So closes the first day of the Harbourfront Outdoor Market. I’m bushed. We’ll be at this wonderful market down by the lake from 12-12 on Saturday, tomorrow…er…I guess it’s today! Wow, it’s late. And again on Sunday from 12-8.
We’re showcasing our new series of Prints and they are AWESOME! Along with our postcards, notecards, Christmas cards and magnets, we’ve also got a great selection of Wendy Tancock whimsical Canadiana line: her prints, cards, mugs and coin banks.
Don’t forget to come down at pick up a copy of the Little Book of Rob Ford, a collection of quotes of our readin’-while-drivin’ one-term mayor. Don’t judge me!
Be sure to follow our twitter feed for up to the minute…who am I kidding, I’ll tweet if there is something worth tweeting.
See you there.
I don’t know if you can help me, but I bought several of your postcards (I think I purchased them at Toronto’s First Post Office), and I am using them to send to people’s names I get through Postcrossing.com (a hobby of mine).
CCT0034
Anyway, one of your cards is a vintage-looking, faded colour one reading “TORONTO” in large letters across the middle. Inside each letter is an image of a famous Toronto landmark. I think I have all of them figured out but one. I think, in order, they are: Old City Hall, Queen’s Park, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, the Princes’ Gates, [unknown], Canada Life Assurance Co., and University of Toronto’s Hart House. However, I have been unable to figure out what the image is in the letter “T.” Can you help me, Thingy? I’d like to be able to list all of the buildings in my message to the recipient, when I use this card for a Postcrossing person. Please let me know if you can help me, Thingy, or even where I might look online (although I’ve checked a few sites, as well as a few books already).
Thank you in advance. Most sincerely, Virginia C. Toronto
Hello Virginia,
As far as Canadian Culture Thing Large Letter Toronto postcard CCT0034, you were pretty close…
In the foreground is Sir Henry Pellatt’s Casa Loma (1914).
Casa Loma
Most of the building are government buildings or structures with the exceptions of the Royal York and the CIBC building. For the purpose of postcards like this one, directed primarily at tourists, it was important to feature significant city buildings and historical landmarks. The Royal York is used because it was an important landmark hotel and one that many of the postcard-buying tourists would be staying at or at least wishing they were.
CCT0082
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada Building was the tallest building in the British Commonwealth having overshadowed the Royal York by by 21m (69′). It held this title until 1962 when it was surpassed by La Tour in Montreal by 35m (115′). In 1967 it ceased to be the tallest building in Toronto when it was surpassed by the TD Tower by a whopping 78m (256′) which brought the Commonwealth title back to Toronto. It’s hard to believe when looking at the Toronto skyline today, that the CIBC building, while beautiful in design, was once the tallest building in the British Empire.
CCT0015
In another CCT Large Letter Toronto postcard (CCT0087) we have a similar assortment of buildings with the inclusion of a seldom used landmark building in the centre O, Maple Leaf Gardens on Carleton at Church.
Prospect Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC c1929.
On Wednesday (October 5, 2011) Canadian actress Jewel Staite of Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis and Wonderfalls (Yes, and other stuff too) was in Valhalla with her friend Chelan Simmons! Jewel very graciously signed the back of Canadian Culture Thing postcards #0097 which features a MapleLeafForever stamp of Jewel on the back. The Chelan Simmons stamp is in the next batch so we’ll just have to hope she comes back!
Maple Leaf Forever Stamp Jewel Staite
Jewel Staite was born in White Rock, British Columbia which sits on the Pacific coast south of Vancouver, just north of the Canada/U.S. border. She began her career in modeling but turned to acting at the age of 6. She went on to become Sci-Fi royalty with linchpin roles as the endearing Kaylee in Joss Whedon’s Firefly and it’s follow-up film Serenity as well as Dr. Jennifer Keller in Stargate Atlantis. I have to give an honourable mention to her in Wonderfalls, another short-lived but exceptional show set in Niagara Falls around a gift shop whose star has conversations with animated objects – just see it. Wonderfalls is from the people who brought us Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies, two more must-see shows!
In the early 20th century Sir Wilfred Laurier, one of our longest serving Prime Ministers, famously announced: “The twentieth century shall be the century of Canada. . . . For the next hundred years, Canada shall be the star towards which all men who love progress and freedom shall come.” Whether you feel that Laurier was on the mark or not, at the time of this renowned speech in 1904, Canadians were very optimistic about the future.
A Raphael Tuck & Sons postcard showing the Canadian Wheat Arch, erected in Whitehall (London, England) to honour Edward VII’s coronation in 1902. Note the “Free Homes for Millions” ad.
One of the main reasons for the country’s optimism was the enormously successful campaign to lure immigrants to Western Canada and the economic prosperity that soon followed. No doubt taking advantage of the worldwide interest in the Canadian West triggered by the discovery of gold in the Yukon in 1896, Laurier’s government embarked on an ambitious advertising campaign in Europe and America to populate this vast, near empty region. Homesteaders were offered 160 acres of free western farmland provided the land was worked and permanent residences were established on it.
“Homes for Millions in Canada” are advertised in this King’s Printer (government) postcard targeting Uncle Sam in 1903. This postcard is one of a series of 12 cartoon-type cards primarily focusing on immigration from the USA.
“Thousands of Settlers are Moving to Canada” 1903 postcard.
