A tale of Christmas past, when tills rang to the sound of sales

An

article that throws sharp relief on the state of our high streets appeared as the lead story on December 19, 1971.

The high street has witnessed the demise of giants such as BHS, Maplin and Woolworths in recent years. And this story shows just how much things changed, as it records a bumper retail Christmas.

“It was pandemonium in Scottish shops and stores yesterday,” the story starts. “In some places shoppers actually queued for the doors to open. From then till closing time the tills rang almost non-stop. Where’s all the money coming from? That’s the question the managers were asking.”

This influx of spending was in spite of rising unemployment at the time. “The shop owners had been dreading Christmas,” the story continues. “They were sure, with unemployment at 140,000, it would be the poorest on record. Dundee’s unemployment rate is 8.1% and rising. Yet some found sales were up 16% on last year. Others even reckoned on being nearer 30%.”