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Queen's Cross
90 Queen's Cross, Aberdeen, looking west. Rubislaw Church (architect J. Russell Mackenzie) 1875, is on the right. The structure in the centre of the street was part of the tramways system and was later removed to Hazlehead Park. The Old Trades Hall in the Shiprow, Aberdeen. c.1850
302 This area, at the southern end of the Shiprow, was the site of the monastery of the Trinity Friars until 1559 when it was burnt to the ground by Protestant Reformers.
In 1631, having purchased the lands, Dr William Guild, gifted their old chapel and other buildings to be a hospital and meeting house for the seven Aberdeen Incorporated Trades. These were Hammermen, Bakers, Wrights and Coopers, Tailors, Shoemakers, Weavers, Fleshers.
Guild was one of Aberdeen's ministers and afterwards became Principal of King's College.
The Chapel became an Episcopal Church until 1794 when it was removed and replaced by the building seen at the left of the photograph. It was vacated in 1843, when the congregation joined the Free Church, and was then sold and eventually became the Alhambra Music Hall until 1902.
On the right was the Trades or Trinity Hall - often known as the Trinity Hall. It had a projecting wing tower and corbelled angle turret, and was demolished around 1857 for railway development.
The Trades had already moved into their new premises in Union Street in 1846.
This photograph looks south-south-west and is taken from roughly where Trinity Lane is now. The image likely dates from the 1850s, the time of the demolition.
Ebenezer Bain in Merchant and Craft Guilds: A History of the Aberdeen Incorporated Trades (1887) writes the following:
"The extension of the railway system to Aberdeen sealed the fate of the old Trades Hall. When Aberdeen Railway was projected in 1844, the hall and site, which extended from the foot of Shiprow to the near present line of railway, were scheduled [for demolition], and although not required for railway purposes, the buildings had to come down when Guild Street and Exchange Street were constructed. The last of the buildings was taken down in 1857 [...]" (Page 174). The entrance to a Cable Subway, Aberdeen Electricity Works, Millburn Street. c.1905
313 In 1889, Aberdeen Town Council received the first applications by companies wishing to supply electricity . They decided to operate their own system, which was inaugurated in 1894 at Cotton Street. The rapid increase in demand led to the purchase of a new site in 1901 and Aberdeen Electricity Works at Millburn Street were built. In 1895 nearly 160,000 units were generated, rising to 5 and a half million by 1907. This photograph shows the entrance to the Cable Subway running from the works in the line of Crown Street and Justice Mill Lane for 1500 yards. It was capable of accommodating all the feeder cables required for the northern and western districts of the city, and was believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK. When the Electricity Act of 1947 came into force on 1st April 1948, generation of electricity transferred to the North of Scotland Hydro Board. Rubislaw Supply Stores
372 This building was erected in 1837 as a tollhouse on the Aberdeen-Skene turnpike road. Turnpike roads were built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the intention of improving the rough tracks which were the only roads at that time. Income for the maintenance of the roads was administered by local trustrees through a levy of tolls on travellers at bars or gates, usually set at 6 mile intervals. At each bar there was a tollhouse where the keeper lived. The rounded shape with windows facing in different directions allowed the tollkeeper to see who was approaching so that he could collect the tolls. The toll system was abolished by the Aberdeenshire Roads Act, 1865. The Rubislaw Toll House was then converted into a grocery shop and became known as Rubislaw Supply Stores, run for many years by Gavin Coutts. It remained as a grocery store until recently when it has been converted into a restaurant. It stands at the junction of Queens Road and Spademill Road - named from an old mill which turned wooden handles for spades in the late 1700's. Phosphate store, Sandilands Chemical Works
857 The new phosphate store (capacity 20,000 tons) at Sandilands Chemical Works, built next to the Garvock Wynd boundary wall. The phosphate rock came into Aberdeen from the Pacific Islands and Russia by ship to be unloaded at International Quay and then transferred to Sandilands by lorry. The lorries then tipped their loads into an underground hopper and conveyor system through a grid opening at ground level. The phosphate was then lifted by an elevator to an overhead conveyor from which it was tipped into the store. The material was then trimmed using a bulldozer. One operator was was responsible for the operation of unloading the phosphate including the trimming operation. The phosphate was removed from the store by means of a mechanical shovel and used in the production of phosphoric acid. A Dead Whale
868 Crowds gathered round a dead whale, with fishing boats (A329) in the background.
Correspondent Ed Fowler suggests that this photograph shows the "Nairn whale".
