This is the second article in a series of three that takes photos of shops on Maryhill Road and matches them to modern locations. This article covers Maryhill Road south of the Aquaduct as far as the junction with Bilsland Drive.
Number 1512 (The Punch Bowl)
The next ‘shop’ is the other side of the canal aqueduct and on the left, next door to Maryhill Library:
And here is the 1939 comparison:
This map shows the location, the top red circle of the three:
Numbers 1415 to 1425
In 2024 these shops looked like this:
Three photos cover these six shops, probably in the 1930s (the caption on the Virtual Mitchell website is wrong, describing them as being 1161 to 1165 when they are clearly numbered, see photo below – if the year is correct then the photos are from 1937).
Here is 1421 to 1425 (now Garbraid’s Pharmacy and Woody’s):
The sign in the window of the right-hand shop says (in part): “Range of 6 shops will be built on this site. 40 feet by 13 feet. Price moderate. John G Hamilton, architect, (possibly) 10 East Belhaven Terrace, Glasgow” (which is on Great Western Road at Horselethill Road).
Obviously recently built at the time of the photo, only the chemist’s shop is occupied, probably by Beatson and Fraser Ltd (previously at 1001 Maryhill Road, opposite East Park). The brand names in the window include Colgate and Kodak, a reminder of when the chemist developed a completed roll of film to produce photographs.
Here is 1419 (now Jaconelli’s):
Alexander Massey and Sons ran a chain of grocer’s shops from their base at 90 Hydepark Street, Finnieston. Massey senior set up a shop in the Gorbals in 1872, expanding into a factory near-by, and then into Glasgow and beyond. But he let his sons develop the business and by the late 1920s they were in trouble (see this link). The business was sold to the unlikely sounding Margarine Union in 1930. The Margarine Union was founded in 1927 in the Netherlands, rapidly expanding into Europe and in 1930 they merged with Lever Brothers to form Unilever (link). The “Massey” name was retained for around 60 years.
And here is 1415 to 1417 (now Silver Inn and Subway):
1417 is still unfinished! Birrell’s was a confectioner’s, based in 34 Munro Place, Anniesland (between Great Western Road and Anniesland Road).
The building visible to the left of Birrell’s was the Roxy Cinema:
Number 1069 (Singer’s)
We’re now south of Tesco’s. If you know the area, you will know I have gone back to 2009 for this photo, partly because it has an echo of the ‘before’ (in reality the shop is now Vape City)
Here is a photo of the larger shop on Sauchiehall Street in 1939:
This map shows the location of 1069 (Singers, closest to the top-left) and the rest of the shops in this section:
Number 1031 (Hall’s bakers)
This is John Hall’s bakers shop in 1934
Today (or in 2024) there is no trace – it would have been on the left behind the bus stop:
Numbers 979, 971, 969, 957, 953, and 980
If we had stood here in 1960 we could have seen all of these shops, the odd numbers on the right and the even numbers on the left:
Here is 979 in 1938:
Here are 969 and 971 in 1939:
You’ll notice that the cameraman was being observed from the 1st floor window!
Here is 957 in 1934:
Robert D Waddell’s shop (described as “sausage manufacturer” in the local authority valuation roll, presumably meaning “pork butcher”) announced “Irish eggs down again” in its window. Maybe this was an example of what I believe were called ‘ham and egg’ shops? Through the shop doorway, a shop assistant watched the cameraman. Next door at Mary Whyte’s newsagents and stationers, the News of the World headline was “Disgraced”, although readers familiar with the style of that newspaper will not feel that narrows the date range down very much.
Here is 953 in 1939:
Waddell’s shop from the previous photo can be seen on the right. At 953 is Andrew Cochrane Ltd, grocers. On the left the sign at 949 Maryhill Road announces a name ending in “Leather stores” and “First class shoemaker”. This must be Ebenezer Tainsh and Sons (High Walk Shoe Company) Limited of 142 Trongate, Glasgow.
Both occupants must have been moving out because in a second photo dated February 1939 there are different shops:
Henry Guthrie was a hardware merchant, as can be seen from his stock. Hardware shops of the time always had stock hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. At 953 (with its shop door moved to the left) was a grocer’s shop rented by the Maypole Dairy Company Ltd. of 179-189 City Road, London EC1.
Maypole Dairies started in Wolverhampton in 1887, importing butter, cheese, eggs and condensed milk from Denmark (initially) and Sweden and Ireland (subsequently). They set up multiple shops in major cities, including Glasgow and Paisley, concentrating on working class areas and offered affordable prices. They promoted margarine as a cheaper alternative to butter (initially calling it butterine).
By the time the Maryhill Road branch opened the business had belonged to Home and Colonial Stores for 15 years. Despite being a household name, Maypole had suffered from competition (including Blue Band margarine from the Netherlands) and the original family sold up, with the name retained. The final Maypole Dairy closed in 1970.
Number 980 The Favourite
The shop is still standing today, the last but one before Bilsland Road (photo from 2023):
Here is 980 in August 1939 when it was a confectioner’s, run by Tomasso Pia:
Tomasso was born near Lazio in Italy in 1895. He was married to Anna, and I wondered if she was the lady in the photo? She would have been 40 at the time. A little online searching confirmed that she was but also led me to their remarkable story, told by their grand-daughter – click this link to read it.
The month after this photo was taken, the Second World War started and when Italy joined it as an enemy in June 1940, Italian men were arrested and sent to the Isle of Man under detention:
He returned three years later when Italy changed sides, his wife having maintained the business and after the war he lived at 10 Oban Drive with his family.