The above multi-view postcard of Upper Largo features a range of familiar views of the area. I've picked out in detail below the view of the Main Street. One of the many shops at the time was George Mackie Ltd, the Chemist. George Mackie had an earlier chemist business in Glasgow on Renfield Street and had lived in Kirkintilloch. However, he made the move to Fife in 1935, taking over the existing chemist shop from James Bowie. Mackie lived at 'Lynwood' on Upper Largo's Main Street just a few doors along from the shop (which itself has now been converted into a house). The Upper Largo chemist business was in fact run by his daughter Miss B. H. Mackie.
George Mackie was "an authority on music, having one of the finest collections of high-class musical recordings in the District", according to the Kirkintilloch Herald, which reported his death on 14 May 1941. It also noted that Mackie made musical instruments as a hobby and "for some time conducted the Players' Club Orchestra with great success". He was also an elder at St David's Church. He was 77 years old when he died. The Upper Largo Pharmacy continued under his name for many years and it was only in 1975 that the business was wound up.
James Bowie, Mackie's predecessor, had been local chemist throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. On 25 May 1935, the Fife Free Press reported that "Mr Bowie, who has carried on a chemist's business at Upper Largo for a great many years, is leaving the district. The premises will be opened soon under new management." At the foot of this post is an advert from a few months later (1936) and another dating from 1950 about conquering smoking. Prior to James Bowie there had been a chemist named Peter Cowie in Upper Largo, who had died in 1917 at the age of 46.
George Mackie was "an authority on music, having one of the finest collections of high-class musical recordings in the District", according to the Kirkintilloch Herald, which reported his death on 14 May 1941. It also noted that Mackie made musical instruments as a hobby and "for some time conducted the Players' Club Orchestra with great success". He was also an elder at St David's Church. He was 77 years old when he died. The Upper Largo Pharmacy continued under his name for many years and it was only in 1975 that the business was wound up.
James Bowie, Mackie's predecessor, had been local chemist throughout the 1920s and early 1930s. On 25 May 1935, the Fife Free Press reported that "Mr Bowie, who has carried on a chemist's business at Upper Largo for a great many years, is leaving the district. The premises will be opened soon under new management." At the foot of this post is an advert from a few months later (1936) and another dating from 1950 about conquering smoking. Prior to James Bowie there had been a chemist named Peter Cowie in Upper Largo, who had died in 1917 at the age of 46.
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