Initially wrongly identified at the time as a blue whale, it was actually a sei whale (Balaenoptera Borealis), one of the 4th-largest balaenopterid.
The whale stranded at Nairn on 18th December 1884 and was subsequently purchased by Mr Davidson, fish-dealer, Aberdeen. The whale was then towed by the tug Granite City on 2nd February 1885.
The Evening Express from Wednesday 4th February 1885 provides more details about the operation:
"This was accordingly done about five o'clock yesterday afternoon by the tug Granite City, and the leviathan was successfully placed on the waggons which had been provided for the purpose. Suspended in mid-air, the whale presented a remarkable spectacle, its huge proportions being displayed to full advantage. The task of placing it on the huge waggons by which it was conveyed to its destination proved a very laborious and onerous one, and occupied a large staff of men from four o'clock in the afternoon till midnight. Ultimately, the leviathan stretched upon the waggons, and the horses - numbering about two dozen - being attached, the unusual procession proceeded on its way to the Recreation Grounds [Queens Links]. The quay was literally besieged by a crowd which swelled in proportions as time wore on, and whose enthusiasm the disagreeable odour which proceeded from the whale was wholly unable to quench. [About] four o'clock this afternoon, after many difficulties had been encountered and overcome, the whale reached its destination - the Recreations Grounds - where it now lies. As before stated, a very strong smell is felt in the vicinity of the carcase, and the sanitary inspector has brought the matter under the notice of the Public Health Committee".
Ed Fowler adds that "The Landing was a difficult operation as it can reach 19.5M (64-ft) long and weighing as much as 28-Tons. An attempt to haul it from the water at Fittie (Perhaps Alexander Hall's Slipway) with Horses failed and so it was Towed into the harbour to the North Lock Sheer-legs (a lifting system) at the North Lock, Waterloo Quay and hoisted in mid-air with a tackle around the Tail, then placed on a series of Wagons and then dragged by 24 Horses and a crowd of Men to the Recreation Grounds (Queens Links), for Public Exhibition."
Cults Fire Brigade
1049 This photograph from 1905, shows the personnel of Cults Fire Brigade with their horse drawn fire engine. These men were all volunteers and included a joiner, butcher, shoemaker and a plumber. In the photo are - Holding horses - D. Brown (butcher with Wishart), J. R. Reith (chemist). Standing at the side of the engine - Major Hislop of Derncleuch (founder of the Brigade), H. Robertson (gardener), A. R. Will (plumber), A. Calder (slater), J. Robertson (gardener). On Engine - J. McPherson (joiner), Wisley (driver), Prof, J. McIntyre of Abbotswells, J. Davidson (butcher with Williamson), Wm. Davidson (shoemaker), Sir Robert Greig. When a fire broke out, a hooter was blown and the men downed tools to gather at the old school. Horses had to be brought from the local firms such as the baker or coal merchant, who used horses to pull their delivery carts. The fire engine was housed in St. Devenick's Place and had a manual system where the men had to pump by hand. Tilling-Stevens petrol electric bus
1050 In 1901, Aberdeen Suburban Tramway Company proposed a system of tram routes running from the city to the suburban areas of Bucksburn and Bieldside. These came into operation in 1904. In 1914, the Company decided to acquire three Tilling-Stevens petrol electric buses to augment their tram service. These vehicles had a petrol engine which was used to drive a dynamo which, in turn, fed an electric motor driving the wheels. It was claimed that they were cheaper to use and easier for tram drivers to learn to operate. They were double deck open top rear entrance vehicles with benchseats inside for 20 passengers and slatted wooden seats for 18 passengers on the upper deck. Their maximum permitted speed was 12 mph. All three buses were converted to charabanc bodies in 1921, and were sold in 1927. Pocra Quay
1242 Aberdeen Harbour entrance in around 1979. The image looks north, from Balnagask, to the North Pier and Pocra Quay with the Roundhouse, the Harbour Master's office, at the left of the photograph. The obelisk-like structure on the right of the photo is popularly known as Scarty's Monument, but is in fact a historic ventilation shaft for the sewage system. Aberdeen Central Library, Lending department 1948
1429 A view of the Lending Library from 1948 showing the counter and the Brown system of issuing books in operation. Aberdeen Central Library, Lending section 2011
1431 The Adult Lending Desk in 2011 is radically different from the view of the counter in 1948 with the system of issuing books to borrowers now completely computerised. Newpark
1521 A photograph of the gateway and avenue of Newpark. Located between Sheddocksley and Kingswells, this property was once known as Cuttlehill.
