, which took several minutes after they were switched on to show a picture, to the latest streamlined, remote-controlled, VLSI models. There are three dimensional displays and original design charts along with a model of the factory production line illustrating each stage of the production process.

"The museum enables employees to gain a concrete idea of just how we built up our corporate reputation and an understanding of what each department does," explains the museum's director, Wu Mu-hsiang. Learning about the past gives them common memories and produces a sense of cohesion, he says, citing an example. When they discovered a refrigerator made 30 years ago still being used in one family's kitchen, their hearts lit up with pride.

Forty years ago, Tatung electric cookers that clicked off when the rice was done, Hsu Kuang fluorescent lights that really were "as bright as sunlight" and Tai Tzu Lung student uniforms that "won't wear and won't shrink" once brought people astonishment and joy. Aren't those memories a part of Taiwan's industrial history, too?

It's not too late to collect, record and organize. Open up your storeroom, dust off your memories and help us build a museum of Taiwan industry by passing on these "family heirlooms" along with the era of diligence and hope they represent.

1949

*The Nationalist government comes to Taiwan; Taiwan's total population is 7.4 million. Land reform (37.5% rent reduction) begins; New Taiwan Dollar issued, at a rate of 40,000 old yuan to one.

*The Tatung Company creates the first electric fan in Taiwan, at a price of one gold liang. The base and the blades are both made of metal, with green the only color. The advertisement for the fans was a black and white photo of a beautiful girl. In that era when most ads were hand-drawn, you could say it was rather bold.

*The HCG company shifts from manufacturing pickling jars for natural MSG to begin production of squat and seat toilets, becoming the first company to develop porcelain bathroom fixtures. In the mid-1950s, a set (toilet, water tank, and sink) sells for NT$1,500, with no more than 350 sets produced per month.

1950

*U.S. aid begins. Children's undergarments often come with the Chinese and American flags and shaking hands that appeared on the flour sacks. Per capita GNP less than US$100.

1951

*Arable land is limited, and the land is easily exhausted, so there is a need for large amounts of chemical fertilizer. Using its own money and skills, Taiwan Fertilizer Corp. builds factories in Hsinchu and Lotung, after which production reaches four times the pre-retrocession (1945) level, creating the foundation for "using agriculture to develop industry."

*Chung Hsing Textiles and Tai Yuan Textiles are founded. The quality of domestically produced cloth is poor, and more than twice as expensive as international prices. Because the material shrinks in water, mothers are often forced to sew new cloth on to pants and skirts so they can be worn again. Some people can not afford socks, and--at a loss for what to do--wrap a piece of cloth around their bare feet.

1952

*Agricultural products account for 92% of exports, with sugar and rice leading the way.

*Nan Chiao Chemicals is founded, producing Shui Ching soap at eight mao (0.8 NT dollars) a bar. They proclaim, "useful for both washing clothes and washing up, softens skin and makes you clean." Under the economic policy of import substitution, high tariffs are used to protect local industry, creating an excess of soap factories reaching 160 plants by 1951.

1953

*The first "economic plan" goes into effect. Mainly focuses on developing "import substitution industries," so that textiles, plastics, paper, and other necessities need not be purchased from abroad.

1954

*The four major bicycle manufacturers are established one after the other (Tadong, Taiwan, Taiwan Machinery, Wu Shun), as bicycles become the major alternative to walking. One often sees a father cycling on the street, bamboo seat hooked to the front and document bag on the rack on the back sending the child to school. Yeh Wan-an, former assistant chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, recalls that many people would even cycle for trips from Taipei to Hsinchu.

*Chang Kuo-an of the Sanyang Appliance Factory, predecessor to Sanyang Motors, successfully develops a "friction light" for bicycles. Nevertheless, because the cost is too high, many people still rely on carrying a flashlight or a bundle of incense while riding at night to avoid crashes in the dark.

1956

*The Ret-Ser Engineering Company is established, and begins work on the cross-island highway in central Taiwan.

*The Taiwan Fluorescent Lamp Co. Hsinchu factory opens, succeeding Hsin Ya in making "nighttime sunshine"--Hsu Kuang fluorescent lights. Seen as "high-tech" at the time, one light went for NT$60-70, equivalent to 30 light bulbs, or one-fourth the average monthly salary.

At this time, one sees ads for the Hsu Kuang lights in all the train and bus stations north and south appearing on the light stand that displays the name of the station. Not only streets and shops, but office buildings have a different type of "white light." Most households first put the energy-saving and low-heat bulbs in the living room; at night the whole family gathers there, with the kids crowding around a table doing homework. On summer nights the lights are just turned off, and children go down to sit under the streetlights and listen to the old people tell stories.

*The old brand Hey Song soda wins a corresponding loan from US aid, and buys a soda-making machine of the latest, most advanced variety from Japan, producing 120 bottles per minute, saying goodbye to the old semi-manual filling machine and cappers.

