The Ghoul has visited Dundee quite a few times in the past.
An early sighting of him was at the King's Theatre in 1933. This, of course, was the well known Boris Karloff film.
A few years passed, then up pops The Ghoul again in 1948. This time it's the famous wrestler.
The ads date from 1948 to 1954.
A couple of the ads mention The Ghoul as being undefeated, but then he met a Russian giant called Assen Georgieff, in the Caird Hall.
A crowd of 3,000 packed the hall, with many hundreds turned away.
The outcome - the 7ft Russian strangled The Ghoul..!!
Assen, however, was disqualified, and so The Ghoul survived to fight another day!
An early sighting of him was at the King's Theatre in 1933. This, of course, was the well known Boris Karloff film.
A few years passed, then up pops The Ghoul again in 1948. This time it's the famous wrestler.
The ads date from 1948 to 1954.
A couple of the ads mention The Ghoul as being undefeated, but then he met a Russian giant called Assen Georgieff, in the Caird Hall.
A crowd of 3,000 packed the hall, with many hundreds turned away.
The outcome - the 7ft Russian strangled The Ghoul..!!
Assen, however, was disqualified, and so The Ghoul survived to fight another day!
In 1906, a strange reclusive fellow who lived in the Blue Mountains area of Hawkhill, used to induce fear into the locals as a consequence of his bizarre lifestyle.
He had a lantern-jaw, slept through the day and became active at night.
His nickname - "Cheesie Bat".
He dabbled, by candlelight, in the pseudo-science of phrenology, that is, interpreting the natural lumps & bumps on skulls, similar to reading peoples palms.
However, the locals didn't know about this and so made up all sorts of stories about him. You know, the obvious stuff like - body-snatcher, into black magic, devil-worshipper and so on.
This assessment became heightened one night after a boy, for a bit of devilment, sneaked up to where Cheesie lived and looked through a gap in his door. He then witnessed Cheesie tinkering with skulls, uttering mumbo-jumbo and consulting large dusty books. Needless to say, the nosy boy was petrified and so scarpered!
It was then the locals decided Cheesie had to go.
But Cheesie got wind of this and decided to depart before things got out of hand.
So during the early hours of the morning, Cheesie was assembling his stuff and placed them outside ready for departure.
It was then a local dustman appeared doing the rounds. When he approached the area where Cheesie lived and saw the skulls piled up underneath a flickering gas lamp, he too was petrified, so abandoned his dust cart and scarpered!
The dustman then bumped into a policeman who was nearby, and so both ventured back to the scene. The cop almost did a runner as well but instead, opted to whip his baton out and proceeded to smash the skulls to bits.
Afterwards when all the skulls were destroyed, the dustman plucked up enough courage and chucked all the remnants into his cart.
The locals applauded this action. They got rid of Cheesie and had their peace of mind.
Cheesie Bat did resurface sometime later however ... this time selling bootlaces!
The illustration that accompanied the article depicts the dustman doing a runner..!!
He had a lantern-jaw, slept through the day and became active at night.
His nickname - "Cheesie Bat".
He dabbled, by candlelight, in the pseudo-science of phrenology, that is, interpreting the natural lumps & bumps on skulls, similar to reading peoples palms.
However, the locals didn't know about this and so made up all sorts of stories about him. You know, the obvious stuff like - body-snatcher, into black magic, devil-worshipper and so on.
This assessment became heightened one night after a boy, for a bit of devilment, sneaked up to where Cheesie lived and looked through a gap in his door. He then witnessed Cheesie tinkering with skulls, uttering mumbo-jumbo and consulting large dusty books. Needless to say, the nosy boy was petrified and so scarpered!
It was then the locals decided Cheesie had to go.
But Cheesie got wind of this and decided to depart before things got out of hand.
So during the early hours of the morning, Cheesie was assembling his stuff and placed them outside ready for departure.
It was then a local dustman appeared doing the rounds. When he approached the area where Cheesie lived and saw the skulls piled up underneath a flickering gas lamp, he too was petrified, so abandoned his dust cart and scarpered!
The dustman then bumped into a policeman who was nearby, and so both ventured back to the scene. The cop almost did a runner as well but instead, opted to whip his baton out and proceeded to smash the skulls to bits.
Afterwards when all the skulls were destroyed, the dustman plucked up enough courage and chucked all the remnants into his cart.
The locals applauded this action. They got rid of Cheesie and had their peace of mind.
Cheesie Bat did resurface sometime later however ... this time selling bootlaces!
The illustration that accompanied the article depicts the dustman doing a runner..!!
The rediscovery of a section of St Salvador's Monastery in April 1937, was presented in the local press as a mystery.
It came into the news as a consequence of the section in the photo becoming part of a storehouse which belonged to the new owners when they moved into the Overgate. Official records don't say when it was built, but they did know the monastery existed in 1390 during the reign of Robert II. Trying to pass off the fireplace (which was 6ft off ground level) as a mystery though, was a bit much. Pretty obvious that there would have been a floor at that level at one time! |
Not too sure about this one - the local press assessing that the glare of old-fashioned lamps on one side of the road, was the reason for accidents happening in the same stretch of road.
