People's Palace
The People’s Palace was built in 1898 on historic Glasgow Green for the benefit of the working class inhabitants of the east end of the city.
It’s a delightful social history museum where you can find out how the people of Glasgow lived from 1750 until the present day.
It’s fun for children and adults alike, with computer interactives and film clips; paintings, prints and photographs and a wealth of historic artifacts including Billy Connolly’s amazing 1970s banana boots.
See how Glaswegians worked and played and find out about trade union struggles, crime and punishment.
The first floor takes you Doon the Watter and to the Dancing. It also shows you what it was like to be in an Anderson air raid shelter during the war and how the weekly wash was done at the ‘Steamie.’
On the second floor you can see Glasgow artist Ken Currie’s striking history cycle Visions of the City, and visit a ‘single end’ – the one-roomed flat that was home to many Glasgow families.
In the elegant Winter Gardens conservatory you can relax amid tropical trees and plants or have a bite to eat in the café.
There’s also a shop with an excellent range of greeting cards and gifts, from Glasgow local history publications to attractive art prints.
At the front of the museum is the largest terracotta fountain in the world, the famous Doulton Fountain that was gifted to Glasgow by Henry Doulton and is now lovingly restored to its former glory.