Page 22 - Sphere No.9 (Sep 2003)

panies back home and in India. It was
an uneasy relationship, peppered with
mistrust on both sides.The “gweilos”
were confined to premises on
Shameen Island, where visiting sail-
ing ships delivered daily necessities
alongside their main cargoes.
By late 1831, if an advertisement
in the Canton Register is any guide, it
appears the company had become a
commercial operation dealing largely
in relieving the after-effects of over-
indulgence for the heavy-drinking,
meat-eating Westerners.
The next decade saw a period of
unrest that culminated with the Treaty of Nanking in 1841
when Hong Kong was ceded to Britain. Along with many
other Canton traders, A.S. Watson & Co moved 100 miles
down-river to the new colony.
Those were tough days for the new inhabitants, European
and Chinese alike. The vagaries of climate, disease and inade-
quate shelter made life a misery for many of the men
encamped on a small strip of land beneath the inhospitable
peaks of Hong Kong Island.The Hongkong Dispensary, as the
company was renamed, was soon in business in a makeshift
shed at Possession Point, selling medical necessities to soldiers
and sailors – and distilling its own water to make the medicines
they needed.
In 1858, one Alexander Selkirk
Watson was employed as the compa-
ny’s first professional pharmacist. He
stayed for 30 years, taking over the
company and giving it the A.S.
Watson & Co name.
By 1903, the company had grown
significantly, keeping pace with the
young colony’s rapid development.
Five hundred Chinese and 50
Europeans were on its payroll, with
company branches in the Chinese
cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou,
Fuzhou, Hankou and Tianjin and an
office in London. In Hong Kong, it
served an impressive colonial city boasting a port that nearly
matched the size of London’s and easily topped NewYork’s.As
a trading centre, Hong Kong was among the world’s busiest.As
a place to make money, it was virtually unbeatable.
With demand for “safe” water growing, A.S.Watson & Co
added commercial distilled water to the aerated version it was
already producing, promising that it was “the purest that can be
obtained ... the best ingredients only are used.”
Seven decades of preparing 100% pure water for its medi-
cines was beginning to pay off.
In 1906, 7,772 steamers arrived in Hong Kong, averaging
22 a day. For the colonial captains of ships and industry, the
Hong Kong Club at the harbourfront offered a luxurious
C O V E R S T O R Y
In the early days, the very best containers were glass.
Occasionally,Watsons changed the shape and design
of its bottles but the basic material remained the
same for more than 70 years.
In the1950s Watsons Water
introduced the office-sized bot-
tle, leading to the widespread
adoption of the office water
cooler, which evolved to offer
a hot water option as well .
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