October 04, 2018

The power of an image: The banner of ‘The Grain Millers of Glasgow’ and its historical context

by Mildred Cookson and Daniel Sanchez-Villavicencio

The banner in question, The Grain Millers of Glasgow is a painted trade union banner held by Glasgow Museum's Collections. As with many other trade unions in Great Britain, the records of this particular society were lost after mergers and amalgamations over the years.
 


There seem to be no records explaining why the banner was created. So we have investigated the purpose, meaning and date of making such a socially significant object. Much could be deduced from the images portrayed, the same distinctive imagery that powered the Trade Union movement in the UK.

Provenance
Records of the banner’s provenance in the museum archives show it entered the ‘People’s Palace’ collection of Glasgow Museums on the April 8, 1988, having previously been kept at the Congress House building of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in London.

The banner was donated by their librarian at the time, Ms Chris Coates, who found it during the refurbishment of their Russell Street building.

However, there was no indication of how the Scottish banner came into possession of the TUC. It was judged only sensible to keep it in Scotland, rather than London, with the ‘People’s Palace’ as its ideal keeper.

The Grain Millers of Glasgow banner had actually been entrusted to Glasgow Museums back in 1973, as part of the historical display ‘Banner Bright: An Exhibition of Trade Union Banners from 1821’ .


Read the full article in the Milling and Grain magazine online, HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.


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