In Historical Walks and Names (1927) local historian G. M. Fraser writes:
"You descend Brimmond Hill at the south-west corner, and passing between the properties of Fairley and Cloghill, you presently pass the farm of Gillahill (properly Gallowhill), on your left, and strike the western end of the "Lang Stracht," near the property of Newpark. This is a comparatively recent name for Cuttlehill, the property that once formed part of Sheddocksley, and was bought in 1777 by Robert Dyce of Aberdeen, father of the well-known physician, Dr. William Dyce, of Cuttlehill, whose town house for many years was No. 48 Marischal Street. In this country residence of Cuttlehill, the old entrance gate and avenue of which are still in existence, was born on 19th September, 1806, William Dyce, afterwards William Dyce, R.A., a gifted artist, who took a leading part in decorating the House of Lords, and better still, who, having been sent by the government to report on the Art schools of the Continent in the middle of the last century, was the means of re-organising the art education system of Great Britain. It is singular that this accomplished man, although he is commemorated on a monumental brass in Streatham Parish Church, where he latterly stayed, is as yet unremembered by any mark on his father's house in Aberdeen, where he passed the early part of his life."
Newpark and the gated and avenue, though likely thoroughly modified, can still be seen today.
Other sources suggest that William Dyce, the above mentioned artist, was born at 48 Marischal Street. His birthplace remains something of a mystery. There is no indication of the location in the old parish register record of his baptism at St. Nicholas Kirk. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3398 This photograph shows the Shiprow entrance to the ABC Cinema (formerly the Regal) in 1963. In addition to current screenings of It Happened at the World's Fair, the cinema is also advertising an upcoming double bill of The Scarlet Blade and The Son of Captain Blood.
Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that the large, canopied entrance on the Shiprow gave access to the stalls foyer, and this could also be reached from the Union Street entrance via various lobbies and doors. A signalling system coordinated between the front and side box offices and neither entrance was allowed priority over the other. Aberdeen Cinemas: Electric / Capitol
3401 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Capitol cinema at 431 Union Street in February 1980. At this time the Capitol was in more regular use as a concert venue than as a cinema. This image shows large numbers of people queuing to get tickets for a performance by the band Genesis.
The Capitol was built as a cinema back in 1933. A few days before its opening, it was advertised in local papers as "Aberdeen's wonder cinema". Opened to large crowds on Saturday 4th February 1933, the Capitol was then the largest venue of its kind in the north of Scotland and had a stage that could be adapted for both film and variety entertainment.
The Capitol was built by Aberdeen Picture Palaces Ltd. on the site of an earlier upmarket cinema called the Electric Theatre that dated from 1910. When the Capitol opened, it was regarded as the most up-to-date theatre in the country due to its complex lightning system, organ music and other modern features, some of them being introduced for the first time in Scotland.
The venue could accommodate more than 2,000 people. The building's plans were prepared by Aberdeen architects Alexander Marshall MacKenzie and Clement George. Local newspapers stressed the local ownership of the cinema and the local craftsmanship that went into its construction.
Aberdeen City Libraries hold a souvenir brochure of the cinema's opening. One interesting feature of the brochure is the inclusion of specially created adverts for all the companies involved in the construction and furnishing of the new cinema. Some of the adverts provide rich information on the history of the companies and give an insight into how the companies saw themselves. The brochure details the companies behind every aspect of the buildings from the cinema seating and terrazzo work to the innovative lighting.
