Quick Search
|
Search Results
You searched for: More Like: 'Gem of idea'
27 items
items as
Johnston Gardens
1776 Secluded in the West End of the city off Viewfield Road, Johnston Gardens are a hidden gem. The Aberdeen Journal captioned a photograph of the gardens in their paper from 23 August 1939; "The Beauty of Johnston Gardens, a public pleasance, property of the City of Aberdeen, of the situation of which one town councillor at this week's Council meeting confessed complete ignorance." (page 12) This photograph taken from the narrow walk-bridge shows the large duck pond to the east of the gardens. This wooden bridge visible was later replaced by one made primarily of metal. A School of Dolphins: Cookie at Bucksburn Library
2157 Inspiration came from both the dolphin project workshop we received and the children's wish to involve the Commonwealth Games theme this summer. The children also liked the idea of the languages because several of the children were born outside of Scotland. Finally the kids of Brimmond Primary School wanted to convey a message about keeping our seas clean. Aberdeen Portraits: Group No. 8
3110 Group No. 8 from Messrs G. W. Wilson & Co.'s Aberdeen portraits series published in 1907. An article in The Aberdeen Daily Journal of 27th April 1907, page 4, states:
"There are few more interesting local pictures than the two groups of photographic portraits of Aberdeen public men which were published by Mr G. W. Wilson in the very early days of photography - in 1856 and 1857.
These groups were selected and arranged by Mr (afterwards Baillie) George Walker, who is one of the very few survivors of the 196 note worthy Aberdonians portrayed; and an animated description of one of them is given by Mr William Carnie in 'Reporting Reminiscences.'
A third group was published 1896; and most of the faces presented in it have likewise vanished from the scene. The happy idea has just occurred to Messrs G. W. Wilson and Co. to reproduce these three groups, along with six other groups (containing 100 portraits each) selected from the large collection of negatives taken at the firm's Crown Street studio between 1852 and 1896.
The nine groups thus constitute a collection fairly representative of the leading men of Aberdeen during the latter half of the nineteenth century. They are printed in permanent collotype, and are encased in a handsome portfolio, an index of names also being supplied. But each group can be had separately, and is so mounted as to be available for framing; while copies printed on gelatine paper are also to be had, and copies of the single portraits may be secured.
Messrs G. W. Wilson and Co. claim - and probably with every reason - that this series of portraits is unique, no other city having a similar portrait gallery of its leading citizens, covering practically the whole period between the beginning of the photographic portraiture on paper and the end of the nineteenth century." Aberdeen Portraits: Group No. 9
3111 Group No. 9 from Messrs G. W. Wilson & Co.'s Aberdeen portraits series published in 1907. An article in The Aberdeen Daily Journal of 27th April 1907, page 4, states:
"There are few more interesting local pictures than the two groups of photographic portraits of Aberdeen public men which were published by Mr G. W. Wilson in the very early days of photography - in 1856 and 1857.
These groups were selected and arranged by Mr (afterwards Baillie) George Walker, who is one of the very few survivors of the 196 note worthy Aberdonians portrayed; and an animated description of one of them is given by Mr William Carnie in 'Reporting Reminiscences.'
A third group was published 1896; and most of the faces presented in it have likewise vanished from the scene. The happy idea has just occurred to Messrs G. W. Wilson and Co. to reproduce these three groups, along with six other groups (containing 100 portraits each) selected from the large collection of negatives taken at the firm's Crown Street studio between 1852 and 1896.
The nine groups thus constitute a collection fairly representative of the leading men of Aberdeen during the latter half of the nineteenth century. They are printed in permanent collotype, and are encased in a handsome portfolio, an index of names also being supplied. But each group can be had separately, and is so mounted as to be available for framing; while copies printed on gelatine paper are also to be had, and copies of the single portraits may be secured.
Messrs G. W. Wilson and Co. claim - and probably with every reason - that this series of portraits is unique, no other city having a similar portrait gallery of its leading citizens, covering practically the whole period between the beginning of the photographic portraiture on paper and the end of the nineteenth century." Aberdeen Theatres: Aberdeen Arts Centre
3386 In 1960 the education committee of Aberdeen Town Council proposed the conversion of the empty North and Trinity Parish Church into an adult education and civic arts centre. The plan was given final approval in February 1961, much to the delight of Aberdeen's art enthusiasts.
