Blip from a bygone age

This is "Orr's of Airdrie." From this blip you will see that it is a sorry sight - closed and standing in disrepair.

When I was a wee boy in the 70s, this was a very traditional department store. There was menswear; ladieswear; haberdashery and all the rest. You paid your bill in the accounts department and the whole place was run on a system of vacuum pipes that sent your invoice in a bullet like container through the building ending up in accounts in the basement. Technology indeed! They had a "cash card" where you could pay for your purchases, without interest, over 40 weeks. All you did was visit accounts weekly and pay. Every customer was known and there was an air of respectability about the whole place.

And at the very top of the store (to stop smells presumably) there was the tearoom which was served by staff in black and white uniforms with hats. Scones and cakes were placed on a tiered stand and you paid for what you ate. The Welsh rarebit was ny regular treat. The store owner Mr Omeroyd, dined in the tearoom each day and he had his own reserved table for one which always had a bottle of Rose's lime cordial on it. He wore a striped three piece suit and had half-rimmed gold glasses.

Ha - my childhood memories!