HUNTLY SQUARE SHOPS - 1963

It doesn't look particularly wintery, but these photos were taken on 19th December 1963.

The square is located between Aboyne Avenue running along the top, and Huntly Road at the bottom.

We just called this place Craigie Shops rather than Huntly Square, this being my neck of the woods back then, and when schoolboy age went there almost every day as they were also on our school route.

Amongst the shops were - Jack Chalmers, butcher - Moore, grocer - Primo, chip shop - Black, baker - Steele, household goods - Stan Gordon, newsagent - Wallace's, baker - Gowans, draper, some of which show up on the pictures above. Needless to say, during the course of time, some shops disappeared and new ones opened, so later there was a Tudor Crisps warehouse - V.G. Store - Farmfoods shop - Dempsey's, hairdresser - a Police Station - Nan's, chip shop - Church of Nazarene, and no doubt a few others that have slipped past my memory.

It wasn't just a place we shopped, we also hung out there and turned it into a play area - football, hide & seek, pitchie, the usual kind of stuff. We also indulged in a game called "Follow The Leader" which was almost like a pre-cursor to present day Parkour. A snake of us would line up and we'd all have to copy the exact movements of the leader in front. Wherever the leader went or whatever they did, everyone else behind had to do the same, so there was a lot of running around, jumping over objects, balancing on structure, that kind of stuff - a bit daring at times, well for primary age kids!

Oh yeah, and it was also a great place to go stot your Superball..!!

Click on images to enlarge if you want to nose around.

Photos by DC Thomson.

ANTI BULLYING AD - 1966

Some of you may remember ads like this cropping up in boys comics such as Rover, Tiger and so on, back in the 60's. They always depicted men rather than boys in them - another one for example was the body building ads for Bullworker. I think they were trying to make sure us boys grew up big and strong so we were able to defend ourselves when the occasion arose.

This one above is dated 1966 and was for a variety of books containing different courses to try out - things like Ju Jitsu, Self Defence, Karate, and a few others in that territory.

However, there are also a couple of courses in there that has got me wondering how they can help you when you are being bullied - books on Stamps and Typing?!!

Then again, I suppose if you chucked your Olivetti typewriter at your assailants noggin, it could do a bit of damage!!

OLD SCHOOL BUS - 60'S

Remember these?

Well many of you who went to school in the 60's probably do.

They were the buses that used to pick up the handicapped school kids.

The minibuses were grey and had "Corporation of Dundee Education Committee" on the side.

When we went to Balerno primary in the 60's, one of these buses used to pass us daily, down Banchory Road and along Balerno Street, picking up the kids who needed special treatment.

You couldn't help feel sorry for them mind you, while at the same time reminding yourself how lucky you were to have your full health.

Not that us able bodied kids had it all easy.

I remember the pupils who wore metallic callipers on their legs. Then there were some who had the big pink hearing aid. The majority of specs worn were the wire penny roonders, which often had one lens covered up with elastoplast due to their lazy eye. When we did P.E. that's when we discovered some kids had verrucas, ganglions and chilblains. Not forgetting those who had lice or the ones who breathed with snot bubbles popping out and in. There were also guys who would regularly faint, but only when at assembly. I also recall we had our fair share of pee-the-beds and keechy breeks.

Ah yes, it's all coming back now.

And just remember - we were the lucky ones!!

GLIDER PACKETS

My brother still has an unopened packet with one of these self assembly planes inside.

So although it's not the same Air Base brand as in the previous advert, the paper packaging idea is exactly the same, so thought I'd post it up just to help you conjure up the image of it a bit better.

SUMMERTIME TOYS IN THE 60'S

These outdoor toys were the kind of thing you'd treat yourself to during the 7 weekies rather than add to your Christmas list.

The top Air Base ad is from 1969 and is for 2 styles of aircraft - a glider and a propeller based plane.

I can remember these. They were sold in newsagents as well as toy shops and came in long paper packets. You just assembled them yourself with the plane parts interlocking together. They worked really well too.
However, because they were made out of balsa wood, and what with boys being boys, they didn't have a very long life. The good thing was though, that once one was smashed, you'd just go buy another one because they were pretty cheap.

The Jetex ad is from 1966 and is for 2 different products - the Jet Car and the Hydroplane.

These were proper toys (not like the previous disposable type) with solid bodies and motors.

I didn't have these particular models but I have a hazy memory of other boys mucking about with fast modern vehicles, so they may very well have been these Jetex ones.

