Souvenir of Toronto
Private Post Card
Provincial Parliament Bldgs, Victoria University, Toronto University
A.R. Lorimer, 150 Yonge Street
Below, reverse of card postmarked Toronto, August 15, 1900 with a Flag B cancel on a 1¢ QV Numeral stamp mailed to St. Louis, Missouri, USA
G.L. Smith was a postcard publisher known for his cards documenting the Great Fire of Toronto of April 19, 1904.
The City of Toronto Archives features extensive material, including maps and photographs of the area devastated by the fire. They note “The fire devastated a large part of Toronto’s commercial and industrial centre. Over 125 businesses were burnt out, most of them manufacturers and importers of fabrics and clothing, paper goods, books, drugs, chemicals, hardware, and machinery. Many of the factories and warehouses that burned were less than twenty years old, and had been built as architectural showcases for their owners’ prosperity, modern commercial methods, and business acumen.”
Of particular note for collectors of postcards was that the business of Warwick Bros. & Rutter, prominent Canadian postcard publishers and Queen’s Printer for Ontario, was destroyed by the fire, and required their relocation to a new facility on King Street West near Spadina, just west of what is now the Spadina Hotel.
Click here to see more of G.L. Smith’s cards.
The City of Toronto Archives features extensive material, including maps and photographs of the area devastated by the fire. They note “The fire devastated a large part of Toronto’s commercial and industrial centre. Over 125 businesses were burnt out, most of them manufacturers and importers of fabrics and clothing, paper goods, books, drugs, chemicals, hardware, and machinery. Many of the factories and warehouses that burned were less than twenty years old, and had been built as architectural showcases for their owners’ prosperity, modern commercial methods, and business acumen.”
Of particular note for collectors of postcards was that the business of Warwick Bros. & Rutter, prominent Canadian postcard publishers and Queen’s Printer for Ontario, was destroyed by the fire, and required their relocation to a new facility on King Street West near Spadina, just west of what is now the Spadina Hotel.
Click here to see more of G.L. Smith’s cards.
J.L. Jones Engraving. Co. Toronto had been involved in postcard publishing since at least 1895. The firm, located at 168 Bay Street, J.L. Jones, proprietor, specialized in engraving and electrotyping.
Click here for more of the company’s work.
Click here for more of the company’s work.
The Chas. J. Mitchell Co. Limited was a postcard publisher in Toronto in the early part of the 20th century. A listing for Charles J. Mitchell & Co. at 2T Front Street West is found in The Toronto City Directory 1903 published by Might Directories Limited.
This set of divided back postcards is from an unknown publisher whose cards are characterized by a pretty “Souvenir Mailing Card” back.
E. Reach was a small local publisher of Toronto postcards. Images on the cards appear to have been taken from the works of other publishers. E. Reach is also known to have published at east one card featuring the Bowery in New York City.
A. Seeley was a small local publisher of Toronto postcards, with the inscription: “Entered According to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1905, by A. Seeley, at the Department of Agriculture” on the card front. Card has similar back design to those of Douglas Ford and Hancock.
Douglas Ford, Publisher, Toronto was the inscription used on the divided back postcards from this local publisher of Toronto postcards. Cards appear to date from 1905 to 1906. Card backs have the same design as several other publishers, including Hancock & Seeley.
W. Hancock was a small local publisher of Toronto postcards, based at 417 Dovercourt Road, just south of College Street in Toronto. Card has similar back design to those of Douglas Ford and Seeley.
Shaw and Reid of Ottawa also published Toronto postcards. Listed below are a sampling, printed in England by the Vandyk photogravure process.
A.L. Merrill Publishing Co. was a stationer, retail bookseller and publisher of postcards, as of 1903, located at 304 Yonge Street in Toronto, where the company shared space with Parish Publishing Co. The company published a range of postcards during the first decade of the 20th century.
A local Toronto photographer, J. Ed. Terryberry, proprietor of J. Ed. Terryberry Photo Co., whose premises were located at 63½ King Street West, created a series of black and white postcards, of which the subject matter seemed to be based in Muskoka.
This postcard shows the now demolished Bonar Presbyterian Church, formerly on the west side of St. Clarens Avenue, north of College, near Lansdowne Avenue. Wikipedia notes that the building was constructed in 1907 and demolished in 1970, however, the date on the postcard appears to be November 3, 1905. Of interest is the photo on the card, engraved by Moore & Alexander, of The Canadian Photo-Engraving Bureau of Toronto.
