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!

70'S AIR SHOT - SEAGATE / DOCK STREET

Retro regulars will be aware that I have put up quite a few air shots taken by my brother around 1974/75. Well there were half a dozen or so I wasn't going to bother about because the plane's wing cut across the image and made it awkward to crop. However, I have changed my mind as I reckoned they'd be better on the net than tucked away in a storage box at home out of view. So here's a wee bonus batch...

This one here is really good actually once you zoom into the large version.

On it you can see Seagate Bus Station with some yellow Alexander buses waiting there.

Across the road from the bus station was the Reo Stakis Olde Worlde Inn.

Moving east you can clearly see Allan Street, which at that time, on the corner of Seagate, had the Quarter Gill Bar.

On the other side of the road along from the Quarter Gill was the Tayside Bar. A path which was to be well trodden a few years later!

Further right, is the Corporation Bus Depot on Dock Street, and if you look closely you can see the transition from green buses to blue ones had just started.

Down at the bottom right of Victoria Dock is the Timber Yard.

These are just a few of the sights, I'm sure you'll be able to spot plenty others.

You can click on the photo to view the larger version, and once on, right click to save, then view it using the zoom on your PC.

I have a Dundee Directory from this same period, so can help name places should you be struggling!

2 DUNDEE BUS ADS - 1970'S

Me not being a motorist meant that buses were my main mode of transport back then for getting from A to B.

These 2 ads are from the 70's

The top one is for Alexander's, the rural service who's yellow buses were based at Seagate Bus Station.

Something I can remember about the bus station when I was schoolboy aged was using the grubby photo booth a few times. One such session was in 1972 when me and my mate (both Slade fans) went in and got our photo's taken, pushing our fists up close to the camera with our thumbs out sideways, copying the "SLAYED" album cover!

I also have a memory of there being a Nestles chocolate vending machine that was always empty!

 

The other ad is for the local Council bus service who had a depot in Dock Street and an office in Barrack Street.

The 70's was when they changed from green coloured Corporation buses to blue Tayside Regional Council buses.

Does anyone know what product it is advertised on the side of the bus in the picture? The slogan is "Make Your Pins Look Sharper", but I haven't the foggiest what they are referring to!!

You may need to enlarge the image.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW - 1988

This ad for The Rocky Horror Picture Show was in Dundee's Street Life mag.
The late showings took place at the Cannon in the Seagate in November 1988.
There was a large turnout for this charity event, and as well as the main feature film, there was live cabaret on stage. The added attraction was the appearance of the shows creator, the entertaining and all-round good guy, Richard O'Brien.
Somewhere in the crowd there would have been the winning ticket holders of the Street Life competition too!
And a good time was had by all.
Click image to enlarge.

FILMS ON SCREEN - OCTOBER 1988

Not so many cinemas in town by the time we reach the late 80's, but here's what films were on offer in October 1988, published in Dundee's what's on guide, Street Life.
If I only had to pick one movie, I think I'd opt for "A Fish Called Wanda".
Picture houses mentioned are - STEPS - CANNON 1 & 2 - VICTORIA.
Click image to read large version.

HIGH STREET CORNER AREA - 1970'S

This is how the High Street looked in the early 70's, looking down towards Commercial Street from Castle Street.
The 3 main shops in the photograph are no longer there.
These are, from left to right, TIMBERLAND on the corner of Commercial St/Seagate. This was one of the very first shops to delve into the D.I.Y. market. All your tools, wood, paints etc under the one roof. It wasn't until a few years later that the concept came to be presented on a larger scale and placed in retail park warehouses.
On the High Street is HALFORDS, the bicycle shop. Again another shop that has gone for the larger retail park format. Not so handy if all you want is a puncture repair kit!
And of course, the Castle Street corner belonged to baker ANDREW G KIDD. Worth a visit just for the aromatherapy!!

HONG KONG RESTAURANT - SEAGATE

The Hong Kong restaurant was located right next door to the ABC cinema in the Seagate, as I'm sure the majority of you will remember.

Here's a photo of the interior to refresh your memory, which dates from the late 60's.

The boss was Willie Wong, and included are 3 pictures of him on the premises.

It's strange that it was there for years & years and I would have passed by it hundreds of times, yet I don't recall ever having visited it!

Never mind me though - as well as the nosh aspect, they would often provide entertainment to go with it.

The ads under the photos are a wee example - first is dated May 1974 and has Sidney Devine one week and Bert Weedon the next.

Local act, Whistlefield, were the resident band at the time.

The second ad is dated March 1977 and here we have Paul Edison, ex lead singer of 60's pop group, The Ivy League.

Also on the bill, The Vikings.

