Main Street, Rutherglen, Late 1800s

[Brian Moore]

First, let me state categorically that I did not take this picture!

That said,...I was collecting old postcards of my home town for a while. The town is Rutherglen in Lanarkshire, on the south side of Glasgow and the River Clyde.

Looking for postcards I discovered a few "magic lantern" slides and I bought them off E-bay and managed to scan them. This is one.

It has some corrosion as you can see but I think its an interesting photo. Wish I knew what camera. I estimate the image was taken in the late 1800s. The clarity of the image is quite remarkable. Look close and you can read the time on the Town Hall clock.

Main Street has changed in the last century but not all that much. The wide pavements were unusual and well-known in the local area, and when a sunny day happened and the shops rolled out their awnings the street took on a Parisian flair. Well, that may be a stretch. But in it's day "Ruglin" was a bonnie wee toon.

Here's a scan of a postcard I have. At first I thought same scene but cropped. Now after comparison I see it is a different shot. (Time on the clock, for one thing.) I wonder,...same photog, same day, similar shot from a wee bit further up the street? No,...on closer inspection I believe the postcard photo was shot much later--years even--after the magic lantern slide shot.

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Very interesting Brian. I especially like the deep depth of field that yields this crisp photo. Must have been a fairly long exposure by today's standards as I can see some motion blur in some of the people, especially the person in white across the street. Not only is the photo quite sharp but even with the deterioration the image has held up very well. Any chance we could see a repeat shot from this year from the same spot?

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks Ralph. I don't think that white object is a human being. First, dressed in all white would have been very unusual in a common street scene in that era. Secondly, although motion blur is apparant on some persons in the scene, none have blurred to the extent of that white thing. Finally, I've seen this same image reproduced as a post card and that white thing is rendered like a puff of smoke. Its a minor mystery to my. Look at the kid on the left with the hoop. (It's not a hula hoop, it's a hoop that was part of a game in which you propelled the hoop along like a wheel using a stick--I think in Scotland it was called a gird and kleek--maybe Davie or Allan can corroborate that.) Anyway, that kids arm is at an odd angle and I think it was in some movement, yet isn't blurred. I'd guess the shutter speed on this was no more than a second or so.

Anyway,...all conjecture on my part; you might be absolutely right, Ralph.

Repeat shot? I may have one buried somewhere. I could certainly post some postcards of the street, though perhaps not from the same spot.

 

[Kev Pugh]

The white Object does look like a smokey something to me on the top of the wagon are some pots/buckets that also appear to have some fluffy stuff coming out but also far off down the street past the clock tower is a girl wearing a white apron so the somkey stuff could be a lady in a white smock apron

It is great looking back at these oldies perhaps Chris will google map it?

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here you go chaps - as it looks today

Those trees have grown a bit!

 

[Pete Askew]

That's really interesting Brian. Nice bit of fungus too!! Any chance of enlarging that section with the ghostly blur? Mind, if you look close at the Google image, there seems to be something in the same place. Couldn't be could it?...

 

[Kev Pugh]

Spooky that Pete.......

 

[Brian Moore]

there seems to be something in the same place. Couldn't be could it?...

That really is quite odd, Pete.

also far off down the street past the clock tower is a girl wearing a white apron

That's some pair of eyeballs you've got Kev!

Thanks for posting the Google pic, Chris.

 

[Kev Pugh]

That's some pair of eyeballs you've got Kev!

I borrowed them from Pete AKA Ctrl + on my keyboard

 

[Ralph Thornton]

Thanks Ralph. I don't think that white object is a human being. First, dressed in all white would have been very unusual in a common street scene in that era. Secondly, although motion blur is apparant on some persons in the scene, none have blurred to the extent of that white thing. Finally, I've seen this same image reproduced as a post card and that white thing is rendered like a puff of smoke. Its a minor mystery to my. Look at the kid on the left with the hoop. (It's not a hula hoop, it's a hoop that was part of a game in which you propelled the hoop along like a wheel using a stick--I think in Scotland it was called a gird and kleek--maybe Davie or Allan can corroborate that.) Anyway, that kids arm is at an odd angle and I think it was in some movement, yet isn't blurred. I'd guess the shutter speed on this was no more than a second or so.

Anyway,...all conjecture on my part; you might be absolutely right, Ralph.

Repeat shot? I may have one buried somewhere. I could certainly post some postcards of the street, though perhaps not from the same spot.

Actually I thought the kid with the hoop was not moving. I think he's standing fairly still maybe talking to someone out of the photo. If he was moving it think hed be looking more in the direction the hoop is rolling. The horse team in the center of the street seems to have blurred feet but the depth of field keeps the fairly sharp. I thought the wagon on the right with the white thing behind it might be a refrigerated wagon kept cool with ice of course. Maybe the white thing is indeed a person with a white outfit on. Maybe a butcher. My imagination leads me that way anyway.

In any case it is indeed an interesting photo. I enjoy looking over stuff like that to learn about how things were, how they've changed and how we recorded scenes at different periods of history based on the available technology.

Chris,
Thanks for the more recent photo. Brian said the scene hadn't changed much but there does seem to be quite a few things different. We are seeing the scene from different perspectives though.

 

[Brian Moore]

Actually I thought the kid with the hoop was not moving. I think he's standing fairly still maybe talking to someone out of the photo.

I agree Ralph. I was talking about his arm only. The right one to be exact. No matter, the point is moot now. I'm now convinced the white thing is a ghost. (Because the apparition is considered to be probably a female, she is in white and is nearby to someone now dead suggests to me that it's a banshee we're looking at!)

 

[Ralph Thornton]

It's amazing how much we can SEE in this photo. Very scary!

 

[Allan Batchelor]

it canna be Rutherglen whars all the neds lol

 

[Brian Moore]

whars all the neds

Och,...Whut ye talkin aboot, Allan? Ruglin's a very genteel locale. The Paris of Lanarkshire so it is!

 

[Dan Cattermole]

That said,...I was collecting old postcards of my home town for a while. The town is Rutherglen in Lanarkshire, on the south side of Glasgow and the River Clyde.

This explains alot for the way you have been typing!!

 

[Brian Moore]

Och,...gonnie gee uz a brek, Dan?

 

[Dan Cattermole]

!!! When did you move to the U.S?

 

[Brian Moore]

When did you move to the U.S?

One month prior to JFK's assassination. (But I had nothing to do with that!)

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Wow!!! a long time ago then Brian....