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Union Bridge
77 Union Bridge, on Union Street was built around 1800 and straddled the Denburn. The large building is the Palace Hotel, built in 1874, which burnt to the ground on the 31st October 1941 and was subsequently demolished after the end of the Second World War. Spring Garden
275 This photo shows the premises of William McKinnon & Co, ironfounders and engineers in Spring Garden, at its junction with Loch Street. The company was founded by William McKinnon in 1798, when they did work for local factories. In the 1860s, they became involved in the production of equipment for coffee, cocoa, rice and sugar plantations. By the 1890s, they employed 170 men, making steam engines, boilers, sugar machinery, as well as machines for polishing granite. Eventually, 90% of their manufacturing was exported; they had agencies in 60 countries worldwide and they produced catalogues in English, French and Spanish. During World War 2, production switched to munitions work, producing shells, mortars and parts for Hercules Aero engines. They appear to have ceased trading around 1992-93. George Pegler & Co.
444 Queueing for bananas after the end of World War Two, when fruit was still rationed. The shop in question belongs to George Pegler & Co. Rob Roy statue number 2, Culter
960 The statue of Rob Roy at Culter - number 2, 1850-1926. A Rob Roy figure has stood on this rocky ledge high above the Leuchar Burn just before it reached Culter Paper Mills for around 150 years. It has become a tourist attraction for those travelling on the North Deeside Road at Peterculter, about 8 miles from Aberdeen. However, there is no historical evidence to support the legend that Rob Roy MacGregor left the gorge to escape his pursuers. The original figure is supposed to have been a figurehead from a Peterhead whaling ship and it was replaced in about 1865 with the carved wooden stature seen here. It apparently suffered damage before the First World War when local Territorial soldiers practised their firing skills on it. However, by 1925, the figure was in a poor state due to the effects of time and weather. A committee was appointed to secure a new stature and an Aberdeen woodcutter, David Graham, created a figure from a nine foot high block of Quebec yellow pine. It was unveiled on 3 July 1926. This figure lasted until 1991, when it had to be replaced again after being damaged by vandals. River Dee channel
1255 A photograph, taken in around the 1970s, looking west up the River Dee towards Victoria Dock. The image was taken from a grassy area of Greyhope Road in Balnagask.
Mearns Quay, and its siphon house, can be seen on the right and Torry Harbour is on the left of the river. Note the beginning of the oil industry, with its storage tanks, rapidly changing this part of Aberdeen Harbour. Family portrait
1622 A studio set photographic portrait of what is likely a family.
The uniforms suggest some may be members of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The photograph was likely taken around the time of the World War I. Royal Medical Corps Portrait I
2146 This portrait of a soldier in The Royal Army Medical Corps dates from around World War I. The badge of the corps can be seen on the soldier's cap.
Unfortunately, there are no identifying marks on the front or back of the postcard so it is highly difficult to establish the photographer who took the picture or discover the subject's name.
Only the head and shoulders of the subject feature, in contrast to the more common full length studio portraits of the time. The plain nature of the image, the lack of props and backdrop, accentuates the beatific quality of the sitter and the poignancy of his wartime fate. A School of Dolphins: Tommy Tullos at Torry Library
2187 The inspiration behind Tommy Tullos was the local community surrounding the school. He has been painted with local landmarks that the children identified as being around their home, such as Torry Battery and the Nigg bay Lighthouse, and different aspects of living in Aberdeen, such as oil rigs and helicopters, have also been incorporated. Laurelwood Avenue
2412 This street, photographed around 1910, shows the tranquil nature of this area of the North of Aberdeen in the Ashgrove area. It is one of a group of street named after trees - Cedar Place, Elm Place, Chestnut Row, and was built in the early 1880s. The young lad obviously does not expect to be disturbed on his walk down the middle of the street carrying a milkcan, watched by a little girl on the pavement. One of the gardens on the left has a pair of stone lions looking through the railings, which were removed during the Second World War as part of the salvage of metal for re-processing. Prefabs at Cults
2686 This photograph shows prefab housing at Cults in around 1960. Prefabs were the one storey dwellings erected under the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944 and supplied by the Department of Health for Scotland.
