A Day of Freebies

Edward Burns

Glasgow's Kelvin Hall is famous for many things. Sitting across from the fairytale Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, its red sandstone frontage looks suitably grand for it to be moderately famous for its appearance alone. But I suppose its main claim to fame lies with the fact that every Christmas it was the magical location of the carnival and circus, including the elephants whose earthy smell some say persists to this day. To me, it is famous for something not a lot of people know about.

Amongst the many events hosted by the Kelvin Hall, each year there was the Food Exhibition. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure if it was called the Food Exhibition, but certainly for many Glaswegians it was an event of saliva-inducing smells, deep fat fryers, and demonstrations where you could see the latest kitchen gadget cut up everything from a carrot to a thumb into every shape imaginable. ... (continues)