Inside Calum Salum’s shop
Photograph of the interior of Malcolm MacLean’s shop in Salum.
Courtesy of Mr Iain MacKinnon
The most famous shop in the east end of Tiree was run by Malcolm MacLean, universally known as ‘Calum Salum’. He started the business in 1938, and expanded after the War into an old RAF hut from the airfield.
He sold a wide range of goods – tins of food, paraffin, methylated spirits for Tilley lamps, crockery, gas cookers, radios and their batteries, and even larger farm equipment, including tractors. He was the first man to sell bottled gas on the island and was amongst the first on Tiree to set up a windmill on his house to generate electricity.
Sometimes dealing with the paperwork took second place to all his other activities. Inside the house at Salum, the dining table would often be covered with letters and accounts waiting to be dealt with. His favourite saying was: “It’s here, but where?”
Black and white photograph of Calum Salum`s shop.
Calum Salum`s shop in the 1950s. L-R: unknown, unknown, unknown, Bella MacLean (Bella Mhialum), Calum Salum, unknown, unknown, headmaster Donald O. MacLean.