They began to be erected in 1945, with the expectation of a ten year life at most, to ease the housing situation after the Second World War.
Various types of these buildings were offered including Carron, American, and Arcon Aluminium. Those at Cults were of the Arcon type and stood where Garden Road is today.
Because of their construction, prefabs were prone to condensation and damp but many tenants liked them. Although these Cults houses were demolished in 1967, others in the Tullos area of Aberdeen were still in use until 1985 when the last of them were removed. Town House Extension Foundation Stone
2757 The foundation stone of the Aberdeen Town House extension on Broad Street.
As stated on the stone, it was laid by Lord Provost Robert S. Lennox on 17th November 1975.
The city architects responsible for the extension were I. A. Ferguson and T. C. Watson. It was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction (Scotland) Ltd.
The stone also makes reference to a casket buried five metres below the foundations to commemorate the dissolution of the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen as part of local government reform.
The casket ceremony was held on 15th May 1975 shortly after the last meeting of the Aberdeen Town Council which was being replaced by the City of Aberdeen District Council.
The casket ceremony was the final act of John Smith as lord provost. The official switch over of councils was marked by the "Bon-Accord" bell of the West Church of St Nicholas tolling from 11:50pm to midnight on 15th May. Earlier in the day saw a fireworks display at the Queens Links, pipe bands and a special lunch and church service for members and officials of the corporation. See local newspaper coverage from the time for more details on the occasion.
Around 80 people, including councillors, family and Taylor Woodrow employees watched Lord Provost John Smith place 29 items of interest into the copper clad box. Smith joked, "About the year 3048, an unsuspecting archaeological digger may come upon this box and he will no doubt remark on my genius."
Among the buried items were copies of the Press & Journal and the Evening Express, local books, records and cassettes of Scottish music, local government data, sets of coins of the realm and postage stamps, local stones, a phial of North Sea oil and plans for the Town House extension.
The casket was placed on a crane hook by Aberdeen Town House project manager Tom Nisbet and guided into the ground by foreman Andrew Benzies.
The ceremony was reported in local newspapers and the July 1975 issue of the construction company's magazine, Taywood News. Annie "Nan" Henry
2999 Annie "Nan" Henry (1880-1970) was one of the Henry sisters who worked with the magician Walford Bodie.
We hold a photograph album of hers at Aberdeen City Libraries. A handwritten inscription inside the front cover reads "To My Dear Sister 'Nurse Nan', From her loving Sis Loo, With Fondest Love." The inscription is dated 8 April 1912. "Loo" is Louisa Henry (1888-1912).
The album is a large volume, bound in dark green leather. The volume has seen damage over the years and now lacks some of this intriguing covering. Within floral endpapers is around 101 pages each containing approximately three photographs. The images are a mixture of postcards and photographic prints. Most appear to have been sent to Nan Henry while she was living in the Bodie family home in Macduff. Many have signed endearments on front and carry short messages on the reverse.
The life of variety performers was one of perpetual travel and many of the postcards are clearly missives sent back home. The majority of the images are studio portraits but there are also some outdoor scenes and views of home life in MacDuff. While it is difficult to establish exact information, the images look to date primarily from the 1910s with some perhaps reaching into the following two decades. As the album progresses we see new people, uniformed individuals clearly off to World War I and children who are likely to be the next generation of the family. Street entertainer
3346 We believe this photograph shows a man historically known as Fool Friday entertaining a group of children and adults outside a house in Aberdeen. Fool Friday was a street vendor who sold ice cream in summer and hot chestnuts in winter. He may have also played a barrel piano as shown here.
Fool Friday was an often seen, distinctive character on the streets of Aberdeen. References to him in recorded oral history and newspapers suggest he sold his goods around the town centre, including at the Castlegate. He appears to have been around in the earlier years of the 20th century, between the two world wars. Little seems to be known, or recorded, about the life of this intriguing figure.
