The Ingram Street Tea Rooms were some of the first dining establishments created by Catherine Cranston at the end of the nineteenth century in Glasgow. Unlike previous eateries, clubs, or public houses that catered exclusively to certain groups of men, tea rooms catered to a wider clientele and were the first dining establishments to allow unaccompanied women. (...)
The Ingram Street Tea Rooms were some of the first dining establishments created by Catherine Cranston at the end of the nineteenth century in Glasgow. Unlike previous eateries, clubs, or public houses that catered exclusively to certain groups of men, tea rooms catered to a wider clientele and were the first dining establishments to allow unaccompanied women. Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh was first involved with the tea rooms in 1895 when Cranston commissioned the design of several murals for the Ingram Street Tea Rooms. From 1900 to 1912, Mackintosh designed several tea rooms in Glasgow for Cranston, including the complete redesign of the Ingram Street Tea Rooms from 1900, were he became the sole designer, working together with his wife, Margaret MacDonald. The color scheme, layout, decorative and furniture design varied according to each room’s unique theme.
Created in 1886, Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street Tea Rooms continued in the food catering tradition for over sixty years. In 1950, Glasgow Corporation acquired the Ingram Street building, and the tea rooms were used for storage. Before the building was demolished in 1971, the rooms were thoroughly documented and catalogued. The interiors were dismantled and moved to a storage space until they were transferred to Glasgow Museums in 1978, where they remained in storage for the next fifteen years.
