Patriotic Postcards
Mike Smith, in his The Canadian Patriotic & Heraldic Postcard Handbook 1897–1945 Vol. 2, notes nine different patriotic postcard series by Young Bros.
The number of cards in each series is smaller than many of the larger series by other publishers, with between one and three dozen cards being the norm, other than series 2, which has had 84 cards identified to date.
Novelty cards formed a large part of the Young Bros. repertoire, with wood, leather, celluloid & aluminum cards having been seen.
Young Bros. are reported to have been one of the largest manufacturers of souvenirs on the market at that time, which may have influenced their line of novelty cards.
This series features an illustration of the Canadian Mounted Police, and scenes spanning western Canada. Mike Smith has recorded 34 cards in this series.
Mike Smith has recorded 84 cards in this series, entitled “Original Owners of Our Country”.
In the March-April 1979 issue of BNA Topics, Wally Gutzman wrote:
“This is a beautifully coloured set of Canadian Patriotic cards, which was very popular during the fall of 1905. All the used copies which I have seen were in fact post-marked between August and November of that year.
These cards were very early divided backs, and a Post Office Regulation is clearly printed in the proper space for correspondence, as follows: "For Inland Postage only this space may be used for Communication". The words "Private Postal Card" are printed in black.
All the reported cards were published by Young Bros., Toronto, Canada. All the Alberta cards are marked: published "for J. D. Higginbotham & Co., Lethbridge".
This series, entitled “First Lord of the Plains”. Mike Smith lists 9 cards in this series, which appears to have had a souvenir booklet associated with it.
This series, entitled “Canada, The Granary of the Empire”, has had 19 cards listed by Mike Smith.
This series features an illustration of six furled flags, with images from across Canada, from Nova Scotia to BC, but has only 16 cards identified to date.
This is one of Young Bros.’ novelty cards, with the series featuring appliqué maple leaves or wheat sprigs. Mike Smith as enumerated 13 cards in the series, which comes on three different colours of card stock.
Mike Smith has listed only 3 cards in this series, which features appliqué Indian Chiefs and real photos of Ontario & Quebec scenes.
This series features appliqué maple leaves, the word “Souvenir” and real photos of scenes in New Brunswick & Ontario. It also comes in different colours of card stock. Mike Smith lists 7 cards in this series.
This series combines a grab bag of different designs, all with some form of appliqué on wood, leather or card stock. Mike Smith lists 5 cards in this series.
