The Locarno Ballroom, Sauchiehall Street, photographed in 1930 when it was for sale. The Locarno was closed between 1929 and 1934.
The ballroom had opened on the site of a former cinema, the Charing Cross Electric Theatre, in 1926. It was named for the town in Switzerland where a treaty had been signed in the previous year, under which the European powers agreed to regard the frontiers of western Europe as permanent, raising false hopes of a lasting peace.
The first Scottish Professional Dancing Championships were held at the Locarno in 1928. The winners were Alex Warren and Cecilia Bristow. The Locarno was regarded as one of Glasgow’s top dancing venues for many years, and was popular with American servicemen during the Second World War. In the 1960s the name was changed to Tiffany’s, as discotheques became fashionable. Dancing finished when the building was converted into a casino in the 1970s.
Reference: Glasgow City Archives, D-CA 8/2930
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Americans, ballrooms, casinos, Charing Cross Electric Theatre, cinemas, dance halls, dances, dancing, discos, discotheques, Locarno Ballroom, Scottish Professional Dancing Championships, Second World War, Tiffany's, Treaty of Locarno
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