The Evening Express detailed the need for such a venue at the time by describing the difficulties faced by the William Gavin Players, a local drama group, in staging a play earlier that week in the ballroom of the Music Hall. They had to overcome the roar of a nearby wrestling audience, the incessant ringing of an unanswered telephone, a cramped stage and poor acoustics.
A temporary restriction on capital expenditure and a particularly severe winter caused delays for the conversion. Work began in late 1961 and was concluded by the autumn of 1963. The work cost around £33,000 and saw the reconstruction of the interior and a thorough re-vamp for the building's exterior. At one point the new centre was going to be called Longacre, but this idea was scrapped in favour of Aberdeen Arts Centre.
The completed venue was opened on 18th October 1963 by Sir Herbert Read (1893-1968), an art critic, poet and anarchist philosopher. In his speech Read criticised the main political parties of the day for neglecting the development of the arts and the human imagination in favour of a blind drive for scientific and technological efficiency.
In addition to the 385-seat auditorium, the venue had an exhibition space, a lounge, and a tea bar. The Arts Centre has remained the focal point for local arts groups and arts education to this day. It has also served as a meeting place and provided a useful stage for theatrical productions of all types.
In 1998, facing the need to cut £17.5 million from their budget, Aberdeen City Council withdrew their funding from the Arts Centre. This left the future of the venue in danger. A popular campaign to avoid its closure was led by Annie Inglis MBE (1922-2010), Aberdeen's first lady of theatre.
This led to the Aberdeen Arts Centre Association taking over the venue on a voluntary basis and the eventual formation of the Castlegate Arts Limited, a company with charitable status who continue to run the venue today.
Over the years the Arts Centre has played host to many noted local theatre groups like the Attic Theatre Co., The Revue Group, the aforementioned William Gavin Players, Phoenix Theatre, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Aberdeen Opera Company, Confederate Theatre, Dragongate Theatre, and no doubt many more. It remains a much-loved venue for performers and audiences of all ages. Aberdeen Cinemas: Star Picture Palace
3409 A photograph of the Star Picture Palace at the junction of Park Street and South Constitution Street in the 1920s. The cinema was an undertaking of Bert Hedgley Gates in partnership with his wife Nellie and with financial backing from local businessmen. Bert Gates was among Aberdeen's most influential cinema proprietors. He would go on to be the founding managing director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, a highly successful company that would play a key role in cinema exhibition in the city.
The ever useful Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson details much of the history of the Star Picture Palace, known as The Star or Starrie, and the activities of Bert Gates. The cinema was converted from the former premises of the Aberdeen East End Mission. Its name was thought to come from a red-stained glass window in the shape of a star that was a legacy of its previous use. The Star's auditorium stood on the south side of South Constitution Street and its entrance, as shown here, was at 23 Park Street, underneath a block of tenements.
The cinema opened in March 1911 and showed a mixture of films and music. Bert and Nellie would stand behind the screen and add dialogue, sound effects and commentary to the silent films being shown. They also added topical references and allusions to well-known local figures. Both had backgrounds as stage artistes and their performances became a popular feature of the Star.
In 1913 the successful cinema was expanded, doubling its capacity, as Aberdeen Picture Palaces acquired the building and some houses to its rear. Thomson states that the remodelled Star was advertised as "Absolutely the Finest and Most Handsome Interior Out of Glasgow".
The Star had direct competition when the Casino cinema opened just around the corner on the north side of Wales Street on 7th February 1916. Thomson suggests that Gates responded to the Casino's popular and innovative cine-variety performances by programming his own varieties and mini revues. These included Miss Madge Belmont, "America's Handcuff Queen" and Birteno's Golden Grotto, "the most gorgeous electrical dance spectacle ever seen in Aberdeen - a display of serpentine and fire dancing by Belle Lumière, with marvellous kaleidoscopic colour effects".
The Star Picture Palace showed its first talkie, King of the Khyber Rifles, on 13th October 1930. In November 1932 the cinema suffered a fire caused by a dropped cigarette. The damage was relatively minor however and only put the Star out of action for a fortnight.
By the beginning of the second world war, the area around the Star was becoming depopulated as housing on Hanover Street and Albion Street was demolished to make way for the new Beach Boulevard. Bert Gates acquired control of the Casino in November 1939 with the idea of combining it with the Star to create one super-cinema that fronted onto the new thoroughfare.
Thomson explains that business was concentrated on the Casino and later that month the Star closed as a cinema for good. In 1939/40 it served as an indoor fun-fair and as the Boulevard Ballroom for the remainder of the war. The Star building was demolished, at the same time as the Casino, in 1971 to make way for a housing development.