On the opening day, Mrs A. D. Hay, wife of the chairman of the Aberdeen Picture Palaces, unlocked the main entrance door with a gold key. This key is still held by the Hay family today. The cinema's first, busy evening featured a variety of entertainment. In addition to the showing of films, there was a ballet performance by the Henrietta Fuller Dancers and Mr Edward O' Henry played the theatre's new top of the line Compton organ.
During the opening ceremony, Bert Gates, another director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, said: "It was a long lane that had no turning. They had built the Capitol not for to-day, but for the generations of Aberdeen people to come. The company had dedicated the Capitol to the people of Aberdeen, their children, and their children's children in the hope that in generations to come they might appreciate what had been given them."
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: West End / Playhouse
3415 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Playhouse at 475 Union Street in January 1959. The venue originally opened on 12th November 1915 as a cinema called the West End. This was the first venture into full-time picture-hall proprietorship by James F. Donald, a key figure in the history of independent cinema exhibition in Aberdeen.
Donald was born in Newhills and came to Aberdeen for an apprenticeship with a coachbuilding firm. He had a varied career before coming to prominence as a highly successful dancing teacher. He was the leader of the Gondolier School of Dancing and Deportment.
He moved into the cinema business after acquiring the necessary projecting equipment and occupying a former billiard hall above the Aberdeen Dairy at 475 Union Street. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) describes the cinema as a "strictly utilitarian affair", but a successful one at that. It was only heated by stoves, and coupled with being above a diary, it became known as "The Tuppenny Freezer".
Donald's lease on the cinema expired in September 1920 and he was immediately followed as proprietor by Bert Gate's Aberdeen Picture Palaces. It was a time of expansion for the incoming company. They had recently purchased The Picturedrome on Skene Terrace and shortly looked to transform the West End. The latter closed on 2nd April and reopened on 14th September 1921 as the 1,000-seater Picture Playhouse.
The opening ceremony was attended by Gates, the cinema's architects George Sutherland and Clement George, and various local VIPs. The opening films were A Yankee in the Court of King Arthur, a comedy called Jerry on the Spot, Pathé news, and another short. Thomson states that Aberdeen Picture Palaces were "now the proud possessor of a large, well-situated 'flagship' house, and Union Street now sported a fine up-to-date cinema."
The design of the Playhouse was "classical" and up-market, in accordance with its prominent west-end location. As seen here, the Union Street entrance was surrounded by white Sicilian marble facings on a black marble base. The paybox was oval in shape with one end in the vestibule and the other in the front foyer.
The main foyer was through the Union Street part of the building and up a 12-feet wide carpeted, marble stairway. This way was a tea room called the Ingleneuk, the manager's office, and the ornately decorated auditorium. The plush new cinema represented competition for the nearby Picture House.
Bert Gates, the manager of the Playhouse, was somewhat sceptical of the talkies but fully embraced the new development in February 1930 with the installation of a full Western Electric sound system.
The opening of Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol down the road in 1933 saw a reduction in ticket prices at the Playhouse. The two partner cinemas were advertised at the time as "Aberdeen's Premier Pair".
On 23 May 1941 it was announced that James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. had bought a controlling interest in Aberdeen Picture Palaces. This meant that the Playhouse, along with the other APP venues, were now in the Donald circuit of cinemas.
This photograph dates from 1959 shortly before the cinema was relaunched as the Playhouse Continental, showing popular, often more risqué, films from Europe. This only lasted for a couple of years and the cinema reverted to being the Playhouse in 1961. This photograph shows the cinema advertising The Wind Cannot Read with Dirk Bogarde and All for Mary.
By 1973 the profitability of the Playhouse was eroded by spiralling costs. The owners of the building, builders James Scott & Son, had moved premises and were looking to dispose of the Union Street property. The cinema's lease was terminated at the end of 1973 and the cinema closed on 9th May 1974. Ownership of the block passed to Devanha Properties Ltd. and after lying empty for a few months the Playhouse was demolished to make way for a new block of shops and offices.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: News Cinema / Curzon / Cosmo 2
3426 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Cosmo 2 cinema at 15 Diamond Street in January 1976.
