Rae Ltd
Client
Rae Ltd, also known as Rae Brothers, were 'Photographic Dealers and Opticians', operating from 134 St Vincent Street, and Renfield Street, Glasgow from the late 1890s. 1 George Gladstone Rae (born c. 1869), and John Gibson Rae (born c. 1857) were sons of a stone-quarrier from Dumfriesshire (a major source of red sandstone for Glasgow's buildings from the 1890s). 2
Around 1894, George, a chemist, was partner in the short-lived firm Riddell & Rae, manufacturing and selling photographic materials and lantern slides. 3 By 1896 George and John, previously a stationer, had formed Rae Brothers, and opened branches in Paisley and Perth (1900), and in Greenock (1904). The Perth branch was overseen by John. 4
Rae's 1896 'changing box', which held photographic plates in the camera, received press attention. 5 As befitted photographic pioneers, Rae Ltd commissioned an early advertising film called 'The Clown', one of twenty-four shorts made by G. A. Smith in Brighton in 1898. 6 At the 1901 Glasgow International Exhibition, Rae’s ‘attractive stand’, designed by Mackintosh, comprised ‘a shop with windows on either side’ and ‘charmingly designed’ cases. 7 These displayed apparatus and lenses from Kodak, Dalmeyer and Beck, alongside their own products, such as the ‘Rae’ Magazine snapshot camera. 8 During the First World War, Rae's sold 'trench periscopes', 'service pattern' binoculars and compasses to army officers. In 1916, they ceased hiring out lecture slides. 9 Their Greenock branch closed in 1930 due to the retirement of its proprietor. 10
Notes:
1: Glasgow Post Office directories, 1890–1930.
2: Census data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 7 April 2013].
3: Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1894–5, p. 523; 1895–6, p. 452; Edinburgh Gazette, 27 August 1895, p. 1217.
4: Glasgow Herald, 13 March 1896, p. 2; Glasgow Post Office Directory, 1896–7, pp. 463–4; Practical and Junior Photographer, 1, 1 August 1900, p. 18; Photographic Dealer, January 1904, p. 4; census data, www.ancestry.co.uk [accessed 18 March 2013].
5: Photographic News, 28 August 1896, p. 557; 'Changing Boxes: Bag Type', Note 22, Early Photography: Film and Plate Holders, www.earlyphotography.co.uk [accessed 27 March 2013].
6: David Fisher, 'Films Made in the Brighton and Hove Area: The Silent Era', Brighton on Film, 2009, www.terramedia.co.uk [accessed 18 March 2013].
7: 'The Exhibition: Messrs Rae Brothers', Merchant and Shipper: International Exhibition Number, June 1901, p. 278.
8: 'The Exhibition: Messrs Rae Brothers', Merchant and Shipper: International Exhibition Number, June 1901, p. 278.
9: Scotsman, 22 May 1915, p. 1; 19 December 1916, p. 1.
10: Scotsman, 22 March 1930, p. 7.
