The dance floor in the Albert Ballroom, Bath Street, in 1930.
The ballroom was named for Prince Albert and was originally the Warren Academy of Dancing, opened by John and Annie Warren in 1905. It soon became the first ballroom in Scotland to hold dances on six nights a week. Their son Alex became manager during the 1920s and the introduction of new dances such as the Charleston raised the Albert to new heights of popularity. It was said that some young girls were allowed to dance at the Albert but nowhere else, as it had a reputation for being well run with no drunks allowed.
The ballroom was closed after a fire in 1953 but it soon reopened, with the band wearing firemen’s helmets. The Warren family finally sold the Albert in 1965. The new owners tried to keep up with the times by opening the popular Joanna’s discotheque in the basement, but the end came when the building was destroyed by fire in 1974.
Reference: Glasgow City Archives, D-CA 8/307
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Albert Ballroom, ballrooms, Charleston, dance halls, dances, dancing, discos, discotheques, drunks, fires, Joanna's, Warren Academy of Dancing
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