Namely - Broughty Ferry Road near Stannergate.
They've had to manipulate the photo in order to try and prove their point.
By leaving the camera's aperture open for longer than normal, the light in the photo becomes more exaggerated than it would have actually looked. You can tell they used this technique by the passing bus light streaks on the opposite side of the photo.
The human eye doesn't see in this way.
Naughty!
This was in December 1930.
Namely - Broughty Ferry Road near Stannergate.
They've had to manipulate the photo in order to try and prove their point.
By leaving the camera's aperture open for longer than normal, the light in the photo becomes more exaggerated than it would have actually looked. You can tell they used this technique by the passing bus light streaks on the opposite side of the photo.
The human eye doesn't see in this way.
Naughty!
This was in December 1930.
When it was time for Dundee to go into black-out mode, thousands of street lamps were removed and stored in various parts of the city.
These ones here, which make a rather surreal image, were being stored at Lochee Gas Works in October 1939.
These ones here, which make a rather surreal image, were being stored at Lochee Gas Works in October 1939.
During the Easter holidays in April 1912, these schoolgirls set up shop down at the Greenmarket area.
Not real products on offer though, as their pretend game of shoppies had sugar & sweets in the form of sand & stones, and they used pins as money.
Not real products on offer though, as their pretend game of shoppies had sugar & sweets in the form of sand & stones, and they used pins as money.
It was all action in the Cowgate in the 50's.
First there seemed to be a full scale war taking place in the photo on the left, which was taken in October 1951.
Then in the other picture, taken in December 1953, it was time for the cavalry to appear!
First there seemed to be a full scale war taking place in the photo on the left, which was taken in October 1951.
Then in the other picture, taken in December 1953, it was time for the cavalry to appear!
This strange construction down at the docks, had locals baffled back in October 1920.
The best explanation that someone could come up with was that it was a target for Admiralty purposes. It's not as if they would start bombarding it with torpedoes is it, so perhaps they meant it was for assessing distance with their naval equipment, or suchlike. |
Dundee had its first Military Tattoo in May 1954.
Overall, it was rather successful, parade-wise, although ultimately they lost money on it.
The advert here was for the first night, but unfortunately, it rained.
It didn't do too much damage but a couple of times during the show, horses slipped in the mud, throwing the riders off with them.
Overall, it was rather successful, parade-wise, although ultimately they lost money on it.
The advert here was for the first night, but unfortunately, it rained.
It didn't do too much damage but a couple of times during the show, horses slipped in the mud, throwing the riders off with them.
In October 1900, the local press ran a competition to see if you could identify UK football grounds using the visual clues they had illustrated.
Some are quite tricky, and some of the grounds now no longer exist, should you wish to indulge.
As a starter, #28 (top right) is Gigg Lane.
Some are quite tricky, and some of the grounds now no longer exist, should you wish to indulge.
As a starter, #28 (top right) is Gigg Lane.
Here's 2 examples of exercise contraptions that appear to be rather unproductive.
Not sure which part of the body would benefit using the new Aero Wheel. Just looks as if you'd end up dizzy!
This was being demonstrated in Ward Road Gymnasium in August 1928.
The Exercise Machine in the other photo appears to have been invented specifically for slobs who were too lazy to exercise themselves.
All they had to do was sit on the bike, switch it on and the machine did all the movement for them.
Pretty pointless!
This was published in May 1936.
Not sure which part of the body would benefit using the new Aero Wheel. Just looks as if you'd end up dizzy!
This was being demonstrated in Ward Road Gymnasium in August 1928.
The Exercise Machine in the other photo appears to have been invented specifically for slobs who were too lazy to exercise themselves.
All they had to do was sit on the bike, switch it on and the machine did all the movement for them.
Pretty pointless!
This was published in May 1936.
This cartoon strip depicts someone forecasting the worst possible holiday weather for Dundonians - and getting it.
Rain, rain and more rain!
Published in July 1926.
Rain, rain and more rain!
Published in July 1926.
On the 28 March 1925, Dundee's Lord Provost sealed a large container which then wasn't to be opened until the 21st Century.
The photo was taken in the Victoria Art Galleries and the box contained over 3000 photos and documents about how locals lived during that era.
So here I am in the 21st Century, looking back at the box being sealed in 1925!
And so on that little ironic twist, it is now time for me to put the lid on Droll Dundee.
The definition of droll is *oddly amusing*.
I hope that's how it was for you!
GG
The photo was taken in the Victoria Art Galleries and the box contained over 3000 photos and documents about how locals lived during that era.
So here I am in the 21st Century, looking back at the box being sealed in 1925!
And so on that little ironic twist, it is now time for me to put the lid on Droll Dundee.
The definition of droll is *oddly amusing*.
I hope that's how it was for you!
GG