This old newspaper advert is from 1973. GOLDBERGS Department Store was looking for Santa! My mum used to take me, with my older and younger sister, to GOLDBERGS to see Santa. This is a special memory for me!
Do you remember Edinburgh’s GOLDBERGS? If so, what do you recall? Please do share!
I was just a small boy in the early 1970s and gosh, to see SANTA! I mean the real SANTA. I recall being a little frightened and certainly in awe.
GOLDBERGS is one of the first buildings that I recall. It was a huge block of modernity that stood out below Edinburgh’s ancient castle. It was imposing in a strikingly different way to the castle.
I recall the figurines either-side of the entrance door which was reached by steps. Does anybody know what these figurines represented? Or who sculptured them? I wonder if they survived the 1990s demolition?
I recall GOLDBERGS also for the electric elevators and fun-fair! It also had a roof-top cafe. How modern was that!
As a wee boy I had no IDEA what ‘modern architecture’ was and of course had never heard of Le Corbusier and his [likely] influence. I was however fascinated by the black and white movie of King Kong. My Great Uncle Peter had introduced me to this film. I always cried as King Kong fell from the Empire States. Humankind can be so brutal, indeed beastly. I am therefore glad that I never saw this poster before visiting GOLDBERGS:
