AND A BIG SHOUT OUT TO...

I was originally planning on doing Retro Dundee for around 2 years, that being how long I thought I would be able to post items regularly based on the amount of material I had in my collection, however, because of all the items I had sent to me, I managed to keep going for another year and a half!

So to all the people who chipped in with their stuff - a big THANKS - great to know that lots of you kept all those old rarities tucked away after all that time.

Here is a list of those who helped contribute to Retro Dundee...and in no particular order...

MIKE FRASER - EDDIE G - CRAIG METHVEN (R.I.P) - THE SCOTSMAN - YVONNE J - STUART BETTY - NEALE ELDER - DREW RAMSAY - JOHN GURVAN - FRANK BOYLE - JIM GRIEVE - BRIDIE - MAC CARNEGIE - JOCK FERGUSON - NICHOLL RUSSELL STUDIOS - MIKE KANE - STEPHEN SMALL - GARY ROBERTSON - CAMERA KEN - BOB McGOULDRICK - ANDY GURVAN - DC THOMSON - GERRY MITCHELL - THE BEAR - ALI STRACHAN - RONNIE CHALMERS - THE ATTIC ARCHIVE - YVONNE McKINNEY - BRIAN WILSON - DEREK THOMSON - JOHN LUNAN (R.I.P) - JOE OGILVIE - PETER ROSS - EWEN ALLARDYCE - MARK MECHAN - KEVIN L GUTHRIE - AL McKEWAN - GORDON COBBAN (R.I.P) - GILLIAN JORDAN - DAVE McDONALD - JIM AIR - MIKE GALLACHER - SCOTT McKINLAY - GRAHAM GURVAN - GORDON WALKER - LLOYD SMITH - JIM WILKIE - LYKEN - LORRAINE WILSON - COLIN RAMSEY - WILLIE FORREST - LAURA WALKER - GORDON BAND - BILLY GRAHAM - ANGUS RAE - CAROLYN LOTHIAN - ECKY COCHRANE - DAVID ROBERTSON - MOIRA BIRD - LUDA ALBIT - DONNY COUTTS - VIKING STUDIOS (R.I.P) - MARK RITCHIE - BRIAN HUTTON - NEIL MENZIES - PETER ASHWORTH - JIM FARRELL - MARTIN KIELTY - ALLAN BROWN - RICHARD ROONEY - GEORGE DUNCAN - DEK McHUGH - DAVID PENTLAND - RICHARD C. - KENNY MACKINNON - ALAN WESTON - DEREK HIGH - MARTIN DUDLEY - ANGUS CARNEGIE - GRAEME WHITE - GEORGE ARTHUR RONEY - BRIAN PERRIE - GRAHAM KENNEDY - DOUG B - MOIRA BERNARD - NEIL HOWIE - ALISTAIR LITTLEJOHN

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.

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.

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.

WELLGATE LIBRARY IN THE 80'S

No idea if the Wellgate Library still looks the same these days, but this is how things were back in the 1980's.

Top image is of the Childrens Library - and judging by the pencil case setting, I think the kids may have been having "The Borrowers" read out to them at the time!

The other photo is a view of the general lending area, which I remember had a brilliant book of Picasso Linocuts that I kept going back to over and over again. Must see if I can buy a copy now that this has jogged my memory.

The advert is dated 1988 and is for the Video Libary, located in the main foyer.

Membership was free and for over 18's only. The content consisted of Hollywood blockbusters, TV shows, music, documentary, old Dundee and hobbies, with prices ranging from 50p to £2 per night.

THE OVERGATE SILHOUETTE

A scary tale for Hallowe'en...
I was told this story in the 70's from the girl it happened to, but to be fair, she was tripping on drugs when it occurred!
You remember how the 70's Overgate between Dixon's corner and Boots was often like a wind tunnel - well this one time, because of her hallucinatory condition, the scene had become really exaggerated, and so in her mind she thought she was battling against a powerful storm as she made her way through the passage.
She then spotted a hazy image of a guy in front of her, silhouetted against the light at the end of the tunnel.
As she got closer, she could hear a metallic jingling sound with every footstep he made, and this became louder and louder the nearer she got to him.
By now she had conjured up the image of a Frankenstein monster type of creature, one that had shackles & chains attached to his ankles.
Then when she got right up beside him, that's when she made her horrific discovery!
Here below is a recreation of what the poor lassie was going through - with the real explanation.
Sleep tight..!!!!!

MENZIESHILL WRESTLING AD - 1972

If karate wasn't your thing, then you could always give wrestling a go.

Not sure who would have been involved at this event up at Menzieshill Community Centre - seems an odd place to have an "all-star" billing especially when the Caird Hall presented wresting quite regularly.

Anyway, not just all-star but all ticket for this do in '72.

CENTRAL WATERFRONT AREA - 1980's

This aerial photo is from the late 80's and shows the familiar layout of the central waterfront area our generation will remember it by.

Yes it soon will only be a memory as it's time to say ta ta to Tayside House, the Leisure Centre and other surrounding features because the zone is currently in the process of being redesigned and modernised with a flashy new look that's gonna dazzle us all!

CRAFT CENTRE ADS - 70's

Here's a couple of ads from the 70's for The Craft Centre in the Nethergate.
They specialised in arty gifts made from a variety of materials.
The basic top ad with just the shop name on it is from 1978.
The one underneath with the Beatrix Potter style mouse, is dated 1977.

