Wednesday 30 November 2011

LINLATHEN'S HIGH TIMES - 1989

A few more pages to read from the 1989 Linlathen's High Times mag.
Some of the contents include a visit to Gordonstoun, word about art classes, a new photo club, charity walks, a Shakespeare class, a Christmas Fayre, tree week, and many other bits & pieces.
Also a few adverts such as for - Clep-pers, Lilibets, Hotpot, Parky's, and plenty more - including a den that sold Opium!
Give the pages a click to enlarge.

Many thanks to Dave.

LINLATHEN'S HIGH TIMES - 1988

A little glimpse into what was going on at Linlathen High School in November 1988 with a dip into a few pages of their school publication, High Times.
Front page headline tells of a major flood in school caused by a fire hose that "mysteriously burst"!
Other contents include school prizewinners, a teacher retirement, an interview with a band called Love Cats, notice of a visit to France, and a basketball match between pupils and the teachies.
The bottom image is a poster for a charity Christmas Fayre that took place at LHS in December 1988 - with guest, DJ Graeme Adamson from Radio Tay.
Click onto the pages to read the enlarged version.
Big thanks to Dave.

Tuesday 29 November 2011

THE SNOWY SEVENTIES

3 shots here that'll make you want to snuggle up in front of a coal fire - all from the 70's, and maybe even the same winter.
Not sure if the guy in the top image is someone in particular, like a well known skier, but I have a feeling that he was an ordinary member of the public who came up with the idea of skiing to work. Which ever it is, he was stopped in his tracks by a photographer up beside the Morgan.
Middle picture, taken along Meadowside, has the traffic sliding tentatively passed the museum.
And the view at Samuel's corner shows that it might have been a better idea to have had a cosy day in that day!
Photos by DC Thomson.

Monday 28 November 2011

GATHERING WINTER FUEL ITEMS

Continuing with the fuel theme (minus coal) here's a few bits & pieces from the past you may remember.
First up is a 1968 photo of the Shell & BP Scotland depot down at the Stannergate. This was a modern installation at the time and had a total storage capacity of 9,000 tons. 8 delivery tankers could be filled simultaneously. Not a place to visit if you smoked!
"High Speed Gas" was a slogan used by the Scottish Gas Board, with the ad above dating from 1968, and a reminder that the Dundee showroom could be found in the Overgate.
You didn't need to have coal to have a fireplace of course, and by the mid 80's, imitating real coal fires was a popular alternative. The next 2 ads competing with each other selling these effect fires are both dated 1986 - Dundee's Fireplace Boutique in North Street and the Fire Surround Centres in Arbroath Road & Broughty Ferry.
Finally, yet another alternative fuel was paraffin, and this badge of mine goes way back to the 60's. No idea if the wee earless elephant creature had a name, but the freak didn't seem to put people off buying the pink stuff!

Sunday 27 November 2011

IT'S ONLY DROSS 'N' COAL BUT I LIGHT IT

So the coal lorry on yesterdays photo got me raking around for a few related items, because many of us who were brought up in the 60's/70's had coal fires or relatives who did.
Oor hoose in Craigie did, complete with coal bunker for our weekly delivery, and the wee indoor accessories like scuttle, poker, brush and fire-guard.
Above are a few reminders from those days.
Smith Hood & Co, the coal merchant, was on the corner of Union St & Whitehall Cres, with the photo of their premises taken in 1960.
James Hood was also in Union St, a few doors up at #28. He dealt with solid fuel, oil based fuel and chuckies! Their ad is from 1968.
The T.Muir, Son & Patton ad is also from 1968 and are highlighting the fact that they have moved away from the old horse & cart days onto a new modern lorry fleet. The photo of them in action in the ad was taken across from the Queens Hotel.
Ingram's place was in Kings Road on the corner of Whitton Street. They came up with a puntastic slogan - "The GRATE Corner". They weren't a coal dealer but they made your fireplace surrounds, installed your boiler and so on. 1966 is the date of the ad.
One of the aspects of having a coal fire was that it meant you had to have your chimney swept regularly, and chimney sweeps were quite common in the 60's. They would cover the fireplace with a big black cloth, stick their bristly brush through the cover and would add extension poles to it until it eventually poked out the top of the chimney pot. Because of all the soot involved, most of the guys looked like they were in the Black & White Minstrels!
However, I managed to find a wee ad in a 1972 Tele that would seem to do away with chimney sweeps - a product called "Imp Soot Destroyer". It says you just drop a packet onto a burning fire. No idea what happened after that!
Probably the majority of Dundonians had changed over to alternative heating systems by the 80's, so not much call for coal from then on.

Saturday 26 November 2011

FACES LAND - 1986

Here's a nice gritty urban scene looking along North Ellen Street towards a rather intimidating Jamaica Tower.
This place, as most of you will know, is called "Faces Land", with the housing on the left having gargoyle-like structures of human heads protruding from the window frames.
I also spotted a "Pola Cola" advert on the empty shop above a tag by Kinzie of the Hulltoon Huns.
Then there are the 2 black cars in the foreground - a cool Capri on the left and a lame Lada on the right.
Not forgetting the coal lorry making a delivery.
All this screams "1970's" to me, but in actual fact the photo was taken on 15th April 1986!
Click onto the image for a closer look.
Photo by Neale Elder.

