An unused copy of Toronto Litho's Canadian Sports Series has been added, illustrating the port of football.

A new pioneer postcard from Franz Thiemer's Compagnie Comet has been added, one of four cards from Manila, from numbers 126 to 129, issued during the American occupation after the colonial war between Spain and the USA for control of some of Spain's former colonies. Click on the image to see more of this series.

Another card has been added from Toronto Litho's Canadian Sports Series. Click on the card image to see more.

Another card from Toronto Litho's Canadian Sports Series has been added, showing the two activities of bathing & wheeling. The card has been written on, but not postally used.

A couple of additional Franz Thiemer cards with scenes from North America have been added, one showing a scene of the Three Sisters in Canmore, Alberta with the caption, "Greetings from America". The card has been postally used May 31, 1899 from Niagara Falls, USA, to Greussen, Germany. Also added is a Compagnie Comet advertising card from 1898 advertising the subscription to the series.

I’ve added an early card showing an inset RPPC image of the main street of Medicine Hat, NWT, with several people in front of J.K. Drinnan’s Dry Goods & Groceries general store. The card is postmarked Dec. 23 1899 in Medicine Hat, ASSA—the earliest card I’ve encountered from this series. While not confirmed, the card may be part of a series published by Atkinson Bros.

Some additional Franz Thiemer cards have been added, including from Egypt, China, Birma and Denmark.

A couple of new Franz Thiemer Greenland postcards, one postally used in 1899, have been added to the site.

An assortment of additional cards published by Franz Thiemer, dating from 1898 to 1900, from countries including including Turkey, India, Burma (Myanmar), Japan and Sweden, have been added. I still haven’t cracked posting many of the European cards, but will at some point.

Another small posting of Franz Thiemer cards, this time from Southeast Asia.

Another group of Franz Thiemer cards has been added, covering some of their issues in North Africa and the Middle East.

I’ve added a couple of postally unused cards from the Caribbean, and a card from Denmark. There is at least one other card from Cuba.

Several examples of Japanese cards produced by Franz Thiemer have been added.

I’ve filled in a few more blanks in the list and added some additional cards from Australia, the US, and Russia.

Further additions to the Franz Thiemer listings have been added, this time with several cards from the USA.

I’ve added some additional cards into the site, none of which are Canadian this time around, but instead represent some other areas of the world depicted on these cards. I’ve also updated the site with an updated catalog-in-progress of the cards of Franz Thiemer & Co., with about 140 of the ±200 cards identified to date.

Another Canadian pioneer postcard example from Franz Thiemer & Co. of Dresden, Germany has been added, along with more from that worldwide series dating to about 1899.

An example of Toronto Litho’s Canadian Cities Series showing vignettes of Montreal has been added. This card has been used by Dominion Express Company for advertising delivery of Christmas packages at rates superior to those of registered mail.

A very nice used example of Toronto Litho’s pioneer patriotic series featuring ships of war of the Boer War era, in this case the Nymphe sloop. has been added. This card bear’s the company’s Christmas Greeting on the front, with the address and a 1¢ Jubilee + 1¢ QV Numeral stamp cancelled December 26, 1899, paying postage to England on the back.

A couple of months ago I acquired a “Canadian” postcard, postally used in 1899, seen here, that was from a series I hadn’t encountered before. Reaching out to a couple of members of the Toronto Postcard Club as to whether they were familiar with this series, a very knowledgeable response came back from Andrew, who then proceeded to share a wide selection of other cards that he had acquired in this series featuring scenes from other parts of the world. He also had a theory explaining the peculiar attributes that cards in this series shared, and followed up sourcing further info on the publisher from Helmfried Luers, a German expert on European postcard publishers, who provided further insight. Intrigued, I’ve acquired more cards from the publisher, "Franz Thiemer & Co." (trading as "Compagnie Comet”), which I’ll be adding as time passes.

Another example of a pioneer postcard with a small real photo adhered to it has been added. This card show “The Gorge—Victoria, BC” and is from a series, possibly by Atkinson, dating from about 1901.

I’ve added another example of Toronto Litho’s Canadian Cities Series postcards with a reduced size version of their Christmas & New Year’s greeting on the reverse. Although unused, this particular card design dates from between 1898 and 1900.