This site was first used as a picture hall by the News Cinema which opened on Saturday 5th September 1936. This was only the second cinema of its type to open in Scotland. Michael Thomson explains that news cinemas aimed to entertain those with only limited time, with programmes lasting approximately an hour made up of comedy and local interest shorts, newsreels and cartoons. They were ideal for travellers waiting for connections or those passing time before appointments.
The News Cinema in Aberdeen was owned by Ernest Bromberg and was located next door to the Palais on Diamond Street. The cinema was converted from a former stable building that Bromberg had owned since 1931. Thomson states that "the acoustics and the RCA talkie system were excellent, and all in all the little cinema more than made up in comfort and quality for what it lacked in size."
The News Cinema made its own local newsreels that documented happenings in the town. In October 1941 one of these captured footage of the tragic fire that destroyed the upper section of the Palace Hotel and killed 6 people. Major national events such as coronations and the second world war were also heavily represented in the News Cinema's programme.
On 4th April 1955 the cinema was rebranded by Bromberg as the Newcine Continental and specialised in showing films from Europe, which were then growing in popularity. During the next year the cinema shifted back to news programmes and reverted to its original name on 3rd December 1956.
The current events function of news cinemas was increasingly superseded by the growth and availability of TV news reporting. In May 1959 the cinema changed its name to the Curzon and returned to showing continental films, including the more risqué variety which were popular at the time.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. His Majesty's Theatre: The Stage Right Hemp Fly Floor
3477 The flying system consisted of six and a half miles of hemp rope and was very labour intensive. This image dates from around 1979. [Image from the Aberdeen Performing Arts Archive.] Mearns' Quay
3542 A photograph looking east along Mearns' Quay. Multiple trawlers with designations from Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth can be seen along the quayside.
The fishing boat Trustful (BF369) can be seen in the middle distance. The Scottish Built Ships website states that this boat was built in 1906 by Carnegie & Matthew of Peterhead.
The boat's first owner was George Mair Snr & Sons, Portknockie. By 1920 it was registered in Peterhead, for a new owner, with the number PD366. This gives a probable date for this photograph of between 1906 and 1920.
The ornate granite building on the quayside in the distance is one of two Valve House Siphon Outlets of Aberdeen Corporation Sewage Works located on either side of the River Dee.
These valve houses were vital pieces of infrastructure in the Girdleness Outfall Sewerage Works. This engineering scheme, completed in 1907, involved tunnelling under the river to provide a safer outlet for much of a growing Aberdeen's sewage.
An article on the ceremonial opening of the system featured in the Aberdeen Daily Journal of 14th November 1907 on page 7. The complete sewer was 3 1/2 miles long and a total £137,000 had been spent on it at the time of opening.
Due to Aberdeen's growing population, which was approaching 200,000 at the time, a more systematic method was needed to take the city's sewage to the North Sea, as opposed to simply using nearby rivers and burns.
The scheme, which appears to have been primarily designed by burgh surveyor William Dyack, took sewage to the North Sea at Girdleness and aimed to prevent harm to both residents of the city and visitors to the Bay of Nigg.
As the two harbour side valve houses continue to stand, the final drainage works building and the outflow pipe can still be found today to the east of Girdleness Lighthouse. Union Works
4399 A mid-20th century photograph of the Union Works in central Aberdeen. This images looks south east across College Street from a high vantage point and has railway tracks, Poyernook and the hills of Torry in the background.
The factory likely dates from around 1862. A notice from the Aberdeen Herald newspaper of 17th May 1862, page 4, records Alexander Pirie & Sons moving from the Adelphi to their new premises of Union Works, Poyernook.
From the 1860s onwards, the works were owned and operated by Alexander Pirie & Sons, then Pirie, Appleton & Co. and finally Wiggins Teape (Stationery), Ltd.
At the time of this photograph, the works were likely operated by Pirie, Appleton & Co. This image may been sourced from a promotional brochure for the company. In addition to the Union Works, they also had factories at Chadwell Heath in East London and in Dublin, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
As with many significant local enterprises, the operation of Pirie, Appleton & Co. is described in mid-20th century Official Handbooks created for the Corporation of the City of Aberdeen. The volume from 1954 states that the company specialised in manufacturing commercial envelopes, including their successful "River Series."
