LOOK at the desperation and determination on the face of the customer on the right as he leans in to tell the assistant what he is seeking. You can imagine he is trying to buy passage for him and his family out of a war-torn country. But he is probably just asking about a return to Saltcoats.
This is the enquiry desk at St Enoch Station, Glasgow, in July 1949, according to the calendar on the wall, so is probably the start of the Glasgow Fair with thousands besieging the station asking about trains to Ayrshire or further afield.
In fact, the woman wearing the rather stylish raincoat suggests it was indeed the start of the Fair, which had a tradition for inclement weather. We like the woman staring over to her left who was no doubt checking no one was skipping the queue. We also like the behatted woman on the left who seems to be quite calm, taking in the whole scene with equanimity.
Note, too, the elbow patches on the assistant’s jacket, suggesting much of his day was spent leaning over train timetables, working out complex departures.
“Change at Preston,” an assistant at a Glasgow railway station once told comedian Chic Murray. “No thanks, I’ll have my change now you bunch of robbers,” he replied.
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