Dented penny

A Craigie reader writes: “I was clearing out some old bits and pieces when I discovered a brown envelope containing a bent George V one penny piece, dated 1919 (see photograph below).

“The envelope reads: ‘Penny dented by last car No 23 from Maryfield to Lochee, 12.40, Saturday, October 20, 1956.’ I asked some of my family and they seemed to think that many people (including my great uncle) tried to dent a penny under the last tram car to go through Dundee on this date in 1956 before the transport network closed for good.

“Does anybody else remember doing this, or have a similar memento from a family member?”

On October 21, 2016, to mark the 60th anniversary of the withdrawal of the trams, Courier writer Caroline Lindsay wrote in a feature: “At one minute past midnight on October 21 1956, Dundee’s last tram made its final journey, drawing a chapter of Dundee’s transport history to an emotional end .

“A Courier reporter witnessed rousing scenes in Dundee’s streets rivalled only by those seen on Hogmanay. ‘I have never seen anything like it, he wrote. ‘Hundreds of cars lining the streets, thousands of people milling around, cheering, waving and singing, fireworks lighting the scene – and all in the wee sma’ hours of a Sunday morning.’”

“The reason for the mayhem was the last tram run from Maryfield to Lochee – Car No. 23, the 39-year-old ‘baby’ of the fleet, the last of a line which started 79 years previously with a horse-drawn vehicle trundling from Albert Square to Windsor Street.”

Dundee’s last tram arriving at the Lochee depot surrounded by onlookers. See more on far left.

See story above.