Michael Thomson addresses the use of jam-jars for cinema admission in the first appendix to Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988). This includes an account of the Star Picture Palace from Ethel Kilgour who remembered going there as a child. Her description concludes as follows: "It was a great little cinema, jam-jar entry fee and all, and it was a form of escapism for so many children in a world so depressed between the wars".
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Treasure 18: The Illustrated London News
189 One of this month's treasures is an extract of The Illustrated London News. This issue, dated from the 14th of November 1936, shows the General Francisco Franco, "the leader of the attack on Madrid and, from the first, ranked as head of the anti-government forces"... and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975.
Newspapers are indeed a great source of information on historic topics. What is particularly remarkable about The Illustrated London News is that it was probably the first pictorial weekly newspaper. Founded by Herbert Ingram, a newsagent from Nottingham, the first issue was published on the 14th May 1842 and sold for 6 pence. Ingram had the idea to include pictures and woodcuts within the paper in order to sell more copies. And it worked! The first issue met with immediate success, selling 26,000 copies during the first days and printing 65,000 more copies during the same week.
The Spanish Civil War broke out on the 17th of July 1936. During more than two years, nationalists and pro-government forces fought in Spain. At the same time, in Britain, Chamberlain and his conservative government defended strong neutrality and choose to keep the country far away from the war.
However, the "civil war" was a domestic conflict in name only. During more than two years, and even after the nationalist victory in 1939, it attracted the attentions of many governments and individuals. The Illustrated London News is a witness of the conflict and gives also some sense of the British representation of the Spanish Civil War. Even if it tried to keep its impartiality, its judgments and the way it conveyed the information was viewed through the eyes of local interest and popular opinion.
The newspaper portrayed the majority public opinion, which was non-intervention. As such, it tried to show both the nationalists sides and the pro-government opinion.
From July 1936 to April 1939, 549 Scots joined the International Brigades and fought to defend democracy in Spain. 134 lost their lives in Spain.
The International Brigade Memorial Trust is a British charity which aims to keep alive the memory and spirit of the over 50,000 individuals from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth who volunteered to defend democracy and fight facism. We hope this treasure acts as an additional commemoration for those who went to Spain.
Treasure 42: Marischal College Ground floor Architectural Plan by Archibald Simpson
211 The highly-respected architect Archibald Simpson (1790 - 1847) designed many of our city's well-known landmarks and, along with architect John Smith (1781-1852), is widely regarded as transforming Aberdeen into the Granite City in the 19th Century.
At Aberdeen City Libraries, we hold a collection of Archibald Simpson's architectural plans. Many of the originals were destroyed by a fire in his house in 1826 but the copies we hold demonstrate his initial thoughts and first sketches of some of Aberdeen's most famous buildings.
An architectural plan is usually a drawing or a sketch used by an architect to develop a design idea. The document also includes a scale and precise measurements.
Marischal College, as it stands today, was designed by Simpson in the 19th Century and this image shows a floor plan he drew when working on the project in the 1820s.
The plan depicts the ground floor which occupied three sides of a courtyard opening towards Broad Street. The building proposed by Archibald Simpson formed a U-shaped quadrangle with symmetrical rooms. The exterior granite façade, the second largest granite faced construction in the world and enclosing the quadrangle, was built by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie between 1893 and 1905 which is why it is not represented on the plan. Originally, the entrance to the courtyard was by Guild's College gateway.
Tiny lines were drawn to represent the walls between each room and the often curving stairways can be clearly seen. The rooms dedicated to classes of divinity, mathematics, moral philosophy or Greek and Latin were constructed like semi-circular amphitheatres. To the top of the plan, we can see classrooms connected by the science department, including the Anatomical Museum and Dissecting Rooms.
The building contained sixteen classrooms in addition to lodgings for porters and sacrists, the museum, the chemical laboratory and rooms for the professors. Other sources from the period suggest that the public hall, the museum and the library were spacious and magnificent rooms.
The small entrance via an archway, called 'Vestibule' on the plan, is represented at the courtyard side of the building. It is surrounded by two octagonal towers. A grand staircase, contained in the tower, rose to a height of nearly 100 feet.