He is mentioned in an article of reminiscences by Arthur Bruce from the Leopard magazine of December 1986/January 1987. Bruce writes "I am reminded of another worthy who lived round the corner in Harriet Street, an Ice Cream Mannie, with a home and family. Of Italian origins he was known as 'Fool Friday' - nothing to do with being stupid, I may add, simply the local dialect for foul or dirty. Legend had it that the nickname was well deserved, but as a child I was never aware of his less than hygienic approach to the business of selling ice cream from a 'cairtie'. I have never solved the mystery of the 'Friday' part, although I should be delighted to hear from anyone who knows the answer."
It is possible that this photograph shows not Fool Friday, but someone else entirely. A letter in the Evening Express of 30th October 1979, looking back to this earlier time, describes a man known as Can-Tam who played a barrel organ in the streets. The letter writer suggests that Can-Tam's organ was smashed by a tram and subsequently replaced by the council.
A suggestion received through social media and subsequent further research indicates that this image may show Guiseppe, or Joseph, Bordone (1872-1957). He was an eating house keeper and an ice-cream and chestnuts vendor. A brief mention in the Evening Express newspaper of 15th March 1994, page 8, suggests that Bordone may have been known as Fool Friday, but this is uncertain.
This photograph was printed as a postcard and these were perhaps sold to the families visited by the entertainer. This postcard was lent to Aberdeen City Libraries by Bill Cheyne so that we could create and preserve a digital copy for public use. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3397 A photograph of the Union Street entrance to the ABC Cinema in around 1963. The canopy above the entrance advertises It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis Presley and Joan O'Brien. This was an MGM film and the ABC had first rights to films from this company, a big draw for the public.
Prior to ABC's arrival in Aberdeen in 1954, MGM films were previously first shown in Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol on Union Street.
This cinema on Shiprow and Union Street had been known as the Regal since opening in 1954. In March 1962 ABC rationalised the names of its cinemas and this venue, along with many Regals around the UK, became known simply as the ABC. An earlier Regal vertical sign was replaced by the new one we can see in this photograph.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] 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] Aberdeen Cinemas: Torry Picture Palace / Torry Cinema
3428 Torry had a cinema from as early as 1910. The Torry Skating Rink Association opened premises on Sinclair Road and called it the Torry Picture Palace. This closed down due to the First World War. In 1921 a new cinema was opened. It was called the Torry Picture House and was located on Crombie Road on the north side of the junction with Victoria Road.
It later changed its name to the Torry Cinema as we can see in this photograph. Throughout the 1920s a band accompanied films shown at the cinema and 'talkies' were introduced in 1930. In this image the film advertised is The Mystery of Mr X with Robert Montgomery which dates the photograph as being from around 1934.
The cinema closed down on the 24th September 1966. Following its closure, it was initially planned to be converted into a bingo hall. A good offer was received for the prominent Crombie Road site, however, and it was sold and the building was demolished to make way for shops. At the time of writing, in 2021, the site is the location of the Crombie Court block of flats.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Coliseum / New Kinema / Belmont
3438 This photograph shows the entrance to the Belmont Filmhouse in January 2021. The current incarnation of the cinema has been a hugely valued venue in the heart of Aberdeen for over 20 years. It specialises in showing the most interesting and top-quality films from all around the world. Sandilands: aerial view
3828 An aerial view, looking south east, of Sandilands Chemical Works from around the 1920s that featured on a postcard.
Surrounding houses on Baltic Street, Garvock Wynd and Garvock Square can also be seen. These houses were primarily used for chemical workers. The property was owned by the Miller family and they were no doubt the origin of the name of the street running along the west side of the works (on the right in this image), Miller Street.
The main gate for the works was on the road that leaves Miller Street at the lodge house, shown in the bottom left of the highlighted area here.
The large property south along Miller Street, on the corner of Baltic Street, was called the "Big Hoose". Attached to this house was the factor's house and a public W.C. The factor collected rents from all the houses on the Miller property.
Sandilands Chemical Works produced cod liver oil, other oils, pitch, disinfectants, candles, fertilisers and serums. In this image, a mixture of newer granite buildings and those from earlier in the 19th century can be seen. Conference of Scottish Savings Workers at Aberdeen
4294 A photographic group portrait of delegates from a conference of Scottish Savings Workers that took place in Aberdeen on 18th and 19th June 1920.
A newspaper article previewing the conference in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 17th June 1920, page 4, states that 500 delegates from around Scotland were expected to attend.
The article indicates that this group photograph, taken in Union Terrace Gardens by photographer David Milne, of 158 King Street, was scheduled for 9.30am on Saturday 19th June. This was following an early morning trip to Aberdeen Fish Market and before the conference was to restart at 10.30am. The conference itself took place in Trinity Hall on Union Street.
The focus of the Scottish Savings Workers at the time included a campaign for the sale of certificates to repay a Anglo-French loan and extending the savings movement in schools and churches.
The Scottish Saving Committee, styled here as the Scottish Savings Workers, was started during World War I to raise funds with the sale of war bonds and saving certificates. They continued after the war, changing their focus to national recovery and the encouragement of thrift as an individual and societal good.
Document dimensions: 34 x 44 cm. The Foundry
4409 A photograph of The Foundry pub and restaurant at 41-43 Holburn Street taken on 21st March 2024.
43 Holburn Street, today The Foundry, was built in around 1915/16 as a motor showroom and workshop for Mr. John Harper, engineer of Bournemouth, to a design by architect George B. Mitchell (Aberdeen Daily Journal, 20th September 1915, p. 4).
In November 1916, during the First World War, the Harper Motor Company put their new garage, at the junction of Holburn Street and Justice Mill Lane, at the disposal of the Red Cross. The commodious building, ideal for transport work, became the headquarters of the Aberdeen Transport Section of the Red Cross Society (Evening Express, 21st November 1916, p. 5).
43 Holburn Street was occupied and in use by the Harper Motor Company until at least 1979. In 1986, George Dowdles, who had ran a roller skating rink called Rollerland Disco in Bon-Accord Terrace, proposed to turn the premises into a leisure centre for teenagers (Press & Journal, 19th June 1986, p. 3).
The new venture at 43 Holburn Street was to be a soda and burger café modelled on the TV show Happy Days and called Up The Junction. It opened in October 1986 (P&J, 10th October 1986, p. 3).
Up The Junction appears to have struggled financially and 43 Holburn Street was remodelled and opened as Rollerland Mark II in August 1987 (EE, 22nd February 1988, p. 8). The original Rollerland skating rink had been on the second floor of 5 Bon-Accord Terrace and operated from 26th June 1981 to mid-1986.
Rollerland on Holburn Street was briefly owned by Cove Rangers football club and was temporarily renamed Wheels Leisure Centre. George Dowdles remained its manager (P&J, 1st April 1989, p. 1). The venue was reopened as Rollerland under the ownership of Aberdeen District Council in July 1989. DJs Robin Galloway and Gary Stein provided music for a reopening gala night (EE, 27th July 1989, p. 5).
Rollerland finally closed in February 1991 on safety grounds. Water leaks had warped the floor making it unsafe for skating. The venue had struggled financially and the estimated cost of repair was too large (P&J, 18th September 1991, p. 3). In June 1995, there was a significant fire in the building (EE, 19 June 1995, p. 2).
In September 1995, the company Alloa Pubs and Restaurants, who had leased the building from the District Council, unveiled plans for a £500,000 transformation of the run-down property. It was to be turned into a prestige bar-diner called The Granary, with a lay-out based on the company's Glasgow venue of the same name (EE, 16th September 1995, p. 7).
With a final redevelopment cost of £600,000, The Granary opened to the public on 6th February 1996 (P&J, 7th February 1996, p. 11).
A search of Aberdeen City valuation rolls indicates that by April 2005 The Granary had changed its name to The Foundry. At the time, The Foundry was operated by Mitchell & Butlers, one of the largest restaurant and pub businesses in the UK.
Mitchell & Butlers own the O'Neill's chain of Irish pubs, the first branch of which opened at 9-10 Back Wynd, Aberdeen on 22nd September 1994. This was formerly the premises of the Tappit Hen pub (P&J, 16th September 1994, p. 3).
