SO nowadays you can simply sit at home with a glass of wine and order all your Christmas presents on-line. Here though is the Glasgow Barras in December 1953 where a salesman is trying to sell a scary-looking doll to a head-scarf wearing mother and her pig-tailed daughter. There was not a lot of money around then for Glasgow families so buying such a doll was a major investment. True, the Barras were cheaper than anywhere else, but you still had to beware of conmen. There was a character who sold a cigarette lighter and a coat hanger for a penny. It wasn't until you opened the bag that you realised you had bought a match and a nail.
The Barras, which were originally static barrows leased out to traders by Margaret McIver, have lost a lot of custom to car boot sales, so the area has dwindled somewhat. But there are new, younger businesses now moving in, and word is it could actually become trendy.
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