Cullen & Co, Fruitier & Confectioner - No 20, but which street?

Recollections Please scroll down this page, or click on the links below
Recollections 1.	John Smith Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland	Cullen Shops
Question 1.	John Smith Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland	Where is the shop?
Answer	Sarah Gordon	20 Broughton Street
Three Photos	© © ©
Answer Confirmed 1.	John Smith Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland	20 Broughton Street
Answer Confirmed 2.	Bob Henderson Burdiehouse, Edinburgh Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland	20 Broughton Street
Question 2.	Peter Stubbs Edinburgh	When was the photo taken?
Recollections 2.	Beryl Smyrk Australia	18 Broughton Street

Recollections

John Smith

Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland

Thank you to John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire for allowing me to reproduce the photograph above of Cullen & Co, Fruitier and Confectioner. The shop belonged to John's Great Grandfather.

The lettering on this shop advertises:

- Fry's Chocolate (on the windows at front of the shop).

- Cadbury's Chocolate (on and below the windows at side of the shop).

- Rowntrees Chocolates & Pastilles (on the poster in front of the shop).

The shop is at No 20, but I have not yet discovered the name of the street.

John wrote:

Cullen Shops

"My great grandfather also had:

a) a shop (T Cullen) at 37 Arthur Street in the 1920s.

b) a half-share in another shop with Messrs Lumsden. It was in Victoria Street. I believe that Cullen & Lumsden shops went on well into the 1960s.

The two ladies in this photo are the same two as are in the Arthur Street photo in the thumbnail image above - my Grandmother and my Great Grandmother.

The photo would have been taken pre-1926. From 1926 onwards, my Grandmother would have been at home looking after my Mum who was born that year."

John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland: March 16, 2009

Question

Where is the shop in this photo? It is certainly No 20, but I've not yet found any Cullen shops at No 20 listed in the Edinburgh & Leith trade directories.

John Smith wrote:

"I have been in touch with mum regarding the shop at No. 20. She is positive it is Victoria Street. She says that they lived across the street from the shop."

John added:

"The owner of the shop was my great grandfather's brother who married into the Lumsden family - hence the Cullen & Lumsden connection above."

John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland: March 31, 2009

Victoria Street?

I must check to see if the numbering of the shops in Victoria Street changed at some time in the early 1900s. Currently, No 20 Victoria Street is on the north side of the street. Looking to frontage, the street slopes up from left to right, and No 18 is on the right hand side of No 20.

If the shop in the photo above is in Victoria Street, it appears to be somewhere on the south side of the street.

Answer

Thank you to Sarah Gordon who sent the reply below, and also sent me a link to the corresponding page on Google Street View.

Broughton Street

"I've just had a look at the photo of the chocolate shop called Cullen & Co which was thought to be Victoria Street.

I'm pretty sure it is actually in Broughton Street, and is now trading as Eastern Union (no.20 Broughton Street). There is a tenement stairway next door to it (which would be no.18 in the old photo). It's on the corner of Broughton Street and York Lane and would be opposite Forth Street."

I've attached a link to google street view, so you can have a look (if it works!)

Sarah Gordon: April 18, 2009

Agreed

Well done Sarah! I think there's no doubt that's the same shop. I photographed the shop the same day as I got Sarah's message. See the comparison below.

I was not able to take the 2009 photo from exactly the same position as the 1920s photo because somebody has put up a bus shelter in the way, but a comparison can still be made.

The windows have changed but other features can be matched on both photos including:

- the tall 4-panelled door near the centre of each photo.

- the advert (lower-right) in the old photo, and the space where it fitted.

- the holes at the bottom of the two pillars ** just above the pavement.

- the ventilation grill beneath the window.

- the moulding in the upper-right corner of the photo.

** This appears to be the best evidence. Look at the shapes of the holes!

In both photos, the shop is No 20 and the entrance beside it is No 18.

Peter Stubbs: April 21, 2009

Answer

Confirmed - 1

Thank you to John Smith, who sent the original photo for replying:

"Well done to Sarah! That's definitely the shop - it hasn't changed much. I don't know where mum got Victoria Street from but I'll inform her and see if that now rings any bells."

John Smith, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland: April 22, 2009

Answer

Confirmed - 2

Thank you to Bob Henderson who replied:

"I think you have definitely nailed it here. The clincher is the boot scraper hole on the right hand side of no 18. It is broken and is the same shape of break in the old and new pictures."

Bob Henderson, Burdiehouse, Edinburgh: April 22, 2009

Question

When was the Photo Taken?

I've checked old editions of the Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory to try to discover when this photo might have been taken.

Unfortunately, not all addresses are listed in the Post Office Directory. I found that:

- for years 1908 (the first year that I checked) up to 1921, there were no addresses listed in Broughton Street between Nos 16B and 24. I assume that it would have been during this period that the Cullen & Co shop would have been at No 20.

- for years from 1922 until 1928 (the last year that I checked) No 20 appeared in the directories under the name of Porrelli.

Peter Stubbs: May 3, 2009

Recollections

Beryl Smyrk

Australia

Beryl Smyrk, Australia, wrote:

18 Broughton Street

"The photo of 20 Broughton Street was of great interest to us as Great Great Grandfather Robert Scott had a bakery and was at 18 Broughton Street in 1851. Would this be the doorway on the left of your photo? [Yes.]

He migrated to Australia in the mid 1850's so we are doing all our research from here. Anything you could tell us would be wonderful.

Beryl Smyrk, Australia: September 13, 2009