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Treasure 61: Aberdeen City Mobile Library Service
2379 By 1948 Aberdeen Central Lending Library had issued a total of 388,528 books and the City Librarian reported that it could "barely cope with all the readers which crowd it at its busiest time".
He proposed the introduction of a mobile library service to cater to the growing population in what The Press & Journal newspaper called "new housing colonies" in areas such as Rosehill, Hilton, Middlefield, Stockethill, Kaimhill and Garthdee.
His recommendation was accepted and an order was placed with Aberdeen Motors Ltd for Aberdeen City Libraries' first mobile library - an Austin 30 H.P vehicle.
Over the years, the mobile library service grew and consisted of four vehicles at its peak. Treasure 62: City of Aberdeen Links and Sea Beach Layout Plan showing Proposed Development (August 1923)
238 In its heyday Aberdeen attracted visitors from all over the UK and established itself as one of Britain's leading holiday resorts. This is the Links and Sea Beach Development Plan of 1923 which ultimately led to the transformation of Aberdeen into a first class holiday resort.
In September 1919, Aberdeen Town Council took the decision to develop and improve Aberdeen Beach with the construction of a large entertainments building comprising a concert hall, restaurant, dining room, dance hall and lounge, beach pavilion and two shopping arcades.
Messrs. Roberts and Hume of Bathgate were chosen to design the proposed scheme in 1926, at an estimated cost of £42,717. The final design incorporated all requested features excluding the shopping arcades, but the dance hall - known now as Aberdeen Beach Ballroom - became one of the finest dance halls in Scotland. Treasure 63: Scenes and Characters from the work of Charles Dickens (1908)
239 This treasure from our collections features 866 drawings illustrating the novels of Charles Dickens. The work of eleven artists is featured - many depicting the poverty, crime and oppression of Victorian Britain.
The volume was re-published after the death of Charles Dickens in 1870 and enjoyed great success, with many viewing the illustrations as an accurate depiction of Dickensian characters.
The artists who contributed to the publication were well respected in Victorian London and included Charles Green, 'Phiz' (also known as Hablot Knight Browne), and Fred Barnard - best known for his illustrations of Dickensian characters Bill Sikes and Little Nell.
This treasure features in our exhibition for July 2016 to coincide with our Celebrating Dickens programme of free events and activities in Aberdeen Central Library. The programme features readings of Dickens' work in English and Doric, a talk on the author's early work and free creative workshops for teens. Speak to a member of staff or pick up a leaflet in the library. Treasure 64: Ho Sho Maru Logbook (1869)
240 The Ho Sho Maru was the first iron-clad warship in Japan. It was built in 1868 by Aberdeen shipyard Alexander Hall & Co. The gunboat was a barque rigged steamer equipped with two 110-pound and two 60-pound guns on deck. Aberdeen City Libraries hold a number of logbooks from Aberdeen-built ships, including the log book detailing the maiden voyage of the Ho Sho Maru from Aberdeen to Japan.
The vessel was ordered by the Choshu clan and brokered by Fraserburgh born trader and industrialist Thomas Blake Glover. The Choshu were one of the two main actors, with the Satsuma clan, in the rebellion against the Tokugawa Shogunate. The rebellion led to the Meiji Restoration and enormous changes in the political and social structure of Japan. Treasure 65: Beach Pavilion Programmes
241 For more than 30 years Harry Gordon, one of Scotland's most talented comedians of the 20th Century, dominated Aberdeen's entertainment industry and prompted local historian Fenton Wyness to describe him as "possibly the only real attraction Aberdeen beach has ever had". Aberdeen Local Studies hold a collection of bound volumes of Beach Pavilion programmes, published between 1924 and 1940.
The Beach Pavilion opened in 1905 and later became the home of Harry Gordon, the 'Laird of Inversnecky' and one of Aberdeen's most popular comedians. He entertained visitors at the Beach Pavilion throughout the 1920s and 1930s helped to make the Beach Pavilion one of the brightest and best places of entertainment in town, bringing many world-famous artists to Aberdeen.
The final curtain came down with the Second World War. Due to its vulnerable location, many people were reluctant to go the Beach and the Pavilion was closed during the war years. It was re-opened in 1946 (although Harry Gordon had given up his tenancy by then) and continued as an entertainment venue. In 1962 the Pavilion was re-named the Gaiety and became a licensed restaurant, public bar and lounge. It then functioned as a restaurant in the Queens Links leisure complex but the remaining remnants of the original building were sadly destroyed by fire in May 2014. |