A woman selling old clothes at Paddy's Market, 1955.
When the Glasgow Corporation Clothes Market in Greendyke Street closed in 1922, small traders dealing in second-hand clothes set up a market in Jail Square. The erection of a mortuary on the site in 1935 forced the traders to move on. Some leased shops in the area but many others leased arches in the railway viaduct in Shipbank Lane off Bridgegate or simply laid out their goods on the pavements there. By the 1950s the traders were mainly women. The market survives in 2004 with dealers offering all manner of second-hand goods as well as old clothing.
In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.
Reference: 1005.97.117 / OG.1955.121.[114]
Reproduced with the permission of the Partick Camera Club
Keywords:
Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, hawkers, Paddy's Market, prams, second-hand clothes dealers, street traders, women