A selection of additional pioneer Albertype “Greetings from Quebec” postcards have been added.

Several more examples of Toronto Litho’s Christmas overprint on their Canadian Cities Series and their Royalty Patriotic Series have been added.

A new page has been added showing cards from Winnipeg’s Bulman Bros. & Co.

This posting shows a pioneer patriotic postcard from Toronto Litho from their War Ships series, popular in light of the Boer War in which Canadian soldiers were participating at that time. This card shows Calliope, a 3rd class cruiser. The card has been postally used June 4, 1900 from Sturgeon Falls, Ontario by Gordon L. Cockburn to Albert Rudler Jr. of 227 William Street in New York City, by way Hamilton, with a Hamilton transit postmark on the front to the card.

A Vancouver card postally used in 1900 has been added to the Albertype pioneer postcard listings, along with some additional page redesign in preparation for some addition al material to be added.

A new Atkinson Bros. pioneer postcard has been added. This card was sent from Quebec City June 1, 1901 to Sassari, Sardaigne, which is the French spelling for Sardinia. The Kingdom of Sardinia (Royaume de Sardaigne) was a state in Southern Europe from the early 14th until the mid-19th century. On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Sardinia changed its name to the Kingdom of Italy, and in turn is the predecessor of the present-day Italian Republic. Sassari is located on the present island of Sardinia.

I’ve added four pioneer postcards bearing real photos. This card series, potentially by Atkinson Bros., based on text and design, seems to be a precursor to the later postcards which embodied full-card real photo images. These four examples are postally unused, from Halifax, but examples span from the Pacific to the Atlantic, dating to about 1901.

This Toronto Litho Canadian Cities Series pioneer postcard showing vignettes of Winnipeg was mailed with a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp from Montreal with a Montreal Flag C cancel on August 8, 1901 to Courtenay-Loiret, France, and bears a receiver dated August 19th.

The Toronto Litho Canadian Cities Series pioneer postcard was part of correspondence between two women, Madeleine Ellis in Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood at 66 Glen Road, the other, Martha Antoine, in Staouéli-Trappa, Algiers in Algeria. Staouéli is a municipality in Algiers province, Algeria.

In 1843 the Trappists obtained a grant of 2500 acres of land on the site of the Battle of Staouéli (fought on June 19, 1830 during the French conquest of Algeria) where they built a monastery where 100 monks lived and worked. The card appears to be addressed to the vicinity of the monastery, which is no longer active.

The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (also known as “Trappists”) is a Roman Catholic contemplative religious order, consisting of monasteries of monks and monasteries of nuns.

This Toronto Litho Canadian Sports Series pioneer postcard was mailed with a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp from Toronto with a Flag “A” cancel dated February 5, 1900 to Meersen, Holland, and shows a Meersen receiving cancel dated February 16th.

A new Atkinson Bros. pioneer postcard has been added showing the Parliament Buildings in Victoria B.C. The card was sent to Seattle Washington on February 9, 1901.

While I haven’t made a point of collecting this series of private post cards used for business advertising in the late twentieth century, I find the series intriguing for the bold graphic design. The series is characterized by the use of pennants of various types as part of the card design. I haven’t seen a publisher’s attribution on cards of this series, but I’d be interested to know more if anyone has any further information.

This Canadian Cities Series card with one of the Toronto designs shows the text “Wishing You A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A happy new year.” on a ribbon along with sprigs of holly. This card is not postally used, although bearing a 1¢ Jubilee stamp, so the date is unknown, however it most likely dates to 1902.

Another card back for Semple & Luke’s SEL-001 pioneer patriotic postcard series has been added.

An example has been added of Toronto Litho’s pioneer postcard Canadian Cities Series Type I Quebec City card with the scarce occurrence of the text “Private Post Card”. This text appeared early in the issuance of the series, in keeping with postal regulations.