The company had also recently introduced a quality note-paper to their range called "Mitre Club," which is described as a brand of social stationery. They additionally manufactured different types of account and manuscript books, including a system of loose leaf binding known as "Swing-o-Ring." Other products include "printers' cards, paper collars, commerial heading, filing folders, and record cards." (pages 166-167).
In this image, a large sign can be seen on the north side of the factory building that reads "The mark of good stationery" with an Aberdeen terrier. This black Scottie dog, closely associated with the city, was adopted as a trade-mark of the company in the mid-20th century.
Wiggins Teape and Co. had amalgamated with Alexander Pirie & Sons in 1922 (see Aberdeen Daily Journal, 30th March 1922, page 4). Alex. Pirie & Sons and Pirie, Appleton & Co. were subsidiary companies of Wiggins Teape.
The Union Works site closed down not long after 1969 when Wiggins Teape began construction of a replacement factory at Dyce (see Evening Express, 4th September 1969, page 7).
The site was sold and the works were demolished to make way for the multi-storey office block, St. Machar House. Built by Sir Robert Alpine & Sons for Neale House Properties (Aberdeen) Limited, to a design by architects Mackie, Ramsay & Taylor, construction was well under way by Autumn 1975 (Evening Express, 2nd August 1975, 'Business Bureau' page 6).
Below the southern end of St. Machar House, the rest of the old Union Works site is occupied by the College Street Car Park, built by Arup and Partners (Scotland), with consulting architects Baxter, Clark & Paul, and opened on 4th July 1991. Treasure 15: Tramways routes
185 This plan of the tramway routes in Aberdeen was produced about 1914 and shows the route colours which were displayed as coloured bands on the top-deck of the Corporation tramcars. There were nine routes which covered most of the city as it existed at this time.
Trams were first introduced to Aberdeen in the 1870s when a group of local businessmen successfully obtained Parliamentary sanction under the Aberdeen District Tramways Act 1872 to set up the Aberdeen District Tramways Company. By 1874, they had constructed their first two lines - one running from Queen's Cross, via Albyn Place and Union Street, to the North Church (now Aberdeen Arts Centre), King Street and the second from St Nicholas Street and George Street to Kittybrewster.
Their horse-drawn trams were opened to the public in September 1874 with two cars which could each carry 20 inside passengers and 4 cars for 20 inside and 20 outside passengers. A fare of 3d was charged for the full route. In their first year they carried 1.1 million passengers.
Over the years additional routes were constructed to Woodside, Mannofield, Bridge of Dee, and Bridge of Don.
By the late 1890s, consideration was being given to the introduction of electric traction in place of horse haulage. After lengthy discussions, the decision was made to sell the company to Aberdeen Corporation and the transfer was completed in August 1898. By 1902 all the tracks had been converted to electric traction and new routes to Torry and Ferryhill were opened in 1903.
Motor buses had first appeared in 1920 and a service from Castle Street to Footdee opened in January 1921.
By the 1930s the expansion of the city was creating problems for the tramway system. It was far too expensive to build new track while maintaining the existing routes. The non-profitable Torry and Ferryhill services closed in 1931. The ongoing housing developments in the 1950s forced the Town Council to take the decision in January 1955 that the tramway system would close by 1959. Over the next few years individual routes ceased until the last trams ran in May 1958. Most of the remaining cars were burnt at the Links and the metal was sold for scrap.
Treasure 40: Valentine and Sons Postcards Collection, 1825-1963
209 Founded in 1825 as a printing firm based in Dundee, Valentine & Sons grew to become a prominent force in the postcard industry. Combining established printing practices with new developments in photography, Valentines were one of many companies able to exploit the growing Victorian tourist boom, aided in part by easier travel on Britain's new railway system.
James Valentine, son of the original founder John, became an early pioneer in photography with many of his works reproduced by the company from 1860. After James' death in 1879, the company continued under his two sons, George Dobson Valentine and William Dobson Valentine.
From 1896, Valentine and Sons began producing postcards to complement their existing business which included books of photographs, portraits and Christmas cards. As the postcard business grew in success, the company expanded into other tourist markets - including opening offices in Jamaica, Norway, North Africa, Canada and New York.
