44

The junction of the Castlegate and Union Street at Christmas. Note the sunken public toilets at the right of the photograph. They were filled in prior to the pedestrianisation of the Castlegate.

140

View of Park Street with an Aberdeen Corporation Bus and the Eastern Star pub visible. The pub occupied the corner of Park Street and East North Street. The Aberdeen Pub Companion (1975) states that it was built in 1890 and that James Hill was the first licensee. It was familiarly known as Jimmy Hill's and was a popular local pub. It was demolished around 1960 to make way for the large roundabout at the foot of the Beach Boulevard. (Many thanks to local historian A. G. Duthie for getting in touch and identifying the pub.)

207

A postcard showing the S.S. "Euripides", Aberdeen White Star Line.

1221

Aberdeen Fire Brigade, North Station 5 Christmas Dinner, c.1941. Middle top table is Robert Fergus Abercrombie Fire Master.

2180

Everyone got a chance to make their mark on Archie star. The rainbow reflects the Archie foundation and the fantastic work they do, it also is a symbol reflecting the generous support of Woodgroup. The bright stars are the children and the amazing staff at RACH. The collaged comics were chosen by all our artists big and small.

2287

Crown Street from Union Street, c.1950s. A postcard image that features the Post Office Headquarters and the Star and Garter pub.

2381

The Chemistry Department building of the University of Aberdeen. It is was opened on 17th September 1952 by Sir Robert Robinson, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. It was later renamed the Meston Building in memory of the Rt Hon Baron Meston of Agra and Dunnottar KCSI, VD, LLD Chancellor of the University 1928-1944. The building was refurbished and expanded in 1968. This image comes from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen John M. Graham's Christmas card from 1954.

2382

The Triple Kirks was a group of three churches sharing a common spire. It was designed by Archibald Simpson under the combined commission of Free Church adherents of the East, West and South Churches of Aberdeen. Building commenced within a month of the Disruption of May 1843. Funds were limited so cheap materials were employed. The church is primarily composed of brick and Dundee sandstone. The cost of the churches was £5,300. The East Church opened on 31st December 1843, the South on 11th January 1844 and the West on 28th of that month. This image is taken from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Stephen's, Christmas card from 1955.

2383

The Grammar School premises shown in this image were opened in 1863. After 1882 they were added to at various times. The bronze statue of Byron that stands outside the school, and is visible in this photo, was by Pittendrigh Macgillivray and was unveiled in 1923. The rector at the time of this photo, Sir James J. Robertson (1893-1970), was then the only headmaster of a Scottish school to be knighted while still in office. He received the honour in July 1956. This image comes from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Stephen's, Christmas card of 1956.

2384

A photograph of Robert Gordon's College from the 1950s. The image comes from Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Stephen's, Christmas card of 1957.

2385

The Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses were responsible for the erection of Girdleness Lighthouse. It was designed by their engineer Robert Stevenson and building commenced in 1831. The lighthouse came into use as a permanent light station on 15th October 1833. This photograph comes from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Stephen's, Christmas card of 1958.

2386

This image of the Bridge of Don is taken from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Stephen's, Christmas card from 1959. The bridge was constructed to meet an increased volume of traffic. It incorporates the previous 1830 granite bridge that was built to a design by Thomas Telford. The reconstructed bridge was officially opened on 25th May, 1959, by The Queen Mother.

2387

A photograph of King's College Chapel from the Lord Provost of Aberdeen George Stephen's Christmas card of 1961. This image looks north east and was taken from the garden of Powis Lodge, located across College Bounds from the chapel and its crown tower.

2435

The photographic collections of Aberdeen Journal Ltd span over a century. The photographs were taken to support stories and features in The Press & Journal and Evening Express newspapers - a picture speaks a thousand words after all. However, the accumulated photography has created a historical resource documenting life in the north east and Highlands during a century of change and development. The collection covers everything from the changing landscapes of our towns and cities through to global news events. But it's personal, too. People and their images are at the heart of our stories, be it the children on their first day in a new school through to community events and individual achievements. Your image is probably in the archive somewhere if you look hard enough. The collection is actively used by our journalists. It provides content for favourites like The Aberdonian and Past Lives features in the Evening Express and historical context and background to stories in The Press & Journal. The collection is also used by external researchers looking for copies of images in which they or their family featured, supporting charities and associations celebrating anniversaries and even to supplement content as featured in The Silver City Vault! archives@ajl.co.uk View all the Christmas images from the archive in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition on the library touchscreens.

3089

Atrium in Marischal Square. Andy Scott's impressive sculpture of a Leopard perched rather menacingly above a couple of pedestrians. The hut in the distance part of the 2017 Christmas Village. Mackie's 19.2 ice cream parlour on the right. 24/12/2017.