In recognition of the season, I’ve posted a Toronto Litho Canadian Cities Series pioneer postcard of the Halifax design, with a Xmas & New Year’s Greeting printed on the reverse. The card was mailed from Halifax on January 4, 1900 to Herr Aug Goetze, Bahnhof, Zittau YS, Germany (a city in the south east of the Free State of Saxony, Germany, very close to the border tri-point of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic) with a Zittau Jan 17 1900 receiver. The sender was A. Burnham of New York City. The card is of particular interest, as it was initially printed in 1898 with the year 1898-9 in the greeting, which was subsequently overprinted with 1899-1900.

An addition of an Atkinson Bros. pioneer postcard showing an scene of Holy Trinity, Winnipeg Manitoba has been added to the site.

This example of a pioneer patriotic postcard shows a White Ensign flag on the face. The White Ensign was flown by British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. The card bears the text ”Private Post Card” and a partially obscured “Stamp Here”, the same text was appeared in the patriotic postcard series made famous by J.C. Wilson & Company of Montreal. While this card appears to be a contemporary of that series with its blank back, the text is in a different font than that used by J.C. Wilson. This card has been postally used much later than its likely date of printing—it bears an Edward VII 1¢ stamp and has been mailed on September 2, 1906 to Danville, Illinois, USA, where it was received September 4th.

Real photo postcards began appearing early in the Twentieth Century in Canada, however, prior to the widespread use that came with the availability of affordable cameras for everyday use, professional photographers began producing images which were glued to the faces of printed postcards. A new page has been added to the site showing example of this type of card.

This Toronto Litho Co. Ltd. pioneer postcard from their Canadian Cities Series illustrating one of the two Quebec City designs has been mailed with a 2¢ QV Numeral stamp from Toronto on April 22, 1903 to Miss Nora von Fallot, at 56 Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan with a Tokyo receiving cancel dated May 18, 1903, on the reverse.

The reverse of the card contains extensive social history, with the author, Carla, noting that last Wednesday she had seen Sir Oliver Mowat’s funeral procession, and that she attended the Diocese of Toronto Women’s Auxiliary meeting last week, where Miss Cartwright was elected 1st vice president.

A new example of Toronto Litho’s Montreal Victoria Bridge design has been added.

This is one of the earlier uses of this series, postally used from Toronto to New York on June 28, 1898. An interesting aspect of this card is that it bears the text “PRIVATE POST CARD” in a purple ink stamp on the face of the card. I’ve often wondered the sequence that Toronto Litho issued the version of the card with the same text printed on the card.

As a conjecture, this could be an example of the second design variation, the first being issued without the text, the second being issued with a rubber stamp of the text, and the third being with the printed text. As the printed text version is scarce, it could be that cards without the text soon became acceptable use through the postal service, and the added text was dropped.

In Allan Steinhart’s “The Postal History of the Post Card in Canada, 1878–1911. He writes that in January 1898, The Official Postal Guide set out the rules for private post cards to foreign destinations, stating:

“…the face should be reserved exclusively for the address and the superscription ‘Private Post Card’.”

While the USA, being the destination of this card, was not considered a foreign destination for the purposes of this regulation, the inclusion of the Private Post Card text on cards would allow a sender greater flexibility in choice of destination.

The section on the postcards of The Province Publishing Coy. Ltd., and its successor, BC Print’g & Engr Corp. Ltd. have been updated to the new site format, and additional information added.

A new page for the cards of The Photochrom Company, the precursor of the Detroit Photographic Company, has been added, with some new material.

This Toronto Litho Canadian Cities Series pioneer postcard was mailed from St. John NB to Liverpool England in January 1902 and marked paid with a Liverpool Packet cancel. Clicking on the postcard image will take you to the Toronto Litho sub-site in a separate window.

A new example of a Semple & Luke pioneer postcard back has been added, and the Semple & Luke listings updated to suit.

This Toronto Litho Co. Ltd. pioneer postcard was mailed by the company’s president, William Stone, to Hotel de la Poste in Ghent, Belgium from the company’s headquarters at 680 King Street West in Toronto. It is postmarked with a Bathurst Street Toronto postmark dated October 10, 1899, and bears a 2 Map stamp as well as a “Too Late” cancellation. The card also bears a Gand October 24, 1899 receiving cancel. Stone writes:

“Dear Sir: Knowing your good Hotel by reputation, I take the liberty of asking you to kindly mail mean illustrated post card of your City. Hoping to pay you a visit in the near future. Yours sincerely,Wm. Stone”

This note by William Stone prompts the question, was Stone a postcard collector? Was this research into contemporary European postcard printing part of company business? Or was Stone just curious about a city he planned to visit?

