School dinners at Dalmarnock Public School in Albany Street in 1916. The youngest children sit at low tables to the left of the photograph while older children sit on the right. The dinner ladies are at the far end of the room, and the woman on the left is probably a teacher supervising and keeping order. There is a piano in the corner.
The three beds in the centre of the image are occupied by infants who do not appear to be of school age and it is not clear why they are taking their afternoon nap in the school dining hall. The school may have provided a service to look after infants for mothers who had found jobs in the munitions factories during the First World War.
Dalmarnock was a typical Glasgow School Board red sandstone school, designed by Robert A Bryden and opened in 1893. This dining room was on the top floor, with natural light flooding through the skylight.
Reference: D-ED 5/22/2
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
children, Dalmarnock Public School, Dalmarnock School, dining halls, dining rooms, dinner ladies, Glasgow School Board, infants, pianos, primary schools, pupils, school dinners, school meals, teachers, women