No Ordinary Calling Card

by Chris Jones on July 16, 2022

During Victorian times, individuals who considered themselves to be members of society would have small cards printed and these would serve as a means of introduction. In 1851, Louis Dodero, a photographer from Marseilles, is credited with developing the first calling card which took the form of a miniature photograph glued onto a card backing. Because it was developed in France, it became known as a carte de visite, or CdV. The idea was subsequently patented by the Parisian photographer André Disdéri in 1854 and visiting cards rapidly gained in popularity throughout Europe and the United States. They were normally 2.5 in by 4 in ( 64 mm by 100 mm ) in size and fitted very conveniently into a breast pocket.

The card illustrated here was not produced from a photograph but rather from an engraving by noted English engraver Charles Henry Jeens in 1875. At that time, the subject of the engraving had already been knighted in 1866 for his service to Mathematics and Physics. He was Sir William Thomson, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. Later, he would accept a peerage and become the Baron Kelvin of Largs. He chose the title himself with obvious links to Glasgow, the University, and the Clyde. This was the card of the future Lord Kelvin, one of the most distinguished applied physicists who has ever lived. Although born in Belfast, he was brought to Glasgow when he was 11 years old and went on to distinguish himself in Mathematics and Physics. During his lifetime he was offered many prestigious appointments nationally and internationally, however he chose to remain at the University of Glasgow until his retirement in 1899.

This card was obtained on eBay by the author who was the sole bidder.

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A Superb Example of Glasgow Postal History

by Chris Jones on February 12, 2022

This superb example of the Queen Victoria 1 shilling stamp ( SG 117 ) from Plate 5 is as fresh today as the day it was issued. It bears the Glasgow postmark dated August 17, 1871, over 150 years ago. A shilling was a lot of money in 1871 and these stamps were used for telegrams of up to 20 words. One shilling spent in 1871 is equivalent to £ 6.27 today.

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“Of Green Men and Blue Trains” Glasgow 1962

October 24, 2021

Produced with the assistance of British Railways Scottish Region and Glasgow Corporation Transport. Posted on YouTube by treffynnon19. Made in 1962, shortly before the trams were withdrawn, this film features the Number 9 tram on the cross-Glasgow route between Auchenshuggle and Dalmuir West. This was the last tram service to operate in Glasgow and the […]

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Ride All the Way for a Penny.

June 20, 2021

Glasgow Corporation used to operate a program whereby local children could travel any distance on a tram service for a penny, 1d, during part of the Summer when the schools were out. This concession started around 1925 and was valid between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm on weekdays in July, although during […]

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Glasgow Trams through the Years

October 12, 2019

Horse-Drawn Omnibuses In the period before the advent of trams in Glasgow, the most popular form of public transport was the horse-drawn omnibus, but the ride over the cobblestones was bumpy.  The idea of running the carriage wheels in rails to achieve greater comfort was therefore very appealing.   For trams to operate in Glasgow, […]

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Three Glasgow Corporation Transport Films, 1959 – 1966

September 7, 2019

Three films featuring Glasgow Corporation Transport between 1959 and 1962, originally published on YouTube by Ron Windward on March 23, 2013. Ron is famous for his entertaining “Toffs in the Tenement” series of novels. Glasgow Trolley Buses 1966 This film opens with a trolleybus heading south on Victoria Bridge and into the Gorbals, passing Gorbals […]

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Another Quick Note

January 20, 2019

First, I would like to wish “A Guid New Year Tae Yin an Aw, an Mony Mae Ye See”. I hope 2019 will be a good year for all of us. During the past year, new chapters, including “Glasgow from the Green, 1828” and “Glasgow’s Trolleybuses”, were posted and more photographs and information added to […]

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“Glasgow from the Green”, 1828

August 20, 2018

Before there were photographs, it was customary to draw or paint locations of interest. One of the ways in which these illustrations could be more widely disseminated was by engraving and printing, and Glasgow was certainly blessed with such capability in the years before photography made its mark. Here is a print obtained from a […]

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Glasgow’s Trolleybuses

June 4, 2018

For a brief shining moment, trolleybuses graced the streets of Glasgow. They were handsome, sleek and powerful machines, capable of rapid acceleration, yet virtually free from noise or vibration. And they had a good safety record. At one time it was thought that they would be the natural successors to the trams. Like the trams, […]

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A Sunday Visit to Mount Florida

April 30, 2018

Sundays in Mount Florida, certainly into the 1960’s, were noticeably quiet. Except for the early morning newsagents, the shops were all shut, there were no football matches, fewer children would be playing in the streets, and there was no Italian cafe to go to for ice cream or coffee. The Rev. Waddell would preach the […]

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Auld Lang Syne

December 31, 2017

“Auld Lang Syne” ( Long, Long Ago ) The beautiful words of this Scottish poem, written by Robert Burns in 1788 and sung around the world on New Year’s Eve, evoke memories of friendship, love, and kindness. It is written in Auld Scots, and there is a translation if you scroll down. Should auld acquaintance […]

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Express Boat Train to Wemyss Bay

