There is very little formal historical record of small postal bookmakers from the 1950s, so firms like “McLaughlins” often survive only in local memory or newspaper advertisements rather than official histories.
However, there is some anecdotal evidence that a bookmaker called McLaughlins operated in Glasgow (Maryhill area) in the mid-20th century. Local recollections describe them as a neighbourhood bookmaker who:
Took bets from a shop and a lane entrance,
Operated before betting shops became legal (1961 Betting and Gaming Act),
Occasionally had police raids, which was common for bookmakers taking cash bets illegally at the time. �
Glasgow West End
This fits the typical pattern of bookmakers in Britain during the 1940s–50s:
Cash betting shops were illegal until 1961.
Legal betting was usually postal or credit betting.
Many local bookmakers ran semi-legal operations in back rooms or shops.
Police raids were common, especially in working-class districts.
Past infringements in the good old days may be outside your area of interest. However I was banned by these cowboys after 39 consecutive winning bets. It was a conditional bets system I developed at the age of eight and Paw opened it for me in his name. I used to walk to the Post office and get postal orders to the value of my bets and made sure they were crossed for safety. They often used to send the winnings back in real cash a fiver plus the rest in a small postal order to save money. You had to catch the early post because the time of posting obviously had to be before the first race you bet on.
The postal service was totally reliable back then and postmen in those days were honest and slept well.
Later on I bet quite large amounts in shops in the 90’s and I often left my winnings to be picked up a few days later to dull their memory of the snatcher.