If you wanted to buy anything from a new shirt to a radio in the Scottish Capital in the 1950s or 1960s you didn’t have the option of ordering over the internet, or even popping to an out-of-town shopping centre.
Instead a trip to the city centre was required to satisfy your consumer urges – a journey to Princes Street, Lothian Road, Leith Walk, or one of Edinburgh’s other shopping areas.
The 1950s and 1960s was a time of new inventions, electrical gadgets, contemporary fashion, and changing habits – and it was the golden age of the department store.
These huge shops filled multiple floors with everything you could want to buy, with restaurants, cafes and even milk bars for when you needed a break.
The most famous example is probably the much-missed Jenners, on Princes Street, which finally closed for good in 2021.
But there were plenty of other famous names in Edinburgh that attracted hordes of shopper, particularly at Christmas and for the traditional January sales, including the likes of Binns, Goldbergs and R.W. Forsyth.
Here are 20 pictures to take you back to the heyday of the Edinburgh department store.
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5. Smalls
A view of the underwear department of Binns Department Store on Princes Street in March 1966. | TSPL
6. The corner
The Forsyth of Edinburgh Department Store at the corner of Princes Street and South St Andrew Street in November 1939. | TSPL
7. She's in fashion
A mannequin parade and fashion show at JR Allan's Department Store, on North Bridge, in March 1962. | TSPL
8. Takes the cake
A giant Christmas cake at Goldbergs Department Store, in Tollcross, in December 1965. | TSPL