In 2010, Mitchell & Butlers disposed of 333 of their town and community pubs to the Stonegate Pub Company. This likely included The Foundry ('Our history' page on Mitchell & Butlers website: https://www.mbplc.com/about-us/our-history/: accessed 22/03/2024).
In November 2023, The Foundry reopened to the public following a brief closure for a significant redevelopment. Backed by a £277,000 investment from the Stonegate Group, the UK's largest pub company, the work aimed to shift the venue from a sports-focused pub to a more family-friendly food destination. The exterior design changed from a black and gold colour scheme to the red and gold of Aberdeen Football Club (Aberdeen Business News, 23rd November 2023, https://aberdeenbusinessnews.co.uk/the-foundry-unveils-stylish-transformation-after-major-investment/: accessed 22/03/2024).
Treasure 12: How to Stamp Out Typhoid booklet
182 This booklet is a reminder of a troubled period in city's past. In 1964 Aberdeen suffered one of the largest outbreaks of Typhoid in recent British history. Over 500 people were admitted to city hospitals for treatment of the infectious disease. The majority of patients were quarantined for at least four weeks before being discharged. The outbreak was traced back to a contaminated tin of corned beef which was imported from Argentina, then chopped up and sold in the William Low grocer on Union Street.
Thankfully the outbreak was successfully contained and there were no fatalities. The all clear was given on 17th June 1964, 28 days after the first notification. Public health announcements played a significant part in the city's approach to tackling the outbreak. Dr Ian A. G. MacQueen, Aberdeen's Medical Officer of Health, became a well-known figure with regular appearances in print and on television and radio on the importance of good hygiene.
The How to Stamp out Typhoid booklet was the initiative of Aberdeen businessman R. A. Williamson. He was director of a wholesale firm that supplied small grocers in the north east and received many enquiries from his clients on how best to combat the outbreak. Williamson asked Macqueen who was unable to provide guidelines so, in collaboration with the health and welfare department, they created this 11 page health information booklet. It had a print run of 45,000 copies, was supported by Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce and illustrated by the Evening Express. The illustrations feature the paper's character Wee Alickie, a die-hard supporter of Aberdeen Football Club.
In the introduction MacQueen wrote:
"The Stopping of the typhoid outbreak is principally a matter of good personal hygiene by everyone, and particularly of good personal hygiene by all food handlers.
"In an effort to assist every section of the community in our area a short question and answer brochure has been hurriedly compiled, together with a Hygiene Check List, which should prove most useful to all establishments.
"Members of the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, food wholesalers, bacteriologists, health education officers and journalists have collaborated to rush this through. This brochure is therefore backed by their combined knowledge and experience. Please read it, study it and try to follow the advice that it gives."
The outbreak adversely affected Aberdeen's reputation in the UK and around the world. This in turn had an economic impact for the city, particularly on tourism. After the all clear was given the Queen came to the city to demonstrate that Aberdeen was a safe place to visit and that life had returned to normal.
Treasure 38: The J. T. McIntosh Collection
207 J. T. McIntosh was a pen name of James Murdoch Macgregor (1925-2007). Born in Paisley, MacGregor moved to Aberdeen with his family at the age of 7 and stayed in the city for the rest of his life. He studied at Aberdeen Grammar School and graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an honours degree in English and literature.
After leaving education he taught music and English at Aberdeen Grammar School and became a journalist for the Bon Accord Magazine and sub-editor of the Press and Journal newspaper. MacGregor was a prolific writer from a young age and developed his skills producing many early short stories.
After finding success submitting stories to science fiction magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, MacGregor became a full time writer in 1952. He borrowed the pseudonym J. T. McIntosh from an old school friend and from September 1951 this became his most common pen name.
Aberdeen Local Studies has collected copies of many of his better known works, including editions from around the world. His science fictions novels from the 1950s are his best remembered: World Out of Mind (1953), Born Leader (1954), One in Three Hundred (1954) and The Fittest (1955). He published regularly until the late 1970s.
