Based in the iconic building on the road junction of Knightsbridge, Brompton Road and Sloane Street in the heart of London “The Scotch House” was a department store specialising in Scottish fashions and clothing.

Of course, the company chose Knightsbridge as their address in their advertising over the other street names due to the high reputation that the name Knightsbridge had.

Our selection of adverts is from that illustrious publication “The Scottish Annual and Book of the Braemar Gathering “ which has been an amazing source of adverts for nearly a hundred years.

The first advert we show is from 1937 and makes no mistake in what message they want the reader to get, namely, that WE are based in KNIGHTSBRIDGE, LONDON and if you want anything fashionably SCOTTISH then this is the place to be. Due to the Royal patronage of the games since Queen Victoria first attended in 1848 it is no surprise that the type of people attending the Braemar Gathering in this period was very much “of society”.  With the message already made in 1937, the 1938 advert hones into the male fashion market as well as giving the great visual cue of the impressive building that awaits your arrival.

Jumping now to post-war Britain (like many things the Gathering was not held during the period of hostility) and the era of austerity we see their advertising drop to half-page but introducing one of their famous straplines “Scotland in the Heart of London”. Their editorial however is still promoting Scottish fashion products. We illustrate this period with adverts from 1949, 1950 and 1951. Note that the 1951 advert is repeated in 1952.

1953 sees the return to full page and now full colour. Presumably, the era of austerity is starting to lift and a big splash to a key target audience is called for. This style of advert now runs each year until 1959 when they revert to black and white adverts. This period also sees a change in editorial stance for though they still tell you what they are selling they make a big play on the belief that their heritage and roots are very much steeped in Scotland, its history and lore.

Moving into the 1960s and the reversion to black and white advertisements they also start to repeat adverts over several years. Economy or reinforcing a message is open to conjecture but the advert featuring the shop interior (artwork by Widdows) ran from 1959 to 1962 while the exterior picture (artwork by EB) ran from 1963 to 1965 (the artwork was reused and cropped for 1966). These adverts extol the pleasure to be had by shopping for your Scottish fashions in the Heart of London.

Although our feature ends here, the Scotch House was to remain a London Institution until the early 2000s. As a by-note, the store is now home to Burberry.

Let me know your memories of visiting this landmark store on your trips to London in the comments below. Thanks for reading.

Until next time, Richard Roberts