Disappeared Department Stores

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J&RAllans cropped

In the hiatus before the publication date of ‘Assured Attention’ I’ve been researching some of the old department stores of Edinburgh. What a lost world! I’ve looked at the long lists of departments that used to be considered necessary. Looking at the image above of the disappeared J& R Allan store on South Bridge, for example,  its clear that mourning was a major consideration for businesses back then. The appropriate dresses , hats and gloves vital purchases for the serious mourner in those days.

When was the last time you bought a ‘mantle’? I don’t think I ever have! Moving on into the 20th century I was surprised to see ‘Smoking paraphernalia’ included as a specific department in one large store. O tempora. O mores!

I’ll be presenting my findings at The University of the Third Age meeting on 19th July and once again, perhaps in an extended form (as I keep discovering more!), at ‘Previously- Scottish History Festival’ in November.

Illustration from the collection of Malcolm Cant.

Assured Attention- (to animals!)

By Posted in Animals, Author Event, best selling novel, department stores, Edinburgh, new book, new writing, Novel, pre order, Writing about animals Tagged , , , Leave a comment

The attentive reader will have noted that the first book in this series: ‘Our Best Attention’ featured a variety of animals: an embarrassing dog, a quiet cat, some cheeky monkeys (always the best!), chinchillas, quail and a Mynah bird. The little monkey draped over the title was a clue to the inclusion of animals.

In Book 2 ‘Assured Attention’, there are cats again, one, Bluebell, is Miss Murray’s own pet but a new visitor to Murrays ‘Department Store of Distinction’ has a chapter of her own.  This time it is she who adorns the title of the new book. Look out for the little Birman. Not all the staff at Murrays will have only two legs by the end of the book.

A dog features too. This time a rather depressed collie. Sad you might think,  however, he has a starring and unexpected role in a staff selection dilemma. Warning- its not what you might expect!

‘Assured Attention’ is available for pre order on Amazon Kindle and will be released to coincide with the official launch on 31st July.

Save the Date!

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Assured Attention (Medium)

‘Assured Attention,’ which is Book 2 in the series about Murrays Department store of distinction in Edinburgh, will be officially launched at Blackwells Bookshop, South Bridge Edinburgh on 31st July. The author Jane Tulloch will be in conversation with Comely Bank Publishing supremo Gordon Lawrie  and refreshments will be served. More to follow nearer the time but please put a note in your diaries!

I’m Back!

By Posted in Author Event, department stores, Edinburgh, memories, new book, new writing, People's Friend, Short Story Tagged , 1 Comment

Well its been a long winter for me and my knee. Thankfully, things are improving and I’m now out and about again. In fact I think I’m back in a big way. My latest book ‘Assured Attention,’ a sequel to ‘Our Best Attention’ is almost ready for publication. There have been sneak previews on Facebook and Twitter. The People’s Friend have published five stories, some of which are set in Murrays (department store of distinction,) others are in more diverse settings including a call centre, a sports centre and a school.  More are to follow. My hibernation has been productive.

Requests for talks and author events are coming in a steady stream and already the diary is filling up. Fine by me. I always enjoy these events and love hearing people’s reminiscences of departed department stores.

Meanwhile Africa is calling …

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!

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normservSo very sorry for having to cancel so many author events between now and Christmas (at least)

This is due to my having to have a total knee replacement op later this month. This was somewhat unexpected but that’s probably because I was convincing myself that it was OK rather than its actually being OK!

Meanwhile Book 2 is going through the publication process and several of my stories are being published in the People’s Friend over the coming months. ‘Murrays,’ the setting for ‘Our Best Attention,’ features in two of the stories including one of them  in the Christmas Special: the Tea Room ladies are up to tricks again. I gather this will be out on 16th November. Other stories will appear in the weekly editions over the next few months.

I’m looking forward to resuming my various talks and presentations over the Spring. If anyone would me to come and talk to their group please don’t hesitate to contact me directly. janetulloch@comelybankpublishing.com

Your Attention Please

By Posted in Author Event, best selling novel, Bestseller, new book, suggestions wanted Tagged , , 1 Comment

blank-book-coverWell, book two in the Murrays series is written and is currently going through the publication process. So far so good, but we’re having a slight problem deciding on a title. Best selling book one, ‘Our Best Attention’, was called that as it alluded to the old fashioned way letters were signed off at Murrays department store of distinction which is the setting for the book-

“Assuring you of our best attention at all times, Yours faithfully for Murrays, etc etc”

The dilemma is whether to call the next book in the trilogy “Still Assuring You” OR “Attention Assured.” At the suggestion of Emma Baird, the creative director at Comely Bank Publishing, I’ve been  taking soundings at my various authors events over the past month. Votes are heavily in favour of “Attention Assured”. However, have we missed something? Are there any alternative suggestions out there? Your attention to this matter would be much appreciated!

Back to Work!

By Posted in Author Event, best selling novel, Edinburgh, new book, new writing, Public libraries, Scotland, Short Story, Tea Rooms, Womens Groups Tagged , , , 4 Comments

stock-illustration-50715032-woman-back-office-work-monitor-drawingWell the Summer break is over. Fun was duly had by all. Blackwell’s ‘Writers at the Fringe’ event went well. Time to get back to work. There’s lots to do. I started last week at the Kinross Thursday group and the Westwoods Book Group. Enjoyable evenings, interesting ladies to speak to and some great questions posed. Just what I like. Luckily, there seems to be more of these events lined up over the coming months. Bring it on.

Otherwise I’ve got lots of writing to do. Book 2 has been submitted to the publisher-Comely Bank Publishing- and I expect to be doing my ‘corrections’ as they emerge from the copy editing and proof reading stages. Then there will be cover design to think about and all the various aspects of book production that readers don’t think about. I know I never did until  my best selling novel ‘Our Best Attention.’

My other writing has been short stories for a certain ladies weekly story magazine published in Scotland. Guess which one? This has been a most enjoyable foray away from Murrays although the popular ‘Tea room ladies’ feature in two of them. I couldn’t help myself!

Next outing is as part of the ‘Edinburgh Tales’ series at the Edinburgh Central Library on 21st September.  I’ll be talking about the book but also remembering the wonderful department store which was the inspiration for the setting of ‘Our Best Attention.’ Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look on it all the tickets were snapped up weeks ago.

Fringe Benefits!

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Blackwells at the fringeOne of the nicest things about having written my book is being asked to talk about it. So there’s something extra nice about being asked by Blackwells bookshop to talk at their Edinburgh Festival Fringe events. Blackwells originally hosted the book launch back in January this year so its lovely to be invited back. Details below.

BLACKWELL’S EDINBURGH PRESENTS… WRITERS AT THE FRINGE

Thursday, August 4th at 17:45 TO Thursday, August 25th at 20:00

Date: Every Thursday in August

Time: 5.45pm for a 6.00pm start

Venue: Blackwell’s Bookshop, 53-62 South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1YS

Now in its ninth year, Blackwell’s Writers at the Fringe once again brings you the best in Scottish writing.Every Thursday during the Festival we invite a selection of Scottish performers to give us a taste of their work. New and unpublished works of literary art stands alongside established novelists, with any and all genres free to be expressed – from Scots poetry to cutting edge drama, from folk music to contemporary fiction, and all that is found in between.

Our 2016 line-up

Thursday 11th August

Bert Flitcroft

Harrison Hickman

Jane Tulloch

Martin McInnes

Billy Letford

 

 

Telling (Edinburgh) Tales!

By Posted in Archive Material, Author Event, best selling novel, department stores, Edinburgh, memories, Novel, Public libraries, Scotland, Social history Tagged , , 2 Comments

edinburgh library

 

 

Central Library, Edinburgh.

Life is full of surprises it would seem. Librarian hath spoken unto librarian with the result that I was invited to view the Jenners archive at the Central Library in Edinburgh. Obviously, my novel, ‘Our Best Attention,’ is fiction but its location in a large department store was inspired by my time working in Jenners in Princes St, Edinburgh. I loved working there and it has long remained in my memory. However, the memories contained in the archive went back many, many years before I was born.

Among  the items I looked at was a complete inventory of the building from top to bottom. I was intrigued to find the ratio of shop floor space to the building as a whole to be really quite small. Only the first two floors were open to customers. The other four floors contained the staff bedrooms ( I found 102 of these!) staff dining rooms and a three bed sick room and medical room along with many workrooms and rooms with various other uses. Although this was a professionally produced inventory carried out by a London firm, it was unfortunately undated. Very frustrating. However, by careful cross referencing it looks like it must have been produced about 1906.

I also loved looking at the Christmas catalogues which dated back to 1902.  There was so much to look at in the archive that I plan several return visits.

I’m going to be talking about my novel and the background to it at the Central library “Edinburgh Tales” session on 21st September.  Look out for further information on the Eventbrite website.

Ladies Modes

By Posted in Author Event, best selling novel, Bestseller, department stores, Edinburgh, Fashion, memories, Womens Groups, Womenswear Tagged , Leave a comment

fashionable lady 2

Fashion was always a priority for ladies at Murrays of Edinburgh, department store of distinction. Various departments catered for different aspects of this from Lingerie and Corsetry to that holy of holies -Model Gowns with all varieties in between from Swimwear to Outdoor Clothing and even, for an unfortunate time, Furs.

In my best selling book , ‘Our Best Attention’, Mr Da Costa, the straight talking star of Model Gowns, dresses down Edinburgh ladies before dressing them up again in outfits that do them more justice than those they might have chosen for themselves. In the end the ladies actually revel in his rudeness and vie to be most insulted by him.

Of course this is just a story but reality can be surprising too. In the course of my author events I’ve enjoyed hearing ladies’ experiences of their time working or as customers in the old department stores. One lady told us all about how her grandmother was a model. This meant something different in those days: ladies didn’t try on clothes themselves, they would sit and watch as models paraded the clothes for them and those they chose would be made up for them in their sizes. No changing rooms for the ladies of old!   In that particular store, the sewing rooms were located as far as possible  from the kitchens to prevent contamination of the precious garments by cooking smells even those from the chocolate kitchen (yes there was one!) Those were the days!