2021 is our fortieth anniversary, and July is our birthday month! Paper Tiger leapt onto the High Street (Stafford Street, actually) in the summer of 1981. The idea for Paper Tiger came from the Studio One Shop, our sister store at 10-14 Stafford Street, which traded from 1966 to 2016 (and continues in Morningside at Studio One Furniture). 

Studio One had sold cards and stationery for several years, and the founder John Johnson was inspired to start a separate business when the former newsagents shop at Number 16 became available. Our first window display was on a wedding theme - to celebrate the nuptials of Charles Windsor and Diana Spencer.

1981 was quite a time for John to launch a new High Street brand. The UK and Scotland were in political, social and economic turmoil. Margaret Thatcher was in Number Ten, striking workers were on the streets, and the IRA were on hunger strike. Shergar was winning the Epsom Derby, my beloved Liverpool were winning their third European Cup. Rioting tore through the streets of cities across the UK (including Edinburgh), and the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was founded. The Post Office cancelled telegrams, and amidst more strikes and once in a century snowstorms, the UK recorded its first case of AIDS.

In Scotland, the Sinclair ZX81 home computer began production in Dundee as old industries were closing down (car making, coal gas), and North Sea oil production was expanding. In Edinburgh, Perrier gave their inaugural Award to Cambridge Footlights - that year their alumni included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. The revered Scottish nature writer Nan Shepherd passed away, and so too did Bill Shankly, the greatest Scottish football manager of all time. Alasdair Gray published his seminal work 'Lanark'. And - Proustian rush - Gregory's Girl hit the cinema screen. In 1981 I was still a wee boy, but I remember that Gregory's (actual) Girl was Clare Grogan from Altered Images. Bella, bella. 

The country was gripped by Space Invaders and the Rubik's Cube, as we sat watching the brand new Channel Four, launched on 1st January 1981. The TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's 'Brideshead Revisited' arguably began the insatiable demand for period drama, and for the younger viewer, Postman Pat (and his black and white cat) and Danger Mouse appeared on screens. Cripes, Chief! 

Sadly, there is no archive of the early years of Paper Tiger. We still have a copy of our original advertising poster:

You can perhaps understand why our 1981 Paper Tiger was looking out at the world with some trepidation. A few years ago, we fixed her gaze, and now she's looking up to meet your eye.

Our celebrations this summer have been a little more muted than we had planned. But we are meeting the challenges of the last eighteen months with our heads held high, and the eye of the tiger is ready for the challenges ahead!