3369

A poster for the Tivoli's summer show of 1945. The show, produced by Horace H. Collins, was called Giggles & Girls and is described as "a riot of lasses and laughter". Performers in the revue included Jack Anthony - "Your Favourite Star Comedian", George Clarkson Jnr. - "The Essence of Personality", Joyce Hampton - "The Young Aberdeen Discovery", Hermon & Constance - "Variety's Vocal Stars", Kaye and Diana Haywood - "Youth and Beauty Personified", Royal Victory Belles, Bertha Ricardo - "The Musical Comedy Miss", Bond Rowell - "The One Man Joy Barrage", Hal Swain and the 3 Swing Sisters - "The Popular Broadcasting Musical Stars". The orchestra was under the direction of Clifford Jordan.

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]

3410

An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Casino cinema in around 1963. The Casino cinema was opened on Wales Street on 7th February 1916 by John Peter Kilgour, a dealer in various waste materials. It had close competition with Bert Gate's Star Picture Palace just around the corner on Park Street. Michael Thomson in The Silver Screen in the Silver City describes the Casino as the second of Aberdeen's purpose-built picture halls. It and the "Starrie" served the population of the city's east end for many years. The Casino was built on the site of Kilgour's factory yards. The architects for the project were George Sutherland and Clement George. The building's "Spanish villa" design is described by Thomson as unique for Aberdeen and highly unusual throughout Scotland. One distinctive feature was the low square tower at the Park Street side of the building that was topped by a red-tiled concave pyramidal roof. Thomson writes that features of the building combined to "bring a welcome splash of colour and gaiety to an otherwise drab corner of the city." Following the death of John Peter Kilgour in 1920, the running of the Casino and his waste business was taken over by his son, Ormande L. Kilgour. In the silent era the venue was a stronghold of cine-variety, showing all manner of performances in-between film screenings. In February 1936 the cinema celebrated its 20th birthday and a cake was cut by Kilgour and one the Casino's oldest patrons, a Mrs Stewart. In November 1939 Bert Gates and Aberdeen Picture Palaces bought a controlling interest share in the Casino. The Beach Boulevard, which opened on 25th May 1959, ran directly outside the cinema and gave the Casino a prominent location. In March of that year the cinema was given a thorough renovation. Despite its new prominent location and recent renovation, the Casino closed down as a cinema on Saturday 3rd October 1959. A spokesperson for the Donald Cinemas Group stated in the Evening Express at the time that the closure was due to the housing in the area being pulled down and people moving to new estates. Michael Thomson suggests that the proximity of the relatively new first-run Regal in Shiprow might also have drawn away the hoped-for holiday crowds from the Casino. In 1961 the empty Casino was sold to local bookmakers James Rennie and Arthur Forbes to be used as a bingo hall. This was at the height of bingo's popularity and the Casino proved too small. The bingo operation was moved to the Kingsway Cinema which had showed its final film, Warlord of Crete on 3rd February 1962. The area around the Casino was earmarked for redevelopment by Aberdeen Town Council. The cinema building was compulsorily purchased and, after spending some time as a store, was demolished at the same time as the Star in 1971. The site is now occupied by a residential development. [Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd.

3467

Signed photograph of the stage and screen star Margaret Lockwood. The autograph was dedicated to Mr James Donald who was the manager of HMT at the time. Margaret Lockwood played Peter Pan, in a version of J. M. Barrie's famous play, at His Majesty's Theatre in February 1958. Her daughter Julia Lockwood played Wendy in the production. It has been suggested that this signed photograph might date from this appearance. [Image from the Aberdeen Performing Arts Archive.]

3528

A photograph looking south east towards the Upper Dock across the junction of Guild Street, Trinity Quay and Market Street. Multiple trawlers are moored in the dock. Onlookers can be seen alongside the docked boats. An unidentified steam vessel larger than the rest can be seen in the far left in the background. The first ship on the left of the row is the steel fishing trawler Curlew (A906). This ship was built in the Panmure Yard belonging to Dundee Shipbuilders Co. Ltd., in 1897. In 1903 this ship was registered A906 in Aberdeen. The Curlew was wrecked in 1922 in Aberdeen Harbour. Seen behind the Curlew is most probably the steel fishing trawler Strathairlie (A39) built by Hall, Russell & Co Ltd, Aberdeen in 1905 for Aberdeen Steam Trawling & Fishing Co Ltd. This vessel later served as a minesweeper from 1915-1919 for the Admiralty Service. The second boat in the row is the wooden fishing trawler Alnwick Castle (KY120) built by William Jarvis in Anstruther in 1895 for The Forth Steam Fishing Co. Ltd. The ship was initially named Copley but was later renamed to Alnwick Castle in 1899. The ship was later broken up in 1922. The third boat in the row is the wooden fishing trawler Merganser (A740) which was built by James N. Miller & Sons Ltd., in the St. Monance shipyard in 1894. It was registered as A740 in Aberdeen by Henry Alexander circa 1901 and later broken up in 1923. The final boat in the row on the far right visible in the image is the iron fishing trawler Evening Star (A406) built by J. T. Eltringham & Co in the South Shields shipyard in 1891. Initially named Ella, it was renamed to Golden Monarch by W. H. Dodds in Aberdeen during 1915. It was renamed to Evening Star by W. Hutchinson in Aberdeen during 1920. The boat sank in 1927 in the Firth of Forth. Based on the above boats, this photograph may date from the very early 1920s.

3536

This high shot affords north-west views featuring the edge of Point Law and Provost Mathews' Quay. The left of the image contains the ferry terminal structure. To the right of this building, three trawlers sit moored in the foreground. These vessels are quite possibly Fife-Ness (A377), the Blossom (A9), and Star of the North (A633). All three of these vessels were registered in the area between 1903 and 1915. A large merchant ship can also be seen along Provost Mathews' Quay. This looks like the steamship St. Sunniva, built in 1887 by Hall Russell for the North of Scotland & Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company Ltd. As their name suggests, the company operated services to the Northern Isles. Beyond Matthews' Quay, Victoria Dock is visible. The commercial traffic taking up the river and bustling townscape in the distance highlights the merchant trade for which Aberdeen was famed.

3576

This high shot affords north-west views featuring the edge of Point Law and Provost Mathews' Quay. The left of the image contains the ferry terminal structure. To the right of this building, three trawlers sit moored in the foreground. These vessels are quite possibly Fife-Ness (A377), the Blossom (A9), and Star of the North (A633). All three of these vessels were registered in the area between 1903 and 1915. A large merchant ship can also be seen along Provost Mathews' Quay. This looks like the steamship St. Sunniva, built in 1887 by Hall Russell for the North of Scotland & Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company Ltd. As their name suggests, the company operated services to the Northern Isles. Beyond Matthews' Quay, Victoria Dock is visible. The commercial traffic taking up the river and bustling townscape in the distance highlights the merchant trade Aberdeen is famed for.

4456

A photograph of Aberdeen Inspired's illuminated sign. Since the park's redevelopment, Union Terrace Gardens has served as the sign's primary location. It has also been displayed at Pittodrie, Castlegate and at the South Harbour during its opening ceremony. The sign is always lit up and has distinct displays to mark special occasions such as Valentine's Day, Christmas and Pride. The sign serves as an attraction for residents and visitors. The illuminated sign is sometimes moved from the Gardens to make way for events, such as for Spectra 2024, which took place 8th-11th February of that year. This photograph was taken on 29th April 2024.

199

Monday 3 December 1906, 7.30pm. His Majesty's Theatre opens its doors to a brilliant audience and a grand production of the pantomime "Red Riding Hood". Our month's treasure features the pantomime's "Book of Words" printed to promote the event. Few things have been more intimately associated with Christmas than the popular family entertainment known by the name of pantomime. The word, borrowing of Latin pantomimus (mime, dancer) and coming from the Greek pantóminos ("imitator of all") took the meaning of a drama or play performed without words at the beginning of the 18th Century. Later traditionally performed at Christmas, it incorporates colourful costumes, slapstick comedy, songs and audience participation... Plots of pantomimes include a number of stock character types: the "principal boy" (the central young male figure, who is sometimes played by a female actor), the "pantomime dame" (always played by a male actor in drag), the villain and other comic characters. In "Sweet Red Riding Hood" at His Majesty's Theatre in 1906, loud calls were directed at the players; Miss Lyuba Lova, a reportedly fascinating Red Riding Hood, Miss Winifried Harbord as Boy Blue and Mr Willie Garvey who made a most amusing Mother Hubbard. By selecting "Red Riding Hood" for the opening pantomime, the director of His Majesty Theatre, Mr Robert Arthur, made a happy hit as the traditional children's story attracted many people, young and old. Because it was a pantomime, the legend got almost lost in the musical and operatic melange but the performance was well applauded by both the public and the press. The pantomime, written by Frank Dix and composed by Jullien H. Wilson, was divided into two acts - the first in four scenes and the second in five scenes. The "Book of Words" contains the script, photographs of the actors and some local adverts. For the first two nights of the pantomime, bookings were reserved for Debenture and Preference shareholders only, of which there were a considerable number, as nearly all the money for the new building has been raised locally. The pantomime, which ran till the end of the year, was greeted with whole-hearted applause from start to finish.