Hey Song sends out its float to participate in religious ceremonies and weddings--which are its best marketing opportunities. They also make soda bottle props which circulate in temple processions.

Besides lemon-lime and root beer flavors, there are flavors many people today have never seen--ginger ale, soda water, tangerine, and spritzer water (originally called "Hey Song Non-Beer") which farmers liked to mix with their rice wine.

1957

*The Directorate General of Communications manufactures coin-operated pay phones. The Ta Hsin Department Store in Kaohsiung installs the first escalator in the country, and astonished visitors call it "the stairs that walk."

*The Yue Loong jeep comes on the market, made entirely of imported parts. Singer Tzu Wei takes the first ever publicity photo, wearing a chipao and sitting in the jeep. Per capita GNP is still less than US$100, so you must save for thirty years to buy a vehicle. With no mass market, jeeps are supplied only to the military and government.

By the 1960s, the highest class "Golden Horse" bus is plying the scenic coastal road; only then do Yue Loong vehicles follow the beautiful "Miss Golden Horse" into everyone's daily life. Thereafter the fuel efficient "Bluebird" compact and the mid-sized "Victory" sedan replace three wheel carts on the streets, becoming the main vehicle for taxis and wheeling in and out of just-beginning-to-prosper Hsinmenting.

1958

*The Quemoy Crisis. Population surpasses 10 million. Automatic telephones replace manually operated ones, and telephone numbers expand to five digits with 46,000 units.

*After producing PVC, Formosa Plastics establishes the Nanya Processing Plant to absorb plastic raw materials that cannot be sold. Unbreakable plastic bowls and chopsticks, clear or colorful plastic belts and plastic shoes... all come on the market. Chuang Yung-ming, who studies Taiwan history, recalls that after the arrival of plastic rain gear, few people used the moisture resistant paper which covered cases of New Paradise cigarettes to keep the rain off.

Use of plastic products becomes more and more widespread. Material for toy factories goes from wood, paper, and metal to plastic toys with movable heads and hands. The "Ong-a-sen" miniature figures become the symbol of the era, and by the 1960s the world of toys calls plastic king.

1959

*Banks establish savings departments and begin to accept deposits. Faced with the imminent end of U.S. aid, the movement for "each person saving one NT dollar each day" begins. Given the population of 11 million, this adds up, it so happens, to be precisely equal to the US$100 million in aid.

1960

*The central cross-island highway is opened to traffic.

*The white Tatung electric cooker comes on the market, proclaiming that everyone--even men--can cook. Housewives use the semitransparent measuring cup and pour in one, two cups of water. The convenient cooker becomes the de rigueur "dining partner" carried by students going overseas to study.

*Wei Chuan, Wei Wong, Chin Chin, and other companies develop a new method for MSG fermentation, at NT$5 per unit. Although that's not cheap, and compared to imported MSG in the Japanese occupation era, and post-retrocession manufacture by Chinese, it still costs NT$15 per unit, so that it remains a high-class gift only for use when visiting friends or celebrating birthdays.

1961

*The third "Four Year Plan" begins. Because the import substitution strategy has reached saturation, the strategy of "labor intensive export expansion" is begun.

*The Tatung refrigerator comes on the market, replacing the "electricity-free refrigerator" which required buying a huge piece of ice and placing it in the icebox daily.

*Perfumed soaps and detergent come onto the market. The main brands are Ma Li and Mei Chi; Nan Chiao later comes out with "Happy Soap." At this time clothes-washing detergent is called "non-soap."

*The once world-conquering processed agricultural product canned pineapples loses out to competition from Latin America. The China Commission of Rural Reconstruction brings in mushrooms and asparagus, creating a new wave in export of canned goods. Asparagus beverages become popular.

1962

*Industrial products surpass agricultural products for the first time as a percentage of exports; Taiwan officially enters the industrial age.

*The Sampo transistor radio comes on the market: "Its only as big as a couple of packs of cigarettes, small enough to fit in your pocket." The vacuum tube television-sized radio of the 1950s--and the scene of the whole family crowding around the set--gradually disappears.

*The Sanyang motorcycle comes on the market, manufacturing 1,500 units, and a woman whose dowry includes a motorcycle is the height of fashion. The son of a wealthy family, cruising on his motorcycle, often becomes the object of pursuit of young ladies. On summer afternoons, "honk-honk" can be heard in the quiet streets of the towns; children call them "honk-honk vehicles."

*Tatung manufactures a black and white TV in cooperation with a Japanese company. It comes with wooden or plastic casing. Only 19 inches, it sells for NT$9,800. At that time the salary of a middle school teacher was NT$800 per month. Nevertheless, given the curiosity, Tatung sells every set it produces.