To accompany our wide selection of J. T. McIntosh works we have a collection of material on the author assembled by pupils and teachers from Torry Academy. The above biography has drawn heavily on their excellent work. We also hold a copy of a fascinating interview from 1986 in which MacGregor discusses his life and work. The National Library of Scotland has a significant collection of his written works too and in 2010 acquired his literary papers and correspondence.
MacGregor remains a neglected figure, awaiting the recognition deserving of this prolific Aberdeen author. Treasure 41: Mary Garden Record Collection
210 We hold a number of original vinyl records in our collections, including those of Mary Garden, a local girl who found global fame as an opera singer in the early 20th Century.
Born at 35 Charlotte Street on 20 February 1874, Mary Garden left her native Aberdeen around the age of nine when the family moved to America in search of better opportunities and a new life.
After a period of uncertainty and several moves, a young Mary accepted a role as a childminder in Chicago, with payment taking the form of singing lessons to further her obvious interest. By 1896, Mary had shown sufficient progress that she accompanied her tutor to Paris in a quest to pursue a career in opera.
Mary's first big break came in 1900, when she performed in the new opera, Louise after the main star became unwell. A series of leading roles followed in 1901, including Thaïs, Manon and Madame Chrysanthème. For the next decade, Mary courted both limelight and controversy as she portrayed leading characters on stage, while being romantically linked to various composers and directors off-stage. Adding fuel to these fires of speculation, Claude Debussy chose Garden to create the title role of his new play, Mélisande, overruling the preference of his own librettist.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mary attempted to enlist in the French army - but with her identity discovered, she instead turned to nursing at a hospital in Versailles. When she returned to America, she continued to raise funds for the French Red Cross. Her efforts during both war and peacetime generated awards from Serbia and France.
Mary appeared in two silent films - the first released in 1918 - but she found difficulty adapting to the new medium and this separate career never took off. She returned to her first passion and continued to perform in opera until the mid-1930s.
In 1921, Mary was offered the role of director of the Chicago Opera Association, and as she was still performing - undertook both roles with fervour. Under her tenure, the Association took on many new and exciting artists and works.
At the outbreak of war in 1939, Mary chose to remain in Paris, until the German invasion forced her to escape, leaving all of her possessions behind. In June 1940, she returned to Aberdeen but the lure of teaching the next operatic generation proved too strong and she once again travelled to America to coach young stars and give lectures in 1949-1950.
By this time, it appears that Mary's memory had started to suffer - evidenced by the 1951 autobiographical publication Mary Garden's Story which was riddled with factual errors. The book received disastrous reviews and possibly led to her decision to reside permanently in Aberdeen from 1954.
Mary died in 1967 in the House of Daviot, a country hospital near Inverurie, aged 92. Fifty friends attended a small ceremony. A small commemorative plaque is located at 41 Dee Street where the Garden family lived, and a small garden is dedicated to her memory in Craigie Loanings.
Although she remains relatively little known in her native Aberdeen, Mary's legacy is considerable in the United States - particularly in Chicago where her stewardship of the Opera Association is still remembered fondly.
Treasure 56: Cooke's Royal Circus Programme, 1880s
232 A world-famous equestrian establishment, the Cooke's Royal Circus provided family entertainment in Aberdeen for 125 years. One of the stars of the show, John Henry Cooke, was born in New York 180 years ago this month.
Part of the fifth generation of the family, John Henry Cooke began acting at the age of four and was an expert tightrope walker by the time he was five years old. At 18, he was known as the "champion equestrian of the universe". When he was young, John Henry Cooke moved with his family to Aberdeen, where he would grow up to entertain and amuse the public with his equestrian and gymnastic skills.
To mark the anniversary of his birth, this month's treasures include our collection of Cooke's Royal Circus programmes, which advertised equestrian acts and performances in Aberdeen from around 1880.
Read more about the circus and the many stars of the show - including Little Pickles and the Leotard Family - in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the touchscreens in Central, Airyhall, Tillydrone and Mastrick libraries. |