Alloa Adverts

This fine selection of black and white cinema adverts from 1935 showcases a variety of businesses in Alloa. “Enjoy the wine of life” at a local off-licence or relax at the Royal Oak Hotel with a daily pint - your “good deed every day”! Buy your baby tuberculin tested milk from the Alloa Dairy Company or, if you fancy a pampering session and a chance to impress the boys (or girls!), “secure the perm that charms” at the Co-operative Society’s hairdressing department.

These adverts are useful as a source of social history, offering an insight into fashion, diet and business trends in 1930s Britain. It is interesting to see an advert for Alloa Dairy, where great emphasis is placed on the eradication of tuberculosis in milk. This is not a common problem in today’s society but must have been a concern at this time. We also get a glimpse into 1930s machinery; keep an eye out for the revolutionary hand operated steam press used in W.M. Laing and Sons dry cleaners. Although the majority of the businesses advertised in this film have long since closed a few are still functioning, including the Alloa Advertiser which has been printing newspapers since 1841.