Perfect summer fun for primary aged kids.

MORE GIFTS FOR KIDS - 60'S & 70'S

Other ways kids got stuff for free, or on the cheap, were as shown in the examples above where you could - join a club, try competitions or collect wrappers.

The top Arrow Bar ad is dated 1968 and offers kids the chance to join the Arrow Bargain Club. If you did you got a membership card, badge and a book of bargains. Any of the goodies you sent away for out of the bargain book were sold at discount prices. So for instance they had things like roller skates, cowboy outfits, cameras and so on, with the ad emphasising a transistor radio, which is probably what I would have opted for.

Arrow Bars themselves were bars of toffee in different flavours.

The Love Hearts ad is also from 1968 and they came up with a competition as a way to entice kids to get hold of a Kodak Instamatic camera or a trannie. Pretty easy competition really - all you needed to do was figure out what their jumbled up slogans said. After that it was just a matter of sending your answer in, along with a winning slogan of your own, then cross your fingers and hope for the best.

The last example is the Super Mousse ad from 1972.

They were giving away free Apollo Mission sticker badges. Each badge referred to a different flight number and so all that was required was for you to collect 2 wrappers that had the same number printed on them, send them off and await your badge in return.

To collect the entire set of badges, meant, of course, that you had to chomp your way through an awful lot of chocolate bars!

Click on the ads to enlarge if you want to read the small details.

FREE GIFTS FOR KIDS - 60'S & 70'S

Youngsters do like to get their grubby mitts on free stuff.

Here's how us school kids got some of ours back in the 60's & 70's - as gifts in comics.

I'm sure you'll remember some of the ones shown above.

The Super Skimmer and the Wiz Whizz were the same thing, only different names, but they were plastic rotor blade wheels that used either lollipop sticks or elastic bands to get them spinning off into the air.

Toys that made noises were popular.

The Red Racketty was on a length of line and spun around over your head, the toy emitting a rasping buzzing noise in the process.

Thunder Bangs were great - just a swift downwards swipe to set off the loud bang.

I remember we made Thunder Bangs as part of crafts in Primary.

Then there was the Pop Gun of course, with its plastic plug to get the popping noise.

Balloons were also used for their sounds, coming in all shapes & sizes & names, fitted with plastic valves that made the balloons rasp when let fly around in the air.

As well as the Beezers Flying Fizzer above, the Beano also had the Flying Snorter and the Screamin' Demon.

There were whistles too - the Whoopee Whistle and the Happy Howler that made siren noises.

An annoying one was a toy called the Clicketty Clicker which was a hollow metal object with the image of Dennis The Menace on it, and when pressed in & out, made the clicking sound. Not a fave with parents!

The Whizzer & Chips was already 2 comics for the price of 1, but they also gave away free stuff, the one above being for a Flick Book.

Again, we used to do our own versions of flick books by drawing wee animations on the corners of our jotters.

Many of the gifts that were specifically for girls were adornment based items, while the boys were catered for in other comics with football related freebies.

So there's just a small selection of stuff we got for free when we were kids, generating lots of mucking about in the playground and at home.

WRAPPING UP RETRO

Right then fellow chrononauts - the time machine is still on schedule and is set to cease its journey in December.
Those of you who are still game to join in the trip over the remaining months, better strap yourselves in, because the final flurry could lead to extreme wooziness!
Along the way you will see plenty more city scenes, ads, events, shops, bands, sweets, art, publications, fashion and...och we'll just hang on and find out what crops up during the voyage.
So let me adjust the machinery gubbins for tomorrow, which hopefully, should see us all arrive back in our school days.
Onwards to the past we go....................

CAMPERDOWN PLAY PARK - 1985

One day in 1985, I went up to Camperdown Park with my camera with the intention of snapping some of the colourful autumn foliage on display. On my way there I passed this kids play area that I'd never seen before which seemed to be half adventure complex, half public art space.

The top picture has large ship shaped climbing frames in the background. I didn't discover until I read a Dundee guide book some time later that they represented the "Battle Of Camperdown". I've no idea who the 2 sculpted characters are supposed to be in the foreground but they look a bit on the depressed side to be in a kids fun zone!

Guaranteed to bring a smile though, were the leaping dolphin sculptures a bit further along - a couple of decades before the real thing started to re-appear in the Tay.