Dundee act, The Vikings, released a single, but split up in the late 60's. However, band member, Drew Larg, kept the name going for his late 70's version of The Vikings.

The Hong Kong even dabbled in the "alternative" rock music scene for a period in 1981, by putting on post-punk bands!

TAYSIDE BAR - SEAGATE - 1980'S

Located at 176 Seagate ( the building no longer exists ), the Tayside Bar was a pub you may well have passed in the street without giving it a second glance. It was really an old man's pub, as basic and as spartan as they get. However, in the early '80's, Dundee's trendy youth hijacked it and used it as a live music venue.
Most of the time it was a showcase for the "alternative" music scene...and on the nights there were no bands playing, there would often be a DJ - the Cranked Up Disco!.
Local bands who gigged there were acts such as Altres, The Grip, AAGA, Waiter Waiter, Junkies, Scrotum Poles, The Blush etc etc...but as the venue became more known, acts from out of town would come in and perform too.
There always seemed to be something going on inside which is why it was such a good place to have a drink. I remember Billy Mackenzie used to hang out there as well.
The top photo shows the long narrow lounge area of the pub...where it all happened!!
Under it, is a photo of the pubs main man, Brian Sinclair, the guy who brought all the bands in.
One of the many acts I saw play there was AAGA, and I was in the crowd at one of their gigs they captured on film. Below is that very gig. Filmed in March 1984. AAGA live at the Tayside Bar with a track called "Back in the 60's".
Many thanks to Kevin, Mike, Brian and co from AAGA & Altres for the excellent footage and photo.
Meanwhile, enjoy the blast from the past, on the video below...
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Tayside Bar now has its own website - go visit Tayside Bar

YELLOW ALEXANDER BUSES

The yellow Alexander buses were the ones we used in the 60's & 70's to go to places like Arbroath and Fife. What I remember about them is that it seemed like everytime I went passed the Seagate Bus Station, the place was always full of them, but on the occasions I needed to go to the Station to actually travel on them, the Station would be mysteriously empty and had to wait ages on one!
The above photo featuring an Alexander's bus was taken in the early 70's. Nobody was hurt in the accident but the funny thing about it is that it's my brothers Austin Maxi that's crushed and it was him that took the picture. He was the only one in the car and as soon as the collision occurred he just stepped out the car and took a few snaps. Not even any camera shake!!
The car was a write-off and the photos were used in my brothers favour when it was insurance claim time!

ABC CINEMA - SEAGATE - 1971

This is how the ABC in the Seagate looked back in the days when cinema's only had one screen.

I used to visit it quite regularly in the 60's & 70's.

Whenever there were real big blockbusters on, the queues used to stretch way past Gellatly Street car park.

Another thing that I recall was when we were still at school, aged around 15/16, we used to get the bus into town at half-fare, then go see an X film!

A double victory for school kids!!

That was the only way to see Bruce Lee in action because videos hadn't been invented.

In the photo above is a full length animation called "A Boy Named Charlie Brown", along with the advert published in the local press in April 1971.

It just so happens I have the movie in my collection. So below is a quick view of the intro for all those who would like a wee trip back in time.
By the way, the other film on with it is "Our man Flint".
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

SEAGATE GALLERY - 1980'S

The Seagate Gallery & Printmakers Workshop opened in 1986.
I remember visiting an exhibition by David Mach they put on in 1986.

This was David's first major show in Dundee and the exhibits were all installations.

It had a kind of local industrial theme with Jute, Jam & Journalism being represented, but in David's unique contemporary style of multitude sculptures.

Jute was depicted in a piece using 4000 jute bobbins.

Jam was portrayed using 2500 jam jars, some filled to form an image of a shark and man (as seen in the photo above).

The Journalism artwork was a massive swirling sculpture made out of thousands of magazines, with office equipment scattered in amongst them.

Davids work has since gone on to be known around the globe.

They also used to put on shows regularly by local amateur artists.

Although it opened its doors in summer '86, its official grand opening event didn't take place until November 1986 - with local jazz act Havana Swing providing the entertainment.

A few years later, I managed to snap a couple of photos (above) at an exhibition there around 1989.

The pieces are by Francisco Cabral, an artist from Trinidad.

LET'S GO BACK

The idea behind Retro Dundee is to take a look back at Dundee, Scotland, during the 1960's - 1970's - 1980's, this being the time period I lived in town.

I have amassed lots of photos & ephemera from this era and will be putting as many as I can on view here. Many images of the city never seen before, covering various subjects like - school, shops, music, fashion, fads, events, pubs, sport, etc.

So if anyone went to school in Dundee in the 60's & 70's, and spent their youth in town during the 70's & 80's, this will bring back a few memories. Should be a good laugh too!!

I'll go set the time-machine for the 60's to get things started...

Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.