February 28, 2017

An express boat train from Glasgow Central bound for Wemyss Bay is shown passing through Cardonald Station on the fast line in June 1922. Looking at this photograph, I am reminded of the fierce competition that used to take place between the railway companies in an effort to achieve the fastest journey times between Glasgow […]

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From the Top Deck of a Glasgow Tramcar

December 4, 2016

We are in the Trongate approaching Glasgow Cross from the west on the top deck of an open-top tramcar, circa 1900. Facing us, is the statue of King Billy ( William III, Prince of Orange ) upon his charger. King Billy’s statue was in the Trongate for 163 years before it was removed, placed in […]

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Glasgow Police Public Call Box

October 30, 2016

Another First for Glasgow – the Police Public Call Box This postcard shows a police public call box on Hyndland Road, circa 1905. Glasgow was the first place to install such boxes in the British Isles, beginning in 1891. The reason they were called public call boxes is that trusted members of the public could […]

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Glasgow’s Crosses

May 28, 2016

In the course of looking through old photographs and postcards of Glasgow, I realized that the City has a good many Crosses; key intersections and road junctions which, because of their importance, were given the special title of Cross and named after their location. They were often places where people would arrange to meet socially, […]

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Two Fine Clydebuilt Ships

April 24, 2016

Can anyone identify these Royal Navy ships?

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Memories of the Grand Hotel

February 20, 2016

Memories of life at the Grand Hotel by Neil McPhee This is a wonderful site of Charing Cross and especially the Grand Hotel. I worked there as a page boy alongside my brother (second head porter) and school friend (porter) in the period just before it closed down. Latterly, the hotel was owned by Glasgow […]

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“The Elizabethan” Express

February 14, 2015

Ever since railway companies were established there has always been intense rivalry between them, on land and even on water, and this was especially true for destinations on the Clyde. Fast trains would depart Glasgow for the railway company railheads where passengers would board the steamers and the race would then continue on the water. […]

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The Railways

December 30, 2014

Coming from a family with service on the railways dating back to the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and possibly even to the London & North Western Railway (LNWR), I could not resist including a chapter on railway history, with particular reference to Scotland and the Glasgow area. Railways, in the form of waggonways, […]

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Film – Clyde Shipping 1938

August 14, 2011

Here is a film of shipping activity on the River Clyde in 1938. There are scenes of excursion steamers heading “Doon the Watter” and into the Firth, the launch of a new vessel, a ship being coaled, cargo being loaded by the giant Stobcross crane and a passenger liner leaving for Canada. A Scottish Films […]

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Film – Glasgow Belongs to Me.

August 6, 2011

An inebriated Englishman has just got off the train at St. Enoch Station and is asking a cabbie to show him around the city. Naturally, the cabbie is happy to oblige and the visitor gets to see Glasgow first hand. The song “I Belong to Glasgow” made its composer Will Fyffe famous. A native of […]

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Glasgow Cross

March 12, 2011

In its earliest days, Glasgow was a small fishing village by a shallow and easily forded River Clyde and it remained this way until the Sixth Century AD when Saint Mungo founded a religious settlement by the Molendinar Burn on the hill to the north. A monastery was built and as the settlement grew, it […]

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Sailing Down the Clyde: “Doon the Watter”

July 18, 2010

From the Broomielaw Wharves on the north bank or from Clyde Place Quay on the south bank, we begin our journey down the River Clyde, or “Doon the Watter”, as Glasgow folk would say. This will be a journey through an industrial empire, past shipyards famous for building many of the world’s greatest ships and […]

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Buchanan Street

May 22, 2010

Buchanan Street was named after Andrew Buchanan, a Tobacco Lord, who envisioned that Glasgow would spread westward. With this in mind, on the 15th of February, 1763, he acquired the first portion of “five acres or thereby of ground in the Burgh of Glasgow, in the part called Palezeon’s Croft, on the North side of […]

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Broomielaw

April 7, 2010

Named after the Brumelaw Croft, a stretch of land running along the north bank of the Clyde, the street known as the Broomielaw extends from Jamaica Bridge to Finnieston Quay. It was Glasgow merchant Walter Gibson, “the father of the trade of all the west coasts”, who financed the building of Glasgow’s first quay, at […]

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Glasgow Bridge/Jamaica Bridge

March 15, 2010

This tranquil scene of the Broomielaw quayside viewed across the river from the Bridge Hotel was captured by Thomas Annan in 1865 and, judging from the absence of people, it was probably taken early on a Sunday morning. Glasgow Bridge is on the right and the steamers Vesta (left) and Eagle are moored beside the […]

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Why Glasgow and Why Me?

February 21, 2010

Why Glasgow and why me?  Because I grew up in the city. When you spend virtually all of your formative years in one place, a deep bond is established.  They say you can take the boy out of Glasgow but not Glasgow out of the boy. My first home was a tenement flat on Prospecthill Road in […]

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Auld Lang Syne

December 31, 2018

“Auld Lang Syne” ( Long, Long Ago ) The beautiful words of this Scottish poem, written by Robert Burns in 1788 and sung around the world on New Year’s Eve, evoke memories of friendship, love, and kindness. It is written in Auld Scots, and there is a translation if you scroll down. Should auld acquaintance […]

Read the full article →