Friday 25 November 2011

FOOD ADS AND SOME HOME COOKING

After a wee flurry sampling some of the gastronomic delights from around the eastern side of the globe - it's time to get back to a few of our own homely spots in town who served up delicious delicacies for those of us who weren't too concerned about our westernized diet.
Going in date order this time - the Keiller Restaurant ad is from 1963 and is for their place in the High Street, while reminding us where their other eateries were located.
The ad for Nelson's is dated 1965 and is for their shops in Nelson Street and the Wellgate. Although it was a confectioners, I think their place in the Wellgate may have had a wee corner sitting area.
You'll all be familiar with the T-Bone Steakhouse I bet - their joint doon Union Street. The ad is from 1977 and the place would be doing a roaring trade around this era.
Raffles in the Perth Road was a nice cheery restaurant/café that had a very good reputation for it's food and service.
I just thought I'd include this basic ad from 1984 to remind you of their logo.
The ad for Shepherd's and the Baked Tattie & Pizza House is conjoined because they both shared the same address in Perth Road. It's dated 1984 - so pre Peking.
The Brooklyn Diner ad is dated 1985, and its location was on the corner pf Panmure Street and Meadowside. Typical American-style food, and lots of neon lighting as part of its look. You could also hire the place for private functions too.
The Town House ad is a 1988 one and emphasizes their pub lunches - Farfir bridies an' a' that.
But can anyone remember what David did? It says Wednesday, Thursday and Sundays were music nights, but they don't put David's appearance in that category. So what was in store for everyone - did he come up to you and smash you in the face with a frying pan, or what??
Mondays and Tuesdays to be avoided??!!

Thursday 24 November 2011

EUROPEAN FLAVOURS IN THE 80'S

The top 2 ads are for Don Quixote, the Spanish restaurant in Blackness Road.
First is dated 1981 and 2nd is from 1984.
The reason I put both up was because in the 81 ad it mentions Miguel the chef - but in the 84 one, his name's not there and is replaced by a "dedicated young staff". Well by 1984 there was a new restaurant opened up in Broughty Ferry. It's name? Miguel's. So I'm putting 2 and 2 together here!
In 1980, Le Mirage, on the corner of Ward Road and the Conshie, was indulging in European dishes every Wednesday, a theme they termed "Continental Night", with a variety of cuisine from Italy, Spain and France to choose from.

Since writing the above caption, I have been given photos of Miguel's and they can be viewed in the January 2010 Retro archive.
Here is the link - Miguel's

Wednesday 23 November 2011

FOOD ADVERTS - FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE

Here's 5 local ads offering a variety of tasty grub from the East that I'm sure many of you will be familiar with.
Starting off at The Far East in Mains Loan. This was their Christmas menu they had up in December 1977. 6-course for 3 quid - not bad at all.
The Gunga-Din ad looks as if it is from the hippy 60's, but this is actually dated 1981. At one stage, this restaurant in Perth Road was considered to serve the best Indian meals in Scotland, not just Dundee!
The Hong Kong ad IS from the 60's - 1968 to be exact. A rather popular place it was too, with both food and music available at their well known spot in the Seagate.
Across the road from the Hong Kong was The Himalaya. It doesn't say so in this ad dating from 1977, but I'm sure they put on music too sometimes.
Rounding things off with the Peking in Perth Road - and an ad from 1988. I think this place is still on the go but perhaps ought to be called the Beijing by now!

Tuesday 22 November 2011

PIZZA GALLERY AD - 1984

I suppose students could have gone straight from their days stint at Kingsway Tech and popped down to the Pizza Gallery in Peter Street pend to take advantage of the discounts they had on offer.
I can remember visiting it a couple of times - a pretty decent place to dine - and it had a "Famous Artists" theme for you to view while waiting to be served.
The advert is dated 1984.

TRAINEE CHEFS AT KINGSWAY TECH - 80'S

Thought I'd pop this picture up of trainee chefs trying out their recipes over at Kingsway Technical College, sometime around the early/mid 80's - just on the off chance that one of you can spot someone you know.
This was the place to go for further training in your chosen profession - or for the unemployed to have a bit of a skive - this was the era of the YTS Scheme after all!
Wonder how many of the cooks in shot went on to have a successful career in the trade?
Anyway, the other reason for the photo was to lead in to a couple of days worth of food related material.
Tasty old adverts - yum yum!

Monday 21 November 2011

MOOVING ON DOWN TO THE COWGATE

If you backtrack to 24th October 2011 when I posted 3 pictures from around the Cowgate, you'll be able to see many of the buildings that were in these settings in 1970, just before demolition commenced.
The top photo here, taken in the early/mid 70's after demolition, has the area around King Street visible and as you can see, it was turned into a temporary car park before the new construction started.
The picture taken in the Cowgate, if you compare to the October set, you will notice that a huge chunk of the original buildings have disappeared from this location too, and again, a part of it turned into a makeshift car park - you can just make out Wishart Arch poking through in the distance. This image above was captured in September 1984.
Top photo from Gordon C.
Bottom photo by Neale Elder.

Sunday 20 November 2011

VANISHING VICKY - EARLY 70'S

Another group of photos from the early 70's showing the demolition around Victoria Road.
Top picture is of the upper area of the Vicky.
2nd image, from the edge of the crater, was taken in Charles Street off the Wellgate. The derelict building at the opposite end, was the Kings Road location.
The 3rd view is where the buildings I displayed on yesterdays post would have been positioned.
Lastly, a look back over from the other side - the photographer was standing in Kings Road at the time.
Photos from Gordon C.