The Argyll Arcade, Glasgow

I remember the excitment of going with my Mum and sister to gaze on the wonders that the shops in this exotic 1870s arcade held. Shops were filled with toys - wee cars, trains and train engines and there was The Doll's Hospital where my sister's dolls had to make frequent trips for new elastic bands to hold all their appendages together ! - sometimes their eyes, I think - gruesome eh ??
My mother made me a black boy doll for my sixth birthday and I think his head came from the Arcade. His body came from some stout coat lining and his blue overalls from some past fashion triumph of my mum's wardrobe !! Pete still lives albeit with a head which has been in the wars and insted of a skull now has an old copy (crushed) of the Bulletin - an old Glasgow newspaper.