LOCAL GOLFING YOUNGSTERS

The top photo was taken in the early/mid 80's and has a bunch of youngsters trying out their golfing skills somewhere in Dundee. I'm not too sure which course it is they are on, Camperdown pitch & putt possibly. Anyway, if anyone can say for certain where the scene is taking place, or even recognise someone, feel free to pass on your knowledge.

The one below it I can definitely nail because that sporty looking chap is me! Yes that's yours truly in 1969 aged 11 playing on our championship course in our back garden. We turned the entire length of our lawn into a mini golf course, a 6 holer stretching from the side of the house, through the washing green and all the way down to the plot at the bottom lawn. It was mostly used for putting. One of the holes was located in front of a greenie pole which was like a giant flag pole and that allowed you to get great rebound shots!

For pitch & putt, some of the hazards were - the ball rolling under the shed, getting snagged in the hedge, rolling down the rockery onto the pathy slabs (out of bounds) or ending up in the plot amongst the rhubarb.

For real golf swing work-outs with a driver, being surrounded by housing, we had to use a plastic practise ball for obvious reasons. However, the inevitable happened one day when our mate had a go and gave one a full wallop, but he made the mistake of ignoring the guidelines and used a real golf ball - then it was CRASH..tinkle, tinkle - straight through the kitchen window!

Needless to say, golf was banned on our course for a short while afterwards.
That said, I didn't take up the sport at all - I've never set foot on any golf course!

The other image next to me is a toy my wee brother got for xmas, early 70's - Arnold Palmer's Pro Shot Golf. This was a great invention that had a miniature golfer on the end of a club handle, which, when you pulled a trigger mechanism, made the player swing and hit the ball. It came with various items such as sand traps, putting green, score cards and a set of clubs. Great fun.

By the way, the image of me and the toy box are not to scale..!!

FUN IN THE FERRY - 1970'S

Here's a wee reminder from the mid 70's of the Broughty Ferry go-kart track and crazy-golf course.
Click on image to enlarge.

SIMPSON'S SWEETIE SHOP - 1979

Bart and Lisa would have enjoyed this place - Simpson's Sweetie Shop on the corner of Graham Place and Princes Street.
The picture was taken in 1979, and although there is still a corner shop at this location, it isn't this one anymore.
On the subject of sweeties, anybody remember Ross's Chocolate Puff Candy? Same as a Crunchie but about the size of brick! Here's an ad for it from the 60's. It's black & white but my memory has it as being a red and yellow wrapper.

LOGIE SCHOOL EVENTS - 1970'S

Logie Secondary School was in Blackness Road, and in 1974, as it reached the end of it's life, it put on an exhibition called "Life And Times Of Logie School 1929 - 1974". It was basically a wee commemorative show looking back at the history of the school and area.
The top 2 items are the front cover and introductory page of the exhibition booklet.
Next is a ticket for a different event - the Logie Fair - which took place on 21st October 1972. The school even managed to get TV celeb, Jimmy Spankie, to open it.
Not sure who the showbiz contact in the Logie staff room was but around 1971 they got the Bay City Rollers to play in their school hall for an end of term do. This was way before their world domination days in tartan of course, and back then would have looked a little like as they are in the above photo, posing in their cosy cardie's!
Logie school eventually closed down in 1975, and along with it went it's nickname - The Penitentiary!
The headmaster in it's final years was Peter Murphy.
Many thanks to Yvonne.

PETER PYE & DUDLEY D WATKINS

Peter Pye was the cartoon strip running along the bottom of the children's page the same day as the previous item.
Peter, it has to be said, was an Oor Wullie look-a-like, but dressed in medieval clobber and a chef's hat.
There was a good reason for the likeness, however, he was drawn by Wullie's creator, the one & only, Dudley D Watkins, who's now a bit of a legend in the world of cartooning.
Peter Pye's first appearance was in The Dandy way back in the 40's, but was a very short-lived cartoon strip and never cropped up in The Dandy again, so I'm guessing it's reappearance in the 1972 Tele would have been only it's 2nd showing since the original.
Dudley wouldn't have seen the re-run though, because he died in 1969 and is buried in Barnhill Cemetery.
Click on the strip to read the large version.
Photo by JG.