By the 1930s, the company focused solely on postcard production, but a focus on monochrome and sepia prints seems to have underestimated a growing demand for colour images. By the 1950s, the business was suffering and elected to change direction by returning to greetings cards. The company was purchased by Waddington & Co in 1963 - which in turn passed to Hallmark cards in 1980. Operations in Dundee ceased in 1994.
As with other producers of photographic material, the legacy of such a prolific business enables modern audiences a glimpse into the past with thousands of images from numerous locations capturing a given moment in time. Postcards have become a staple for those with historical interest, and many private collectors seek to hold the entire works of companies such as Valentine and Sons.
For the Local Studies service, the collection of postcards produced by Valentine and Sons offer some unique and fascinating insights into Aberdeen life in the past. Not only this, the messages written on the back of postcards - both from and to those in Aberdeen - can often bring a more human side to the historical picture.
Treasure 43: Lending Department Catalogue (1886)
212 To commemorate Aberdeen's first free lending library opening 130 years ago this month we have selected a bound copy of the catalogue as one of our treasures. The hard back volume was presented to the library by the late Robert Anderson. An inscription tells us Anderson received the volume in 1917 from Catherine W Duncan after the death of her brother, James W Duncan, in whose library it had previously resided.
The catalogue was printed by the Aberdeen University Press and comprises of a single continuous alphabetically sequence including authors names, subjects of works and miscellaneous headings. Additionally, the catalogue includes the bye-laws of the Library, a preface, an "Explanations and Directions" section, a key to the indicator system and adverts for many Aberdeen businesses. In his preface, Robertson states "In the preparation of the following Catalogue, the chief aim has been to provide a compendious and easy guide to the contents of the Lending Department of the Library, which readers can take to their homes. No particular system has been rigidly followed, but recourse has been had to whatever device seemed calculated to promote the desired objects."
Baillie Walker and Dr Alexander Bain, Lord Rector of the University, also spoke at the opening of the Lending Department. Bain discussed the make-up of the book stock and the efforts undertaken to create this new development. He gave particular mention to the application of Library Committee member Duguid Milne. Baillie Walker stressed the preparatory work and said that Robertson, the Librarian, turned night into day in his efforts and that it was absolutely necessary that he takes a well-deserved holiday during the summer.
Even at the opening of the new Lending Department there was an awareness that the current building was inadequate. Efforts by the Library Committee to secure new premises had already been underway for some time. At the opening, A O Gill, Chairman of the Sub-Building Committee, stated that "they ought to have something better for the public than the present building, and he hoped that they would be able soon to provide a building suitable for the requirements of this large and populous city."
After much discussion of sites, gathering of funds, and construction work, the purpose built Aberdeen Central Library on the new Rosemount Viaduct was officially opened on 5th July 1892 and remains the home of Aberdeen's Public Libraries to this day. The old Mechanics' Institution has since primarily housed a mixture of hotels and pubs. A reminder of its brief time as Aberdeen's Public Library was found in 1950 when painters decorating the then Bon Accord Hotel uncovered a hidden sign showing the library's old opening times.
Treasure 46: The Aberdeen Herald
217 When the first weekly issue of The Aberdeen's Journal was published by James Chalmers in January 1748 who would have guessed it would still be in production today (admittedly with several changes of title and ownership) as The Press and Journal.
The monopoly of The Aberdeen Journal, as it soon became, remained almost unchallenged throughout the eighteenth century but the nineteenth century saw the publication of several competing newspapers. Most of these were short-lived but included The Aberdeen Herald, and General Advertiser for The Counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Kincardineshire, which was published between 1832 and 1876.
We hold the first copy of this weekly newspaper in our collections. It was printed and published by George Cornwall, and was issued on Saturday 1 September 1832. It succeeded an earlier paper called The Aberdeen Chronicle which had been in production since 1806. The Aberdeen Journal was seen then as politically neutral but the Herald is described as Whig-Radical and its opening advertisement states "In fact, the chief object of The Aberdeen Herald will be to obtain a cheap, efficient, and patriotic system of Government".
Since the Herald was published on a Saturday while the Journal appeared on Wednesday, it was able to include articles which would have been old news by the following Wednesday and could also provide updates to news from earlier in the week.
