Hong Kong - Thomas Cook & Sons
The Thomas Cook & Sons office in Hong Kong used the perforation letters "TC&S." The perfins used on all four Silver Jubilee stamps was used between 1932 and 1947. The perfin used was classified as a Tilles #T2. The letter height is 4 mm. and the total height of the two lines of perfin is 15 mm. There are a total of 36 holes. The Hong Kong Office Perfin can be distinguished from the Shanghai Office perfin as it has a Narrow Letter C and only 7 holes (The Shanghai Office Perfin has 8 holes)
This scan and information on the Hong Kong perfins was very kindly provided by Rod Sell of New South Wales, Australia. Check out his excellent web site on Hong Kong issues.
Thomas Cook was born in 1808. He began operating tours out of Leicester, England in 1841. He was subsequently joined in the travel and tour business by his son, John Mason Cook, who became the major innovator of Thomas Cook & Sons. The company expanded to involve many other countries. In 1873 Thomas Cook & Sons introduced the Circular note which was the forerunner of the Traveller's cheque.
Thomas Cook opened its first Hong Kong office in 1906 at 16 Des Voeux Road. The initial Thomas Cook's services in Hong Kong were focused on arranging trips in the Far East and to Europe for business travellers.
Today the company has more than 3,000 offices in 100 countries. It's headquarters are in London. Recently the International Financial Services section was sold but the Company, now also known as JMC, continues to function as a Travel Agent.