CHILDREN'S OWN CORNER - 1972

This'll take you back...
Children's Own Corner, in the Tele on a daily basis sharing the page with a short story, a crossword and a cartoon strip.
The thing about Aunt Joan's birthday greetings was you wanted to see your name in the paper when you were 8, but not when you were 13 - or beware the playground taunts! I bet loads of kids moaned to their parents for putting their name in when they reached that age. I mean, you were a teenager now, no a bairn!
Anyway, if you know someone who has a birthday on 14th January then you may be lucky enough to spot their name in this example above which was published on Friday, 14th January 1972.
So, I've managed to complete the Word Diamond and Riddle-Me-Ree ok, that just leaves me to put the Colouring Picture into Photoshop now and get the Fill Bucket out!
Click item to enlarge if you can't read it as it is.

JOHNNY GEDDES JOKE SHOP - 1981

This ad for the Johnny Geddes Magic & Fun shop in Meadowside is dated 1981.
Although I can remember the place ok, I was never in it, but I do recall the masks they had in the shop window, including Laurel & Hardy, old hags and a Maggie Thatcher one too!
Johnny Geddes was actually a professional magician who toured regularly around UK as well as places further afield such as America.
Needless to say, he was in the Dundee Magic Circle, before later going on to become president of the Scottish Magic Circle.
He has also appeared on TV a few times alongside the likes of Charlie Drake and Rolf Harris.
In addition, Mr G has written many books on the subject of magic and managed to find time to run the Jay-Gee Variety Agency too.
In fact, oor man of magic had quite a few tricks up his sleeve it seems!

BORDERMATICS & HYND BROS ADS - 80'S

The top ad is dated 1981 and is for Bordermatics. They supplied local pubs & clubs with gaming machines, juke boxes, pool tables etc, and were located at 137 Lorne Street at the time.

I also have another ad of theirs from 1984 and by then they had relocated to 109 High Street, Lochee where they shared premises with Cherry Video rentals.

Bordermatics are still on the go, only now they are based in Broughty Ferry.

I suppose Hynd Bros have done a bit of business with Bordermatics over the years, their amusement arcade in Reform Street being the other ad, dated 1986.

As you can see, in '86 they were announcing the very latest in gaming machines - the Laser Disc System!

3 DUNDEE DAIRY ADS

Top ad - A.R. Sherrit, School Road - 1981.

Mid ad - Kennerty, Mains Road - 1974.

Low ad - George Bathie, Shepherds Loan - 1968.

I had a wee stint on the milk in the early 70's when I was at secondary. It didn't last any longer than a fortnight though because I was just standing in for my mate. It was slightly different to the usual kind of milk round because I delivered milk only to schools & nurseries. Nae trekkin' up closies for me, just dropping the crates off outside the gates was all that was involved. The best bit was standing on the back of the lorry, whizzing along the streets with the wind in the hair!

An earlier primary school milky memory I have is when we used elastic bands as catapults - looped around the thumb and index finger. Folded bits of paper were the main pellets we'd fire at each other, however, the most painful ones were folded tinfoil milk bottle tops. OW..!!...they really stung yer bare legs! Made boys cry they did!!

Finally, don't forget there is also a book out called "On The Milk" by Willie Robertson, telling the tale of life as a milk boy in Dundee in the early 60's.

That's all the moo items I have at the moment - time to put the empties on the doorstep.

CAMPERDOWN'S ALF ROBERTSON

Alf Robertson was Conservation Officer at Camperdown Park from the late 60's to mid 80's.
Many of you around my age group will remember Alf from your school visits up to Camperdown Wildlife Centre. He used to do a guided tour around the various sections with one of the highlights being Alf with the golden eagle.
He wasn't only a wildlife expert, he was also an artist and timber contractor, so when combining all 3 talents he ended up personally designing and building, what went on to become, the Camperdown Wildlife Centre and zoo.
When he retired in 1985, he famously sculpted a highland cow out of wood which was presented to Dundee's twin town, Wurzburg.
Alf was born in Lochee, went to Harris, then Duncan Of Jordanstone, and died quite recently in 2009.
The above photo is from around the late 60's / early 70's period.

INSIDE KINGSWAY ICE RINK

The top image is a wee reminder of how the entrance area to Kingsway Ice Rink looked - complete with curling stone and skater inlays.

The other image is a wee reminder of how the skaters at Kingsway Ice Rink looked - complete with mid 70's fashions.

You can tell it's 1974/75 by the high-waister jerseys that were all the rage at the time.

I've even spotted someone in the centre of the crowd wearing a "6 bander" - the cuffs went right up to your elbows and the waistband reached your chest. Classic!!