Where would you have gone Christmas shopping in Dundee in 1979?
These were the days before Amazon brought everything to your doorstep and you had to trudge from store to store looking for the perfect gift.
Dundonians were determined to forget inflation and the problems of balancing the family budget with a bumper Christmas shopping spree in 1979.
Competition was fierce.
The Keiller Centre, Overgate Centre and Wellgate Centre were packed with bustling shops and there was barely an empty window in sight.
Did you prefer these times?
We looked back at some Christmas advertising features to discover how some of our best-known retailers were selling their festive fare 45 years ago.
The Courier gave stocking suggestions
Christmas always starts with a child writing their letter to Santa.
The direct line to the North Pole workshop was also open for excited children and December’s busiest man had a Dundee dialling code in December 1979.
You could call the Santa Phone on Dundee 20111 for a “different message every day” while ringing up your parent’s phone bills until Christmas Eve.
Still trying to think of an original idea for a present?
The Courier suggested some “novel” and “inexpensive” gift ideas for all budgets.
Over £20?
How about buying your loved one a burglar alarm for £40?
Under £20?
A clock radio at £19.95 or cord bomber jacket at £18.25 were suggested.
Under £15?
A swinging set of five ball-bearings?
They would make an “entertaining ornament” at £12.99.
For under £10 how about a beginner’s wine-making kit at £6.50?
A £9.45 car battery charger was another suggestion.
Under £5?
A fragrance lamp for £3.50?
A Snoopy pencil case at £1.10?
What if your budget was under £1?
The Courier said: “Is your wife always complaining of all that extra shopping which she never seems to have room for?
“Pop a foldaway shopping bag into her Christmas stocking for only 69p.”
Who said romance was dead?
Worried about another series of power cuts?
You could also “play safe and give a decorative candle” for 77p.
What would you have bought in 1979?
Not even blackouts could stop Christmas shoppers.
What would you buy in December 1979?
One of the most famous stores in Reform Street was department store Cairds.
House coats with a zip front and velvet trim cost £42.95.
Something electrical?
Currys in Murraygate guaranteed its customers the lowest price.
A Hitachi TRK-8000 radio cassette recorder cost £99.95.
The stereo came with 12 free blank tapes.
A Sanyo cassette recorder was £29.95.
A Casio watch was £15.95.
McGill’s in Victoria Road and Wellgate was offering “something for everyone” and was open until 6pm Monday to Saturday and 8pm on Thursday.
In the men’s department were elephant cord jackets costing £43.50, suede-front cardigans for £33.75 and turtle neck knitted pullovers at £10.50.
For women?
Cosy pyjamas at £10.95 and classic sweaters at £8.
There were also “waistcoats for larger ladies in lacy knit” from £8.99.
David Low in Commercial Street was the place to go for sporting goods.
A snooker table with legs was £125.
A table football game was £15.95.
Christmas is also the most popular time to propose.
The Ring Shop was selling diamond rings from £36 to £320.
Aladdin’s cave at John Menzies store
Maybe you would have gone to John Menzies in Murraygate?
The first floor was an Aladdin’s cave with a huge music department including cassette tapes and 33, 45 and 78 RPM vinyl singles and albums.
The second floor sold toys including Hornby model trains and Scalextric sets.
Toys, gifts and records proved particularly popular in December 1979.
Pens, calculators and typewriters were a close second.
There was also demand for gift tokens.
Which children’s annual took your fancy?
David Winter was open six days at the bottom of Castle Street.
Christmas decorations in all shapes and sizes were priced from 13p to 49p.
There was 15% off Christmas cards with a box of 40 costing £1.75.
What would you buy your loved one?
A car vacuum cleaner with cigarette lighter plug was £6.95.
Illuminated globes were “always an acceptable present” at £17.28 and £21.26.
Children’s annuals on sale included Beezer, Bimbo, Diana, Hotspur, Scoop and Topper.
A large selection of slippers were in stock at Potters in Commercial Street.
The Keiller Centre opened six weeks before Christmas in 1979.
You could “solve your present problem” with a visit to the Gift Corner which was selling everything from £11.99 digital clock radios to £1.99 cigarette lighters.
The Toy Centre was selling items including cowboy hats and guns, dolls, hobby kits, Lego, jigsaws, racing cars, a toy cash register, train sets and the Space Hopper.
Studs in the Wellgate Centre was selling Wrangler jackets from £22.50.
Boys cord and denim shirts were £6.25.
You might even have met Ken Barlow while shopping for gifts.
Coronation Street actor William Roache swapped Weatherfield for the Wellgate to open a new Granada TV rental shop the week before Christmas.
What a time to be alive.
What about some less traditional gifts?
Traders at Lorne Street Market in Lochee were selling toys, fancy goods, electrical items, records, cassettes, clothes, sporting goods and Christmas gifts.
There were plenty of bargains to be had among the 100 stalls at Dens Road Market where the home-made cake and candy was the perfect stocking filler.
Shoppers were invited for a “leisurely look around” Allardyce in the Overgate, which was open six days in December 1979 and selling toiletries and Christmas items.
Fancy a less traditional gift?
The shop to buy your Parker pen for Christmas was Pen World.
Any name was engraved free of charge at the Wellgate Market Hall.
Feeling nautical?
Lifejackets, buoyancy jackets, yellow wellies and moon boots were “just a few of the many ideal Christmas gifts” you would find at Allison Gray in Dock Street.
Ironmonger George Stephen and Son was offering “some crafty thoughts for Christmas from Stanley” with two for the price of one with gift wrapping.
Nothing quite says Christmas like waking up to find a mini hacksaw in your stocking.
What would you have found under the tree?
There’s a good chance you would have received a cuddly toy from Santa.
The Evening Telegraph in December 1979 said the recipients of these loveable gifts were not confined to children – teenagers had a great passion for them too.
The bigger, the better.
One Dundee shop was stocking a huge teddy costing £225.
What else was in demand in Dundee?
Racing car sets like Scalextric were almost sold out by Christmas Eve.
Model railways costing £16 to £40 were just as popular.
So too was Lego and wooden toys – including rocking horses.
Good news for its Dundee inventors was the board game Saga about the Viking raids was holding its own alongside Buckaroo, Operation and Mousetrap.
What was your Christmas dinner in 1979?
Food and drink?
Frozen oven ready whole turkeys were 52 per lb from Asda Kirkton.
Foil was 39½p and Paxo stuffing 9p.
Walls family sweet vanilla ice cream was 23½p.
Frozen turkey was 56 per lb from Lowfreeze in Lochee High Street.
A pack of six mince pies was 48p.
Auld’s 16-portion gateaux was £2.85 with five varieties.
Just what you’ll need after all that shopping.
So that was Christmas then – not that different from Christmas now, really.
I mean, we’ll all be buying our other half a mini hacksaw.
Right?
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