WRAPPED in bulky shawl-collared woollen coats that make them look twice their size, the women brace themselves against the cold wind which comes blowing down Shandwick Place and into their faces as they line up around the corner of Binns waiting for the doors to open.

The department store's name may be different, and their clothing is a giveaway, but the one thing that seems not to have changed down the decades in Edinburgh, is the queues which form whenever there's a sale on.

This clutch of women are desperate to get their hands on the bargains on offer in Binns, these days better known as Frasers. The photograph was taken back in 1959 - even before the famous clock, under which many a lovelorn person has been left stood up, was attached to the building.

With its bargain-basement stores and tartan-clad tourist shops, Princes Street in 2005 is a far cry from its heyday last century, when genteel department stores offered an upmarket shopping experience and somewhere for a good gossip over a cup of tea.

But then, most of the city centre's streets have changed, in particular the North Bridge. Once home to giant department store Patrick Thompson's, it now houses the Carlton Highland Hotel and a host of other retailers, including Argos, and Cult Clothing.

Changed days indeed. And this ever-evolving face of shopping in Edinburgh, and around Scotland, is about to come under the spotlight when a new exhibition opens. Sale of the Centuries, at the National Library of Scotland takes a nostalgic look back down the aisles at the way retail trade has evolved since the 17th century.

The exhibition covers the full spectrum of shopping through the ages, from 17th-century housekeepers jostling at High Street market stalls to the genteel department stores of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to today's out-of-town malls, mail-order catalogues and online shopping trends.

In those days, a wealth of upmarket establishments vied for shoppers' custom, from Patrick Thompson's to Jenners and Binns, which was taken over by House of Fraser in 1953.

Exhibition curator Olive Geddes, says: "We have the diaries of Arthur Birnie, an economics history lecturer which are dated from 1934 to 1936. They give a marvellous insight into the golden years of Edinburgh department store shopping.

"At that time he lived with his wife, Yvonne, and their two daughters in Craigmillar Park. What I find particularly interesting about the diaries is that this is a man shopping.

"It was a social thing for him and his wife as well as just going out to buy a new coat. The impression I get these days is that men don't particularly like shopping but Arthur Birnie seemed to like it.

'HE writes that he and his wife meet neighbours and friends for lunch in, say, Jenners, before shopping for clothes. And he lists the items he buys, such as white trousers or a 'green sports jacket' that had caught his wife's eye. Then he mentions them catching the 'car', by which he meant tram, home."

In its day, Patrick Thompson's was something of an Edinburgh institution, says Olive. And one member of staff at its current incarnation, the Carlton Highland Hotel, vividly remembers shopping there.

"It was just like that programme Are You Being Served? - the layout was exactly the same. I used to come here quite a lot, it was a great shop. We get a lot of retired people who still come here every day to have a coffee and a gossip in the upstairs lounge which they did when it was PTs.

Malcolm Cant, a local historian and lecturer who has published a book containing a collection of photographs, entitled Edinburgh Shops Past and Present, adds: "In those days, the concept of self-service in shops was completely unheard of. It was a very different time altogether. And so working in a department store was a very good job to have."

Ricky Henderson, the city's culture and leisure leader, recalls Patrick Thompson's and other long-gone shops, like Forsyth's department store on Princes Street. He says that the exhibition will be interesting, but people should always look forward.

"I think people are always interested in looking back and there will certainly be a degree of nostalgia about those shops where they used to meet up with friends. But it's time to move on now. I am sure people coming into Edinburgh will find new ways of meeting their friends and socialising."

Sales of the Centuries: A Celebration of Shopping in Scotland at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, will run from December 8 to February 12. The exhibition is free and the opening times are Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm, Sunday 2-5pm.

The retired personnel manager, now 74, says a golden era of customer service was lost forever with the demise of Edinburgh's elegant department stores.

"In our day, we were taught that the customer was always right, and everything had to be perfect. So even if you knew something was green, if the customer said it was white, it was white.

"We had thorough training before we went on to the perfumery counter and the shop was so spaciously laid out and elegant. Things have changed immensely now. Everything in shops is packed close together, it's hard to find what you're looking for. And the assistants don't really bother."

Diana, of Harden Place, Polwarth, says she had felt very privileged to work on Princes Street at that time. "Now, I think the street is just a dump, it's such a mess.

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