SCHOOL CLOTHES ADS - 1965 TO 1970

1st ad is from 1968 and is for Cairds in Reform Street.

I actually remember these school caps being worn by a couple of kids at Balerno Primary in the mid 60's, but thought they had disappeared by the late 60's. Here they are though, still on sale in '68.

The McGills ad is dated 1970.

The school gear they had on offer were uniforms and sportswear, so that would have included both of their department stores in Victoria Road.

Next up is the GL Wilson ad from 1965.

Their store was well known for being located on "the corner" - that was on the corner of Murraygate & Commercial Street.

They appear to have specialised in school underwear and sportswear. However, in the 60's there really wasn't that much of a difference. I recall when the chaps didn't have shorts to put on they just run around in their undies and vest. The girls always wore navy blue pants to gym and don't think they wore shorts at all in primary.

The last ad is also from 1965 and is for Menzies.

They had 3 shops on the go at the time - the Wellgate, Princes Street and Kirk Style.

The mention of sportswear reminded me that when at primary in the 60's, gym was referred to as PT (Physical Training), but when we went to secondary in 1970 it had become known as PE (Physical Education). I know not why!

MODERN AND McGILL'S ADS - 1966

The last couple of ads has the Modern shop in Dock Street, getting a bit carried away with their sales pitch hype. According to them their shop was "One of the wonders of the Road Bridge Terminal", then go on to claim it is "The shopping experience of a lifetime".

Wow! Amazing!! Out of this world!!!

Bringing us back down to earth again, however, is McGill's - selling souvenir rugs for 6 quid!

McGILL'S FURNITURE DEPT - 1976

I was in McGill Brothers fashion and sports departments often enough in the 70's, but I never set foot in their furniture dept, so this interior image is the first time I have seen it!
Their furniture dept was located at the Hilltown corner store in Victoria Road, along with the sports dept.
This DC Thomson photo was taken in January 1976.

JEANNE'S HAIDRESSER - VICTORIA ROAD

On the opposite end of the Wellgate area to where Paynes was, was another hairdresser called Jeanne. It opened up on Victoria Road in the mid 70's, with this picture of the premises taken in November 1976.
Again, it wasn't a place I was in as I'm guessing it was for ladies only.
Photo by DC Thomson.

McGILL'S SHOP INTERIOR - 1975

"Just looking..!!"

A little glimpse into McGill Brothers on Victoria Road in May 1975.

Some of the goods on offer are - boxes of braces, pre-packed denim shirts, checked shirts, casual tops, colognes, sunglasses and a few other knick knacks.

This is the part of the shop that greeted you when you went through the main doors on Victoria Road.

They had more substantial clothing upstairs like, suits, coats and so on for your average Joe.

For the young trendy teenager they stocked, Levi Sta-Prest, Ben Sherman shirts, Fred Perry's, Crombie's, etc.

They had school uniforms too for the more sensible type!

In the picture, you can see an interior doorway area (beside the fire extinguisher) that lead downstairs to the shoe dept. One of the more memorable pairs of shoes I bought from there was in 1973 - black & white brogues (spats) with thick Doc Marten soles. Wow!! They were about the dearest shoes in the shop..!!

I noticed that the guy right on the edge of the picture is wearing what was called a "Swallow raincoat", Swallow being the brand name, and these were a bit of a minor fad in the mid 70's as a kind of follow on from crombies.

Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG

McGILL'S SPORTS DEPARTMENT

The McGill's Sports department was in a seperate building from the main McGill Bros store. Both were located in Victoria Road but their sport shop was on the bottom corner of Hilltown. I used to visit this shop quite a lot in the early 70's when I was secondary school age, mostly for futba gear, but I can also recall buying a pair of Speedo swimming trunks, when their new "nylon" material made it's first appearance. I remember being really chuffed when I got a pair of Adidas Samba trainers from there too. Classics!!
The image above was taken in 1976.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

SHOPPING AT McGILL's

There can't have been many teenagers in Dundee in the 60's & 70's who didn't buy clothes from McGill's in Victoria Road. It was a regular stop for items such as school uniforms & sports gear, as well as casual clothes like Wranglers, Sta-Prest, Ben Sherman's, Harringtons, Dr Martens etc.

The clothing & footwear depts were in the store nearest to the Wellgate steps (as in above picture) and their sports dept was opposite, on the corner of Victoria Road & Hilltown.

This image was taken in November 1976.

Photo by DC Thomson.