REMEMBER WHEN
The famous Ameer Street, photographed by Alan Villiers in 1939, led to the waterfront where the palace of the ruler stood. It was customary for the ruler to make a “state procession” on this street.
Kuwait’s traditional markets, or souks, were an integral part of the old city. Souks were colorful and diverse, some being highly specialized. They were the meeting place of merchants, men, women and the people of the desert. After a light breakfast and a cup of coffee, shopkeepers left their homes and headed for the souk. They stayed in their shops buying, selling and receiving friends until noon when they went home for lunch and the noon siesta. In the afternoon they returned to their shops where they stayed until sunset. Although the souks then
The local souks
became deserted, the shops were well-guarded.
To wander through the souks was a pleasure for a visitor to the old city. He would enjoy walking through the narrow and covered markets teeming with activity. He would pass by a group of bedouins from the desert sitting near an arms shop waiting patiently for their guns to be repaired, or hear a group of women bargaining with a textile vendor, or watch an old man waiting calmly for his turn to get a free cup of fresh water from an earthen jar provided by a wealthy citizen. These were but a few interesting sights the old souk had to offer before modernity changed the spirit of the souk and hastened the disappearance of most of them. (From the book