Its ships were recognised by generations of holidaymakers and took the names of Scotland’s cities across the world with them.
Tens of thousands thronged through the doors of the former DP&L building on Dundee’s waterfront, with children marvelling at models of SS Dundee, MV Arbroath and SS Perth as their parents booked holidays.
The building was sold to Stone Acre last month for redevelopment as luxury flats, with its former tenants headed to auction houses across the UK.
And part of the legacy of DP&L is to go under the hammer in Angus six fine model vessels and an array of maritime artwork charting almost two centuries of world travel.
Mementos from the Maritime Building in East Dock Street are being carefully disembarked at Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Brent Avenue, Montrose, ahead of their sale in May.
The models are expected to fetch thousands of pounds per piece one SS Dundee made £12,000 at a London auction.
Ian Taylor said the display is already “coming together” and attracting nostalgic glances.
He added: “DP&L are selling off all their ship models and we have those on display at the moment.
“The sale isn’t until the end of May so there is plenty of time to come and take a look around.
“We have half a dozen of the ship models and a lot of memorabilia including the MV Arbroath and the likes of the SS Dundee and SS Perth.”
Last year the DP&L Group was sold to Scottish businessman Alick Bisset.
The group had moved from shipping into a range of other businesses and, with a new base in Dunsinane Industrial Estate, the Maritime Building was put on the market.
The sale is on May 30.
HISTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS
While readers may remember DP&L Travel as a fixture on high streets across Courier Country, the original Dundee, Perth and London Shipping Company had a peerless reputation in shipping.
DP&L’s history dates from 1826, and the company operated a fleet of vessels in the 19th Century that sailed on the London route, to Glasgow via the Forth and Clyde Canal, to Leith, and Liverpool.
In 1857 the firm bought the Dundee & Hull Shipping Company.
The stone Maritime Building by architect James Maclaren has, with Custom House opposite, dominated the eastern approach to the city centre since Victorian times.
During both world wars DP&L’s ships were requisitioned as armed boarding steamers, convoy escort vessels and D-Day support craft.
The company changed with the times as transport was revolutionised by aviation, and diversified into leisure and travel management, marquee hire, recruitment and industrial supplies.