Small autograph album covered in brown faux crocodile skin. On the cover the name and words ‘Margaret A. Lockhart’ and ‘Autographs’ have been stamped and infilled with yellow ink. Inside, the pages contain photographs and signatures from theatre and music hall performers such as Harry Lauder, Dr Walford Bodie, Florrie Ford and Will Fyffe.

Elsmwood, South Road, Lochee, was the home of Margaret A. Lockhart and her father James Lockhart. James Lockhart (1870-1940), was director of the Kinnaird Cinema and the King’s Theatre, and opened the Palace Theatre in 1936.

In addition, James Lockhart was an artist, specialising in portraits of friends and acquantainces. His 1916 portrait of his friend, Harry Lauder, was gifted to the subject at the King’s Theatre on 28 September 1916. During the presentation, Lauder offered thanks to Lockhart for the kind gift:

“When the picture hangs on my wall, when the limelight has died from the theatre for me, when I have passed into a life of obscurity amongst the hills of Bonnie Scotland, I shall always look upon this picture and remember my great and dear and sincere friend Jimmie Lockhart and I shall always remember the very pleasant evenings that I have spent with the rest of my friends in Bonnie Dundee.” (‘Presentation to Mr Harry Lauder’, The People’s Journal: Dundee, 30 September 1916, p.7)

Lockhart’s daughter Margaret A. Lockhart who, in the 1920s and early 40s collected autographs of various acts who performed at her father’s venues.