Travel through Vintage Photographs Reviving Childhood Memories of Yancheng District／重遊老照片的舊時光─重溫鹽埕時光
Travel through Vintage Photographs
Reviving Childhood Memories of Yancheng District
◎English translation: Hou Ya-ting
Several intriguing Japanese-style buildings can still be seen along the historic Sinbin Old Street, even though these valuable cultural assets came close to being torn down due to the implementation of the Guangshan construction project in Kaohsiung City's Gushan District in 2012. Fortunately, the Guangshan project was halted, and these architectural gems escaped destruction. However, the project also led local resident Ms. Guo Yan-ti to discover some family photo albums which had been stored inside an old cypress wardrobe for more than six decades. These vintage photographs reveal many family stories.
Ms. Guo is director of the Takao Renaissance Association, an NGO which strives to preserve local buildings and culture. From time to time, she can be found leafing through one of her family's albums and telling stories about her ancestors, at the association's office, a Japanese colonial-era wooden building on Jiesing 2nd Street in Hamasen. Hamasen is roughly equal to the southern part of the Gushan District.
Ms. Guo's grandfather Guo Wei-jhong lived in Sinbin Old Street during the period of Japanese rule, and because he was quite wealthy, he could afford to take many photographs. Ms. Guo's father was also fond of taking family photographs, thus recording valuable memories. Leafing through these albums causes Ms. Guo to reminisce, and tell the stories behind these old photographs.
"This photo was taken by the bank of Love River when I was about two or three years old," says Ms. Guo. "Opposite the bank is Kaohsiung District Court, which was the city hall during Japanese colonial period. My father used to take us on strolls along Love River."
Ms. Guo's father, a pharmacist, used to work at Kaohsiung Hospital, today's Kaohsiung Municipal Minsheng Hospital. By the bank of Love River, Ms. Guo shares anecdotes about the area. As she points out, in the 1960s Kaohsiung Hospital was located around Gushan 2nd Road, and her father would take the family shopping in Yancheng District or out to watch a movie. She casually mentions the neighborhood's 228 Incident Memorial Park, where a bustling underground shopping bazaar saw a constant flow of customers in its 1970s and 1980s heydays. Ms. Guo says she was a regular at the bazaar, often enjoying a cup of juice and ice-skating. Sadly, the bazaar suffered a fire disaster which led to a dramatic decline in business. As she walks beside Love River, Ms. Guo passes Kaohsiung Film Archive. She then strolls leisurely along Sinle Street, reaching Wufu 4th Road and Cisian 3rd Road where there used to be another popular shopping mall. It opened in the 1930s, and was the first arcade-style shopping center in Kaohsiung. Ms. Kuo's childhood memories include shopping with her mother here and at Jyuejiang Commercial Center during the Lunar New Year period. "If one wished to find the hippest gift in the city, this was the place one would go," she recalls. Although the shopping center's glory days are in the distant past, Ms. Guo's memories are still fresh, and her stories are an important record of part of this beloved city.
重遊老照片的舊時光 ─ 重溫鹽埕時光
◎口述／郭晏緹 ◎文／盧昱瑞
幾本褪黃老舊的家庭相簿，長年被收納在超過一甲子的檜木簞笥裡，因為二○一二年的「鼓山廣三闢建工程」，偶然地讓這批老相簿重見天日，許多珍貴的歷史又再度得以延續流傳…
位在哈瑪星捷興二街的一棟日治時期的木造老屋，就是打狗文史再興會社的所在地，郭晏緹（郭姐）理事長翻閱著老照片感慨地說：「還好當時家人沒把這些照片丟掉，不然我們家族就又失去更多的歷史回憶，這些若不見了，花再多的錢也買不回來…」；因為廣三用地暫緩拆除，而使昔日新濱町的老街廓得以保留至今，郭姐家就在這街廓裡，其祖父郭維鐘從日本時代就搬來此地，早年家境富裕，在那物質匱乏的年代，他已拍了許多照片留念，而郭姐的父親也替家人留下許多珍貴的影像記錄；今日郭姐特地從家庭相簿裡挑了幾個景點，再次重遊老照片中的舊時光。
「這張照片是在愛河畔拍的，河岸對面是高雄地方法院，日治時期的高雄州廳。照片中的我當時約兩、三歲大，我父親常帶我們到愛河畔散步玩耍，他以前是高雄病院的藥劑師，後來醫院改名叫臺灣省立高雄醫院，也就是現在的民生醫院。」郭姐站在愛河畔述說著過往。六○年代高雄病院還在鼓山二路一帶，郭姐父親放假時常帶他們到鹽埕區逛街走踏或看電影。「像旁邊的二二八和平紀念公園，以前是地下街，七○年代到八○年代還非常熱鬧，我們常跑去那邊看書、喝果汁，地下還有溜冰場，後來發生火災後就沒落了。」郭姐遺憾地說。沿著愛河畔經過高雄電影館 ，再順著新樂街走到五福四路和七賢三路口。「這裡是以前的國際商場（銀座），三○年代就開幕了，是高雄最早的拱廊街。小時候最愛跟母親一起來逛國際商場和堀江，尤其是農曆春節，全高雄最新潮的東西應該都在這裡了。」如今眼前是一條老舊昏暗的巷道，但從郭姐的描述仍可感受到昔日孩童逛國際商場的雀躍。