The newspaper cost 7d which was far beyond what an ordinary person could pay and restricted readership to the wealthy. This high cost was a result of taxes imposed by the Stamp Act of 1712 which was not abolished until 1855. Papers could then be bought for 1d and there was freedom to produce mass-circulation newspapers with improved text layout.
The front pages of newspapers, even as recently as the early 1900s, did not contain news stories but were filled with adverts - business, theatrical events, shipping, property and public notices. The issue of The Aberdeen Herald for 21 April 1866 contained an advert explaining the change of name for the town of Inverurie. Local historian, Dr Douglas Lockhart, provides the following account of the town's name change.
The market town of Inverurie was one of the fastest growing places in Aberdeenshire during the mid-nineteenth century when its population increased from 735 in 1821 to 2524 in 1871. Many factors contributed to rapid growth at this time including good communications, initially by turnpike roads and the Aberdeenshire Canal to nearby Port Elphinstone, and from the mid-century it lay astride the railway line between Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness.
Further advantages were the extensive agricultural surroundings, markets and successful local businesses. Surprisingly Alexander Smith in A New History of Aberdeenshire, which was published in 1875, has little to say about the transformation of the town. However, he wrote a lengthy paragraph to describe how 'INVERURIE was, in former times, written Inneraury, Ennerawrie, and Hennerawie, and latterly Inverury' and he notes that the name meant "the confluence of the river of the margin".
On 5 February 1866 the Council met to discuss what appears to have become a growing problem - mail was being sent to Inveraray in Argyllshire because Inverury was not listed by the Post Office as a Post Town. The solution was simple: "return to the ancient spelling of the Burgh as Inverurie and to memorialise the Postmaster General to have it set down on the Lists as a Post Town". The Postmaster agreed to the name change and the scene was set on 19 April for the Council to discuss advertising the new arrangements. The wording of an advertisement was approved and it was decided to place it in the Edinburgh Gazette, Aberdeen Journal, Aberdeen Free Press, Aberdeen Herald and Banffshire Journal and "to endeavour to get the Railway Company to alter the spelling of the Station in their Tables".
Inverury officially became Inverurie the following day and on 21 April The Aberdeen Herald announced the change of name in the advertising columns of its front page. The Banffshire Journal in addition to printing the advertisement also published a glowing report on building activity in the burgh and noted that "within the memory of living inhabitants [the town] has been thoroughly regenerated".
Aberdeen Local Studies holds files of many local newspapers on microfilm, including the Aberdeen Herald and the Free Press. A digitised partial file is also available on the British Newspaper Archive which can be freely consulted online in the Central Library using your library card. Treasure 53: An Account of Pedestrianism
228 National Walking Month takes place in May and is promoted by the UK charity Living Streets. Their aim is to encourage people to see walking as a natural choice and they hope to see a reduction in health problems, congestion and pollution, and social isolation while boosting local communities by bringing high streets to life. Specific events such as Walk to School Week and Walk to Work Week are also held during this month.
One of the books in our Local Studies collection describes the exploits of walkers in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1813, Walter Thom published 'Pedestrianism; or, An account of the performances of celebrated pedestrians during the last and present century; with a full narrative of Captain Barclay's public and private matches; and an essay on training.'
Pedestrianism was the term used for competitive walking races which were extremely popular as a spectator sport in the 18th and 19th centuries, both in indoor and outdoor venues, not only in Britain but also in America, Canada and Australia. Large sums of money could be won and betting on the results was prolific.
Walter Thom came from Bervie in Kincardineshire but moved to Aberdeen in the early 1800s where he published The History of Aberdeen in 1811. He then moved to Edinburgh for a short time before travelling to Ireland where he became editor firstly of the Dublin Correspondent and later of The Dublin Journal. He died in Dublin in 1824.
In his preface to Pedestrianism, Thom explains that his choice of subjects treated in the volume will deserve attention of all classes "as exercise conduces so much to the strength and soundness of both body and mind".
He discusses the Olympic Games and gymnastic exercises as practised by the ancient Greeks before moving to "modern pedestrianism" which he claims "affords the best species of exercise, and may be said to include much that is valuable to mankind". He describes feats of pedestrianism from the 1700s and 1800s, which included races over a period of days or those which only lasted one or two hours.
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