The architect added the measurements for each room. As suggested by the scale, the unit of measurement is the foot. More information is given by the city librarian G. M Fraser in his 1918 study into Aberdeen's architecture:
"A centre building, 150 feet long, 50 feet wide, 60 feet high. 450,000 cubic feet at 6d: £11,250 Two side buildings, each 80 feet by 40, and 40 feet high. 128,000 cubic feet at 6d: 6,400 Medical class-rooms at end of garden: 1,500 Allowance for porticoes: 2,000 ______ £21,500" [From G. M. Fraser. Archibald Simpson, Architect and his times. A study in the making of Aberdeen. Published in the Aberdeen Weekly Journal between April and October 1918] Architectural plans are a fascinating insight into days gone by. Although at first glance appearing fairly basic, on closer inspection the plan allows us to view one of the Granite City's best loved landmarks through the eyes of the students learning in amphitheatre-style lecture rooms, anatomical museums and dissecting rooms in 19th Century Aberdeen. Treasure 89: Queen Mary's Dolls' House Books
301 Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a highly extravagant and detailed piece of miniature architecture and design built on a scale of 1:12 that comprises over 40 rooms, four elevations, two staircases, two working lifts, hot and cold running water in all five bathrooms, water closets that flushed, electric light, a cellar, a garage and a garden designed by the famous landscape gardener Gertrude Jekyll. It was commissioned by a friend of the Queen and cousin of King George V, Princess Marie Louise. The idea came about in Spring 1921, and at the private viewing of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Princess Marie Louise approached the noted architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens, with the proposal to design and build a dolls' house fit for a queen. The house was to be a gift from the nation - recognising Queen Mary's charitable works throughout the Great War.
In our collections we hold a concise two-volume account of the dolls' house, gifted to the library by Queen Mary in 1930. The first volume, The Book of the Queen's Dolls' House, was edited by the poet A. C. Benson and noted architectural writer, Sir Lawrence Weaver. The second volume is focused entirely on one room of the dolls' house and its contents - the Library. The Queen's Dolls' House Library is edited by the essayist and biographer E.V. Lucas.
View our Treasures exhibition on the interactive screen to peek inside the dolls' house and find out more about the nation's gift to Queen Mary. Treasure 96: Aberdeen Intelligencer
315 There are currently two daily newspapers in Aberdeen - "The Press and Journal" and "Evening Express". The Evening Express first appeared in January 1879 but The Press and Journal has a much longer history, being first published in January 1748 as the Aberdeen Journal - notable as the first newspaper to be published in northern Scotland.
Its editor was James Chalmers, son of the Rev. James Chalmers, Professor of Divinity at Marischal College. Over the years there have been several rivals to the Journal's initial monopoly but the earliest was first published on 3rd October 1752 by Francis Douglas and William Murray. Their paper was The Aberdeen Intelligencer and it was supportive of the Jacobite cause whereas the Journal had Whig sympathies. The earliest original issue of the Aberdeen Journal held in our Local Collections is for 1758, but microfilm copies of the Journal from 1748 onwards are available for consultation in the Information Centre. The Journal notes the forthcoming appearance of its rival in an advert in 1752 and subsequent notices give some idea of the contest between the two papers which ended in 1757 when there appears to have been an agreement that Douglas and Murray should gain an interest in the Journal while ceasing to publish their own newspaper. The last issue appeared on 22 February 1757.
Find out more about the rivalry between the two newspapers, and how it was overcome; in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens. Low's Bookstalls stocklist
422 The front page of a catalogue list showing the items available for sale at Low's Bookstalls in early April 1934. Low's was located in the gallery of the New Market building.
This image gives an idea of the stock held by the business and document design during the period. The full list is held in the Local Studies collection of Aberdeen City Libraries. Wizard of the North! A Tale.
500 This broadside is an advertisement for seeing the performance of the Wizard of the North. The Wizard of the North was the stage-name for the magician John Henry Anderson (14th July 1814 to 5th February 1874).
The text purports to tell a tale. It takes the reader to Crail, a port-town in Fife. In Crail lived John Tamson (likely an arbitrary name akin to John Smith) and his wife Janet. Out of boredom, Janet suggests that the two visit the town 'Auld Reekie' (also known as Edinburgh), for she had read in books of magical beasts and wizards residing there.
The two thus departed for Auld Reekie. After wondering around the town for a while, John saw an advertisement for the Wizard off the North. Janet recalls tales of the wizard being dark and satanic. Janet says that they should visit him. John is against the idea for fear of his dark magic. Janet points out that the Queen saw him, so they may as well. They decided to go. The two were dazzled by the magic performed in the show. |