This photograph is from the early 1960s, when the name "Camp Bar" would not have been regarded as incompatible with the accepted macho image of Glasgow pubs. Next door to the Queen Arcade in Renfrew Street, it provided a haven for husbands while their wives went shopping.
For many years the Camp Bar was run by a well-known publican, Patrick McKay. Born in Cushenden, Co Antrim, McKay entered the licensed trade in Belfast at 15 years of age. He moved to Glasgow and worked in the Smiddy and the Bunch of Grapes in the West End, as well as the Royal Bar in Hope Street, before taking over the Camp Bar in 1924. He rebuilt the pub in 1939, with a new counter and gantry and chrome and mirrored glass furnishings.
The Camp Bar was demolished a few years after this photograph was taken.
Reference: Glasgow City Archives, D-PL 2/1/1870
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
bars, Bunch of Grapes, Camp Bar, ice cream vans, public houses, publicans, pubs, Queen Arcade, Royal Bar, Smiddy, streetscenes
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