Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

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Greetings card sent by Tom Anderson at new year, 1 Jan 1923

Tom Anderson was a member of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and was the person responsible for establishing the Proletarian Sunday Schools in Glasgow. The SDF was the first Marxist political organisation founded in Britain, established in 1891 by H. M. Hyndman, who had been converted to socialism through his reading of Das Capital by Karl Marx.

The SDF's early membership was intellectual and middle-class, and included Eleanor Marx, Edward Aveling, William Morris and Belford Bax.

Tom Anderson was a trusted political ally and close friend of John Maclean who organised Maclean's funeral in 1923 and also conducted the secular service. Anderson was Maclean's first biographer, writing and publishing the book entitled 'John Maclean' in 1930.