A new page has been added to update the Atkinson Bros postcard listings to the newer site format, as well as some new material being added.

I’ve added a collection of pioneer patriotic postcards featuring the Soldiers of Canada in South Africa, which was published by W.J. Gage & Co. Limited of Toronto during Canada’s involvement during the Second Anglo-Boer War, often referred to as the Boer War.

I’ve migrated the former Toronto Litho subpages to the new web site format, and introduced some new material. Check out this link to access that part of the site.

A second card by Turnbull’s Postals Series has been added. This card has been trimmed and the stamp removed. The card was sent from Guelph to France in June 1900, and shows St. George’s Church and River Speed.

A copy of a postcard published by The Province Publishing Coy. Ltd. showing a scene of a rustic bridge in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC has been added to the site. The card was postally used from Vancouver to Surrey, England in December of 1899.

This pioneer postcard is noted as one of “Turnbull’s Private Postals Series I”, showing St. George’s Square, the heart of the city of Guelph, Canada. It has been mailed to Lamastre, France on June 14, 1900, and has a Lamastre receiver dated June 25th.

The writer notes, on the reverse of the card, “The statue on the fountain represents “Industry”, and is quite an attraction for the City. It is situated on the expansion of the Main Street, named Wyndham Street, and is called St. George’s Square. The nearest building is the Post Office and the next is the Traders Bank”.

Another example of a pioneer postcard published by William Bryce has been added to the site, this one showing an image of Toronto Street, Toronto.

While these early cards published by William Bryce date to the late 19th century, William Bryce continued to issue postcards into the early 20th century, from his store at 489–491 Queen Street West in Toronto, 100 yards west of Spadina Avenue.

William Bryce, wholesale book publisher & stationer, also published a range of other material, as seen from the company’s other covers and postal stationery cards.

The Albertype Co., printers of postcards for a wide range of small town merchants who sought to have their own local postcards, have a separate subdomain on this site, albertype.vintagepostcards.ca. I’ve just updated the design of that subdomain to reflect the design of the main site, providing a site that is responsive to the device (computer, phone or tablet), that is used, and delivering an optimized viewing experience. I’ll be adding more content over time, as I have a number of additional cards awaiting scanning & adding to the site.

This pioneer patriotic postcard “Sold by G.W. Thomson & Son” shows three vignettes of Goderich, Ontario—the Court House, Harbour & Driveway Near Town on the front of the card, and a large coloured maple leaf on the back, with the lyrics of The Maple Leaf Forever. In the 1903 Ontario Business Directory, GW Thomson was a local Goderich merchant who sold musical instruments.

From the 1910 Ontario Gazetteer, Goderich, with a population of about 4,632, was “a shipping port situated on the river Maitland at it’s confluence with Lake Huron, and on the terminus of the B&G line GTR, also of the CPR line, in Huron Co, of which it is the county seat. It has a good system of municipal waterworks, volunteer fire department and electric light, and is the location of very extensive salt works, has four mills, boiler and machine works and other industries high, separate and public schools, a public library of 3000 volumes, 2 public halls, 4 banks and 2 weekly newspapers, the Star and the Signal.” “Salt, livestock grain, flour, fish, lumber etc are shipped. Steamboats to all the lake ports call during navigation. Town owns waterworks & electric light plant. Stages daily to Lucknow, 22 miles northeast, and to Kintail 16 miles.

I’ve added several cards from The Province Publishing Coy. Ltd. and B.C. Printing & Engraving Corp. Ltd. of Vancouver. The B.C. Printing & Engr. Corp. Ltd. arose from a name change in 1899 from the The Province Publishing Coy. Ltd. Both of the The Province Publishing Coy. Ltd. were used for business advertising, with the backs printed with Mellon & Scott, Shipping, Financial & Insurance Brokers, 419 Cordova Street, Vancouver B.C.