SOME folk, particularly Celtic fans, would have loved to have put Lex McLean through the wringer. The Clydebank-born comedian would come on stage, usually in a flat cap and muffler, a hang-dog expression, and tell jokes about his troublesome marriage and his love of Rangers Football Club. I remember him summing both up in the gag: "The wife said to me the other day, 'I think you love Rangers more than me.' So I told her, 'Don't flatter yourself, I love Celtic more than you'."

Lex though was a shrewd businessman. His shows at the Pavilion in Glasgow would run for many weeks over the summer, with Lex hiring the supporting acts, and taking a percentage from ticket and even bar sales. He would then sprint from the theatre to catch the last train from Queen Street to home in Helensburgh. train drivers, who knew his routine, would even wait for him if he was running late.

Here he is in August, 1960, opening an electrical store in Glasgow's New City Road where he naturally clowned around for the photographers. And yes, housewives were still using mangles in those days.