by Twizzle » Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:57 am
I don’t remember when Wilson’s Zoo was on the corner of Oswald Street and Argyle Street. I was never in it, but I understand it was also famous for having had a smell all of its own.
I believe they moved to Calton Place sometime in the early 1960s. It was a very grand building just across the suspension bridge on the Clyde front. The shop was entered by a narrow corridor, which continued to their zoo up some stairs, although a ticket costing a shilling had to be purchased at the shop counter. On the right, the actual shop opened into a large, well-lit space, filled with aquariums, cages and bookshelves. They had a Leadbeater cockatoo, which was an extremely rare beast in the 1960s. It was like Alladin’s Cave (to me anyway).
Mr Wilson, the owner, rarely seemed to be in attendance, but a slightly built lady, with white hair and a bun, called Mimi, attended the counter. Another gent called Mr Robertson ran the show. As stated in other posts, one of their attractions was a one-eyed, rather moth-eaten lion, which had survived the move across the water, and which sat panting for most of the day in a rather small cage. Apparently Mr Wilson had a brother Bert, who also owned a small pet shop in the Saltmarket.
Mr Wilson of the Zoo had a bit of a reputation in the pet trade – on one occasion he sold a venomous snake to another pet shop owner, after showing how he could handle it confidently. When the other guy got his expensive purchase back to his own shop, he noticed that the snake’s lips had been stitched together! That’s why it didn’t bite.
I did meet Mr Wilson once when I was still in primary school – they had a cage of doves and I pointed out that one of them had laid an egg. He offered it to me for 1/6d (7.5 pence). He was a real salesman - on another visit, I was handed an A4 sheet of paper looking very official, with a Wilson’s Zoo letterhead. It extolled the virtues of “Oriental Singing Crickets”, specially imported by Wilson’s, describing that they were a popular pet in the Far East because of their delicate tinkling voices, and describing how to care for them. I bought two at 3/6d each, (35 pence) completely taken in by the propaganda.
Some years later, while in secondary school, I got a summer job in Wilson's during the holidays. It was good experience feeding the animals and seeing behind the scenes. They had a lot of space that that public never saw. In the 1970s they downsized and moved to the corner of Hope Street and Argyle Street to a very small shop, ironically just across the road from where their original zoo had been. After a few years, they moved once again to “halfway down Robertson Street” (to quote an advert for a paint store of the time) where the rates were cheaper. They were always well-respected, especially amongst tropical fish keepers. I don’t know when they eventually closed. Interesting that Mr Robertson’s son is prolific in the Glasgow Police – he also used to help out during the summer months in his dad’s shop.