Former Dewar’s staff have become nostalgic with Perth Museum and Art Gallery’s newest exhibition.
The museum dedicated a space to commemorate 175 years of the company’s contribution to Perthshire life, with Dewar’s continuing to operate its Aberfeldy distillery to this day.
Former employees donated artefacts to the Blended Memories: Celebrating 175 years of Dewar’s exhibition, with a documentary currently in the works to further highlight the company’s impact.
Organisers hope the contributions will become an important archive of social and community focused history, which will enable future generations to be inspired by an industry that influenced Perthshire’s identity.
Visitors to the exhibition, which ends on Friday, have been able to learn about the history of Dewar’s with former employees sharing memories of their time with the company.
Communities Curator at Perth Museum and Art Gallery Robin Patel said: “We have had people bringing their own items – it is a social history exhibition.
“It makes comparisons to then and now, and how people got jobs back in the day. It was an attractive place to work as it paid well.”
Staff memories
A model of Dewar’s sits in the middle of the exhibition, showing visitors the layout of the distillery.
This has invoked memories for former workers and prompted them to share their thoughts with museum staff and each other.
Robin said: “Everyone who has been coming into the exhibition has been remembering the layout when looking at the model.
“They have been writing for our memory box and writing comments on Facebook.
“It is provoking a lot of conversations.”
Documentary
Meanwhile, museum staff are currently working on a documentary to further highlight the impact of Dewar’s and continue to share employees’ stories.
Using audio they already have from former staff, they have begun piecing it together and hope to complete it in the coming months.
The museum is encouraging any Dewar’s staff to come forward to share their experiences and memories as part of the project.