Thereafter, antennas adorn house after house in towns and villages, and the whole family eats dinner in the living room in front of the TV. After watching for an hour or two, the older folks turn it off, telling the children, "Too much TV and the tube will burn out." Taiwan Television Enterprise begins broadcast of "Meeting Place of the Stars." Taiwan enters the television era.

1963

*Singer Sewing Machines of the U.S. sets up a factory in Taiwan, with the condition that parts must be purchased from domestic manufacturers and there must be technology transfer. This attracts opposition from many domestic operators cooperating with Japanese firms who argue that the government is cooperating with a foreign manufacturer to damage the local sewing machine industry. However, it is only after destroying the Japanese monopoly on technology that local manufacturers are able to improve in quantity and quality. Hereafter annual production will rise to 40,000 units, not only becoming a major export product, but also becoming an essential part of a girl's dowry.

1964

*Hey Song Corp. causes a sensation with a giveaway: half dollars or dollars underneath the caps, and lottery ticket with the case. The total prize money is NT$1 million, with first prize being a four chin "golden" horse.

*Chuang Tou Pei manufactures a gas water heater.

1965

*American aid ceases. Taiwan's first giant department store--"First Department Store"--opens.

*Taiwan Chemical Fiber begins producing manmade fibers. Textiles surpass sugar to become the country's leading export. People called these manmade fibers "atomic clothes" or "atomic socks," indicating that they are high technology products.

1966

*The Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone is established. Many young women enter the ranks of the labor force in manufacturing; heavy industrial production surpasses light industrial production for the first time.

*"You can't wear it out--Tai Tzu Long isn't afraid of the competition/You can't shrink it--Tai Tzu Long only fears that you don't know our product!" Tainan Textiles opens a concentrated TV offensive on behalf of Tai Tzu Long products, as Tai Tzu Long becomes the synonym for school uniforms.

1967

*Taipei becomes a separate Municipality directly under the central government.

*HCG begins manufacturing the "third generation" metal bathtub. Each tub is more than 1OO kg in weight. The appellation "third generation" actually meant that it could be used for three generations without replacement.

1968

*Taiwan's first fast food noodles--"Sheng Li Noodles," with the trademark rooster on the package--come out. The price is NT$2.5.

*The fifth "Four Year Plan" begins, with the objective of developing the electronics industry.

*Sampo puts out a color TV. Household appliances enter the age of color, and electric cookers, refrigerators, and washing machines now appear in many colors besides white.

1970

*The Industrial Development Bureau is established.

1970s

*The Tiaoyutao incident, withdrawal from the United Nations; the government promotes the Ten Major Projects. Taiwan Soda begins making Coca Cola.

*The petrochemical and electronic era. All types of chemical materials are produced. Electronic watches and calculators, as well as computer terminals and monitors become new products. Taiwan's economy begins to take off.

[Picture Caption]

Trim smokestacks rose along the Chianan Plain, relying on exports of rice and sugar to build the foundation for "agriculture to develop industry."

In 1953, during a promotional campaign for a soap company, it was eight mao (0.8 NT dollars) a bar, with a limit on how many you could buy.

This advertisement for the Tatung electric cooker on the cover of the 1967 almanac stresses "no burnt rice at the bottom" and fine "after-sales service."

The bicycle age! (photo by Lin Shou-yi)

At the beginning of the 1960s, the mass media were still undeveloped, and so the fluorescent light bulb company's advertising truck would make the rounds of the streets and alleys.

(Left) Large props and advertising cars got themselves into temple processions, greatly increasing advertising effectiveness.

In textile factories of the fifties, cotton yarn was still spun out by hand.

Everybody toasted his or her wedding guests with Hey-Song sodas. (Right) What could "fresh bubbles" and "cooler" be? The answer is spritzer and cola.

In those days few ordinary folks could afford to buy the locally produced jeeps or Bluebird compacts.

An old cabinet TV and a vacuum tube radio, set amidst old appliances in this quaint old restaurant, evoke the flavor of the sixties.

In 1953, during a promotional campaign for a soap company, it was eight mao （0.8 NT dollars） a bar, with a limit on how many you could buy.

This advertisement for the Tatung electric cooker on the cover of the 1967 almanac stresses "no burnt rice at the bottom" and fine "after-sales service.".

The bicycle age! （photo by Lin Shou-yi）

At the beginning of the 1960s, the mass media were still undeveloped, and so the fluorescent light bulb company's advertising truck would make the rounds of the streets and alleys.

（Left） Large props and advertising cars got themselves into temple processions, greatly increasing advertising effectiveness.

In textile factories of the fifties, cotton yarn was still spun out by hand.

Everybody toasted his or her wedding guests with Hey-Song sodas. What could "fresh bubbles" and "cooler" be? The answer is spritzer and cola.

In those days few ordinary folks could afford to buy the locally produced jeeps or Bluebird compacts.

An old cabinet TV and a vacuum tube radio, set amidst old appliances in this quaint old restaurant, evoke the flavor of the sixties.