How Dundee salon building has worn many looks through the years

Abby Kane, Steph McLaren and Rosie Forrester with the letter. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

If these walls could talk…

A Dundee salon owner has discovered more about the history of the building and its early inhabitants after receiving a letter from France.

The shop at 126-128 Victoria Road stands on the corner of Lambs Lane.

Steph McLaren, the owner of Complete Hair and Beauty, said: “It is said what’s for you won’t go by you.

“That was certainly true of the letter that I received several weeks ago.

“The address on the letter was not exactly as it should be but thanks to the caring nature of my postman, he came into the salon and asked if this could be for me.

“Instead of having the salon name, Complete Hair and Beauty, it had our booking system name as the addressee.”

Steph said the letter was intriguing because it had a French postmark.

a montage of pictures showing the exterior of the Dundee building over time — The building has seen many changes over the decades. Image: DC Thomson.

“Upon opening it, I saw that it came from a man I did not know, but who had kindly reached out to me with the history of my salon,” she said.

“The man’s name was Bob Crichton and he and his family were from Dundee.

“Now, retired in France, he has been researching his family history, and my salon has featured a great deal in his past.

“His father had been in the premises in the 1950s.

“After further investigation, I have found out that the property was first registered on September 26 1876.

“We can now continue the timeline on with details of ourselves, my former employer and her mother before that.

“I find it incredible to think about the numerous changes this building has seen over the last 150 years.”

Dundee salon building used to be a pawnbroker

Bob was researching his family tree.

His grandfather and father had the business from 1935 to 1956.

However, he got more involved and traced the shop back to 1881 when it was first recorded in the Dundee Street Directory.

A photograph of the exterior of the property in Victorian times. — A photograph of the property in Victorian times. Image: Supplied.

Bob said: “The property has always been tenanted.

“The owner of the property was Alexina Foulis, who was a spirit merchant.

“She also owned 1-12 Lambs Lane and 126 to 138 Victoria Road.

“Alexina was not short of a few bricks and mortar!”

The shop at 126 Victoria Road was a pawnbroker for 52 years.

For the majority of the working classes, pawning was simply a way of life.

George Baxter and his wife Jane were the tenants in 1881.

A copy of the original title deeds. Image: Supplied.

“Over the years the business took on a few additions to pawnbroking,” said Bob.

“In 1890/91 it was the Victoria Tailoring and Clothing Establishment.

“The pawnbroking would have been the main business.

“The shop was sited among tenement buildings of poor quality provided for the workers in the nearby jute works.

“The Eagle Mills jute works was directly opposite the shop.

“With the low wages and large families, the pawnbrokers would have been very convenient when the cash ran out midweek.

“It’s not surprising the length of time the shop persisted at the site.”

Styling hair in Victoria Road since 1935

They must have been doing well because they had a live-in servant.

George Baxter died in June 1899 aged 49.

His wife carried on the business until her death in October 1910 aged 59.

She was followed by James Baxter, who continued the business until 1935 when the tradition of cutting hair at the premises started.

A smiling, bearded Bob Crichton, who has been researching his family tree. — Bob Crichton has been researching his family tree. Image: Supplied.

Bob said: “My grandfather Robert Reid was born in 1886.

“He finished his hairdressing apprenticeship in Dundee.

“He worked for a few barbers in Dundee.”

In 1910, along with his family, he went off to Chicago and stayed there until 1913, coming home to marry his sweetheart in Dundee.

Bob's father and grandfather outside the shop in the 1930s. — Bob’s father and grandfather outside the shop in the 1930s. Image: Supplied.

Bob said: “They had non-identical twin daughters in 1914.

“Mary, my mother, and Margaret, my aunt, known as Peggy, trained to be hairdressers.

“At this point in time the shop was taken over by Robert Reid who reopened the shop as a ladies’ and gents’ hairdressers.

“Mary and Peggy joined the business and he employed Bob Crichton as a gentleman’s hairdresser from 1937.”

A cut throat shave was offered in back shop

The front shop had two cubicles with hair dryers and perm machines for the ladies.

The back shop had two barber’s chairs for the gentlemen.

The ladies were busy with permanent wave styling, which was very popular at the time, and Bob Crichton was shaving men with cut throat razors.

The business rates at the time for the shop were £30 in 1935 and £33 in 1940.

Today those would be £1,787 and £1,547.

Bob got engaged to Mary in 1939, then went off to war, married her in 1946, and took over the business in 1951 when Robert Reid retired.

Bob added chiropody to expand the business in 1952 when he qualified as a member of the British Chiropody Association.

He was also a member of the School of Surgical Chiropody.

The building was opposite the Eagle Jute Mills on Victoria Road, pictured with a tram going by and a cyclist and pedestrians nearby — The building was opposite the Eagle Jute Mills on Victoria Road. Image: DC Thomson.

Bob said: “My father continued until 1956 when, diagnosed with glaucoma, he had to close the business.

“From 1946 to 1956 my father travelled from his home in Downfield to the shop and back by tram.

“It’s interesting that he gave up the business in 1956 – which was the same year Dundee gave up the trams.

“It has continued as a hairdresser to this day.”

Steph is proud of building’s rich history

In 1978 the shop was operating as Julie’s Salon.

In 1984 it became Elaine’s Hair Stylist and Complete Hair and Beauty in 2019.

The outside of the Dundee salon, which was called Julie's Salon before changing name in 1984. — The shop was Julie’s Salon before changing name in 1984. Image: Supplied.

Steph added: “My dream of becoming a hairdresser began at just 13.

“I started working in this very building for my former employer, Elaine’s Hair Stylist.

“She sparked the desire in me to eventually open my own salon.

“I left Elaine’s, went on to study hairdressing at Dundee and Angus College, then went to work in a busy salon in Broughty Ferry and thrived there.

“In early 2019, many years and haircuts later, the opportunity to buy over the Victoria Road salon came to fruition.

“I spent months planning and rearranging the salon to find out what would work best.”

The pandemic was a huge blow to the business but Steph has been rushed off her feet since it reopened when lockdown restrictions eased.

Steph McLaren at Dundee salon Complete Hair and Beauty, the building has been a hairdresser for decades — Steph McLaren at Complete Hair and Beauty. Image: Kim Cessford/DC Thomson.

“We have fought hard through pandemic closures, fuel poverty, and the cost of living crisis but continue to push forwards,” she said.

“We have gone from strength to strength, thanks to our clients.

“It has been fascinating to discover our history and it comes at time when we have celebrated our five-year anniversary with a party to thank our loyal clients.

“Having seen the history of 126-128 Victoria Road, we are supremely proud to be still cutting hair on the premises nearly a century later.”