The company described themselves, in a 1903 ad, as follows:
Photo-engraving for all illustrating purposes has no abler exponent in Toronto than the Canadian Photo-Engraving Bureau, located at 16 Adelaide Street West, of which Messrs. J. F. Moore and J. Alexander, Jr., are the enterprising and popular proprietors. They first commenced business in 1888 in this line at 203 Yonge Street, and in 1891 removed to their present location. Both Messrs. Moore & Alexander are thoroughly qualified engravers and printers, fully conversant with every detail of this useful industry and the requirements of the most critical patrons.
They occupy two spacious floors, each being 50 x 125 feet in area, fully equipped with the latest improved apparatus, machinery and appliances, and the place is fitted throughout with electric light, used when sunlight is not good, enabling them to be always on time with work. The range of work embraces photoengraving in all its branches, zinc etching, photo-litho transfers, and a specialty is made of half-tones on zinc or copper for fine printing. They employ only first-class workmen, and turn out all kinds of high-class art work, adapted for book, catalogue or magazine illustrations. All orders are promptly executed, while the most moderate prices prevail, and the trade of the firm now extends throughout the entire dominion.
Mr. Moore was born in London, England, in 1863, and came to Canada in 1871. His partner, Mr. Alexander, is a native of Montreal. They are highly regarded in business circles for their integrity and ability, and have secured an enviable reputation for the artistic merits of their work. The telephone call of the office is 2158.
Below, the reverse of the card, with a three ring Toronto Station C cancellation on a 2¢ KEVII stamp sent locally to Miss E. Milne, 235 Brunswick Avenue, City.
While the card was engraved by Moore & Alexander, it is not clear if they also were the card’s publisher.
The company described themselves, in a 1903 ad, as follows:
Photo-engraving for all illustrating purposes has no abler exponent in Toronto than the Canadian Photo-Engraving Bureau, located at 16 Adelaide Street West, of which Messrs. J. F. Moore and J. Alexander, Jr., are the enterprising and popular proprietors. They first commenced business in 1888 in this line at 203 Yonge Street, and in 1891 removed to their present location. Both Messrs. Moore & Alexander are thoroughly qualified engravers and printers, fully conversant with every detail of this useful industry and the requirements of the most critical patrons.
They occupy two spacious floors, each being 50 x 125 feet in area, fully equipped with the latest improved apparatus, machinery and appliances, and the place is fitted throughout with electric light, used when sunlight is not good, enabling them to be always on time with work. The range of work embraces photoengraving in all its branches, zinc etching, photo-litho transfers, and a specialty is made of half-tones on zinc or copper for fine printing. They employ only first-class workmen, and turn out all kinds of high-class art work, adapted for book, catalogue or magazine illustrations. All orders are promptly executed, while the most moderate prices prevail, and the trade of the firm now extends throughout the entire dominion.
Mr. Moore was born in London, England, in 1863, and came to Canada in 1871. His partner, Mr. Alexander, is a native of Montreal. They are highly regarded in business circles for their integrity and ability, and have secured an enviable reputation for the artistic merits of their work. The telephone call of the office is 2158.
Below, the reverse of the card, with a three ring Toronto Station C cancellation on a 2¢ KEVII stamp sent locally to Miss E. Milne, 235 Brunswick Avenue, City.
While the card was engraved by Moore & Alexander, it is not clear if they also were the card’s publisher.
BC Printing & Litho Ltd. of Vancouver, BC printed cards from 1928 to 1930. The company succeeded BC Printing & Engraving Corp., and was itself bought out by Bulman Bros. Ltd. of Winnipeg in 1930. While the company focused on BC, cards were also issued with subjects as far east as Quebec, according to Ron Souch in his British Columbia Historical Picture Postcards, A Guide to Publishers published by the Vancouver Postcard Club in September 2009.
The French photographers, Neurdein Freres, or La Maison Neurdein, came to Canada from Paris in the early 20th century and created an extensive collection of images that they then made into postcards. Following their visit in 1907, a total of 57 ND Phot postcards were issued of Toronto scenes, according to Yves Beauregard in his Repertoire des cartes postales de la Maison Neurdein, Québec et Ontario. published by Club des cartophiles québécois in 2009.
