High Street, Dundee (west side) - Ref: WC0309
Dundee High Street leads to the left of Monk's House (with the Houdini poster), while the Overgate leads off to the right (and north side). The photograph can be dated approximately to June 1909, when the escapologist visited the city.
Parked outside Whytock's is a motor car - the first to feature in the Wilson Collection. In the Overgate, Ramsay's 'famed' tearooms can be seen. Lennie & Thomson the opticians also advertise 'Kodak supplies', confirming the city's interest in photography.
The shop with a blank white sign above the display windows became William Wallace the hatter and hosier, who took over the site from Alexander Tulloch.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.