GATE MICROSYSTEMS AD - 1984

An ad from 1984 for computer dealers, Gate Microsystems, who were based in the Nethergate.

That typeface they used is called DATA 70, and still looks futuristic despite it being decades old!

3 COWGATE VIEWS - 1970

3 views of the Cowgate area captured before all the demolition began - so 1970ish.

Top one is from near St Andrew's Street junction looking over towards the Wellgate side, with Walsall Conduits sign on show.

Middle image is a familiar view of the Cowgate featuring Wishart Arch.

The wooden business sign top-left of the photo is for Holland House Electrical Co, and the white building next door to it is Mitchell Car Hire.

The bottom picture would have been snapped outside Millett's probably, that's the Gaumont canopy to the right of the image, with the continuation of the Cowgate beyond and King Street curving off next to it.

The Wellgate side of the Cowgate has the Dundee Savings Bank on the corner, and you can just catch a glimpse of the Cowgate Carpets shop sign beside it.

No hint of any boarding going up yet, all premises seem intact and still doing biz!

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Photos from Gordon C.

THE WORKSHOP AD - 1988

An ad for The Workshop in the Nethergate from 1988, a place I know absolutely zilch about.

If any of you can do the biz on this one - the comments section is all yours.

HUGH FARQUHAR AD - 1978

I forgot Hugh Farquhar also had a place in Crichton Street - although they themselves seem to have forgotten to put Street in the ad!

I automatically think of the High Street salon anytime Farquhars name crops up.

Anyway, this one is from 1978.

JOHNALAN ADS - 70's/80's



The top Johnalan ad is from 1979 and lets you know the whereabouts of their salons.
You also may have noticed that the image is a merged photo of both John & Alan - John with the mouser, Alan with the beard.
I assume they didn't offer this look to their customers, but it does remind me of the time Jimmy Savile made an appearance on Top Of The Pops in the psychedelic 60's, with one half of his hair white and the other side black!
The middle ad is dated 1984 and just has their Crichton Street salon on it - but it does display their futuristic "Countdown" typeface logo which I've always liked.
As regards their outlandish third ad - well it's not often I'm lost for words on Retro but on this occasion, I'm completely dumbstruck!!
All I can add is that this bizarre creation was published, large sized, in the Tele in March 1977.

RICKSONS ADS - 70's/80's

A couple of adverts for Ricksons in the Nethergate.

Top one is from 1979 and the one underneath, 1980.

Two well known local hairdressers who were doing their apprenticeship at Ricksons at the time of the '79 ad, were Graeme Merchant and Norrie McDicken - but in 1980 both moved to Salon 51 to finish their training there.

Norrie now has his super-duper place in Reform Street - Salonori.

No idea how long Ricksons itself lasted.

SALON 51 AD - 1984

Don't know if Eddie went here to be shorn, but this is Salon 51 in the Murraygate - going for it!

Ad is dated 1984.

WHITFIELD'S AD - 1966

This ad from 1966 is for Whitfields' in Crichton Street, who were navy specialists.

Is that the only colour they had then - navy?!!

GOW'S FISHING BOOK - 1962

Not sure if yesterdays location was a place to go fishing but in 1962, Gow's in Union Street, brought out this catalogue showcasing the fishing equipment they had available at their shop.

The book had the full range of gear you'd expect - rods, reels, flies, waders, and so on, plus they also had a few gift items such as tankards, wallets, cigarette cases etc.

There was a brand of fishing equipment on the go at the time called the "Tayside" range, which included the Tayside Fly Rod, Spinning Rod, Artificial Bait, Sprat & Prawn Tackle, Cast Book, and the example shown here being the Tayside Bag.

While I was at it, I thought I'd stick on the Tayside Fly Rod section because it had an amusing error, detailing a "19ft" rod, when it should have been 10ft.

19ft?....what a whopper!

At the back of the book they list all the nearby rivers and lochs you could visit to indulge in the sport.

The book was also published locally - by David Winter.

BRIDGE DAY - ANGUS HOTEL - 1966

Here's a couple of photos from completely different vantage points, but both captured at around the same time.
The Royal entourage were in town for the opening of the Tay Road Bridge in August 1966 and stopped off at the Angus Hotel, inevitably drawing a large inquisitive crowd.
Although the photographer in the crowd was suffering from a touch of camera shake, you can see the 3 cars are in the same position as the image above it.
Quite a coincidence that these are the only photos I have of this moment, and the two of them appear to have been taken almost simultaneously!
In addition, I have film footage of the moment the Queen Mother departs the Angus Hotel and gets into a waiting car.
The "doorway crowd" footage is very wobbly, but you can make out what's happening.

BRIDGE DAY - CITY SQUARE - 1966

They brought out the Royal banners in order to tart up the city square, the day the celebrations for the official opening of the Tay Road Bridge were taking place - so these photos were taken on 18th August 1966.

The top image is from the city square looking over at the old Overgate. Quite rare to see photos of the original Overgate in colour. The construction of the 2nd version of the Overgate (the concrete one) was well underway in '66, but you can't see any of the building work that's taking place, in shot.

In case you're wondering, the ad on the side of the red van is for Fish Fingers.

The middle picture is a similar view, but from slightly further down the square.

A nice array of classic 60's cars on display, as well as a wee reminder of the VG van.

The bottom image shows more banners, this time from the other side of the square - and judging from the eye catching black car in the foreground, it looks like they invited Batman!

Click onto the photos to enlarge if you want to have a look around.

Photos from Gordon C.