Advertisement from the Post Office Glasgow directory of 1912-1913 for Murray McVinnie & Co's shipbuilders' and marine engineers' stores on Mavisbank Quay. Among the more notable products in stock were plague protection rat guards, just twelve years after Glasgow had suffered an outbreak of bubonic plague (in 1900) that claimed sixteen lives. Rats trapped in the holds of ships from from eastern ports, that escaped ashore when the vessels docked in Glasgow Harbour, were blamed for introducing the fleas that carried the disease.
Reference: Mitchell Library, DIR 1912-13
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
advertisements, bubonic plague, directories, fleas, marine engineering, Mavisbank Quay, Murray McVinnie & Co, naval stores, Post Office Glasgow directory, rats, ship chandlers, shipbuilders' and marine engineers' stores, shipbuilding