THREE models stretch their acting skills to the limit by pretending to be interested in these clocks at the Modern Homes Exhibition at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall in October, 1951. Now I'm not saying that some Herald photographers were old school, but the snapper who took this picture described the three ladies on the back of the photograph as "mannequins" which is rarely used for real life people. He had rounded them up to look at the stand of "cuckoo clocks" as he called them, but which the sign on the wall more accurately describes as "Wag-O-The-Wall Clocks" - essentially wall clocks that were not in a case.

The Modern Homes Exhibition at the Kelvin Hall in the fifties and sixties was quite an event. Many thousands of folk would pay to see round the stands in thehall where the latest housing developments and designs were showcased. There was also an aisle, which staff would pejoratively call "mugs' alley" where fanciful chopping machines and other kitchen gadgets were demonstrated before being sold to gawping customers amazed by the skill of the demonstrators. They would either soon break or languish in the back of a cupboard.

One attendee of the exhibition reminisced: "My mother used to buy gadgets at the Exhibition. I recall once she bought one of those little slicers which when you place an egg on the bottom and bring down a wee slicing arm - viola - you have nicely sliced egg. We had eggs with everything for a month before she got tired of it, then into the cupboard, with the other stuff it went."

FOOTBALL players used to be a bit more accessible to the press. Here is Gordon Strachan, now Scotland manager of course, sitting up in bed reading the sports pages about his winning goal for Scotland against Sweden at the start of Scotland's World Cup campaign - we used to qualify for them - in September, 1980. Gordon's goal was scored in Stockholm, but the team flew back to Scotland that night, so Gordon was happy to be pictured at The Excelsior Hotel beside Glasgow Airport where the out-of-town players spent the night.

Incidentally, do you remember these dial phones which were fixed to the walls in hotel rooms? Classic.

Herald sports reporter Jim Reynolds described Gordon as "without doubt the best midfield player in the country" after his goal, which is praise indeed from a writer who rarely went over the top in his descriptions.

WHAT a trio of obedient dogs, sitting there with bemusement as their owners imperiously wag fingers at them. This is Rutherglen Canine Club holding dog training classes in 1960. Interestingly the dogs don't appear to be the designer dogs of today and seem to be fairly non-descript mutts, although nothing wrong with that. Their owners are more varied, although even in the relaxed mode of dog training, both chaps are still wearing ties. Must have been a bit chilly in the hall as the lady owner has kept her coat on.

It is estimated that a quarter of British households have pet dogs and that there are over eight million pooches in the country. I wonder what these owners would have thought if you had told them then that within a generation owners would be carrying plastic bags around with them and picking up their dogs' poo. They wouldn't believe you.