Laurel and Hardy

  • V is for Variety

    The Glasgow Empire Theatre is renowned as being the place where comedians went to die. In common with many cities, music hall and then variety were popular pastimes for working people. After a week of hard toil, if a Glaswegian paid a few shillings he’d expect to be entertained, and his standards were high. Add…

  • P is for Panopticon

    In 1857 Glasgow’s Trongate was no longer the wealthy and desirable locale built by the tobacco lords who had headed over to the west end of the city. Trongate was an area of dubious reputation with over 200 shebeens and 130 brothels crammed into a street no more than one eighth of a mile. So…