Here is a terrific example of the photography of Byron Harmon, a nature photographer who worked out of Banff, Alberta in the early part of the 20th century. If we assume that the photo was taken late in the day, then the shadows indicate that these Three Wise Goats are heading towards the East, possibly in search of a Star.

Toni McLaughlin has a copy of this card as well (look for #807) and there are some interesting differences. For starters, the color is different, which could either indicate that my card has faded more over the years, or that the developing process or chemicals were not identical. Additionally, there are some marks on my card that are not present on hers. Since the marks are on the photo but not on the border, that implies to me that the photographic plate may have been marred in some way between the time each of these photo postcards was developed.

There are more than a few real photo postcards out there depicting Patrick J. “Paddy” Carroll, his wife Beatrice, and their sled dog team on their transcontinental trip, but this one has no postcard markings on the back — making it technically just a photo. My notes say that I paid ten cents for it in 1998.

It’s difficult to find concrete information on the Carrolls. Supposedly, it was Beatrice who raised and trained the dogs, and that their trip was financed, at least in part, through the sale of postcards like these. Also, Paddy is said to have written a small booklet of poems entitled Ditties of a Dog Musher, again using the proceeds towards the trip. It also appears that their trip was successful, and that they returned the same way the following year.

After the trip, the Carrolls are said to have settled in Granisle, British Columbia, where Paddy Carroll became a prospector and did quite well in the copper mine trade.

This “Plastichrome” by Colourpicture Publishers, Inc. was actually made in Canada, unlike most of the Canadian cards posted thus far.

“Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. This popular area is equipped with kitchen shelters, playground, supervised swimming and dressing cubicles, fireplaces, picnic tables, running water, electricity and toilet facilities.”

If you don’t mind, I think I’ll just say home; I already have all that stuff, plus my dressing cubicle at home is unsupervised.

Two cards for the price of one today. Both of these cards were Made in the USA, according to the text in the stampboxes. They were published in Canada by Fach Enterprises and distributed by Temple City Drugs.

This card is described as “a view of the beautiful gardens surrounding the Mormon Temple in Cardston, Alberta.” But wait, there’s more!

This card is described simply as “a scene of the famed Mormon Temple….” — well, you get the idea.

This is a “Holografix” postcard by Impact Impressions of Markham, Ontario. The card doesn’t actually look quite like the picture; the odd colors and the darkness are due to the scanner reflecting off of the lenticular surface of the Mountie pictured (similar to the hologram on your credit card). The results were even worse when I tried to take an actual photo of the card. The card is about 4″ by 6-3/8″, making it a little bigger than the typical Continental postcard size of 4″ by 6″ (and causing the end of it to stick out of the archival sleeves that I use to protect my cards.

Impact Impressions is listed in several online business directories, but they seem to have let their website go by the wayside.

I bought this card during a trip to the Maritime provinces in 2002.

A poor quality, divided back postcard from the Photogelatine Engraving Co. Ltd. of Ottawa, probably published around 1930 (although I grant you that it has lasted 80 years fairly unscathed). It was in 1930 that the church in this (at the time) privately-owned park was completed.

To the right you can see the statue of “Evangeline,” the subject of the poem by Longfellow. The poem tells a fictionalized tale of the very real expulsion of Acadians from the Canadian Maritime Provinces — Acadia — between 1755 and 1763 by the British. A great many Acadians wound up in Louisiana, and you have doubtless heard their descendants referred to as “Cajuns”.

The Canadian government acquired the park in 1957, and today it is known as the Grand-Pré National Historical Site.

I purchased this card in Nova Scotia in 2002, in a shop not too far from the park.

A Curt Teich card (number 2DK-1520), published in 1962; it was actually made in the USA and distributed by an outfit in Buffalo, NY. “One of the world’s most spectacular observation points, the tower stands 670 feet above the base of the Niagara River and gives an unsurpassed view of both the American and Canadian Falls as well as a breathtaking 5,000 square mile panorama of the entire area. The seven-story crown building offers both open and glass enclosed observation decks plus several outstanding restaurants.”

The varnish on the front of this unused card has yellowed quite a bit over the years; the (unvarnished) back of the card is still pretty close to the original white. Not visible on the scan and only barely visible on the original is the fact that the varnish has cracked along most of its surface, resembling fine wood grains that run in various directions.

Twenty-six units (unités), air conditioned (climatisé), licensed TV (licencié), and a dining room (salle à manger), it’s no wonder that my grandparents couldn’t resist staying here. Judging from the notes on the back, Grandma picked up this deckled card at the motel and used it to calculate mileage on their trip (presumably) to the Montreal Expo, year undetermined. (I remember seeing some ancient souvenirs as a child, so it must be so.)

It looks like she was backtracking, as the stop at the motel was last on her list. There are a number of confusing things about her entries:

• For August 7, she writes “M.H. to Longueuil (Quebec), 330″, which is just outside of Montreal. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing that’s 330 miles away that would have been of interest. At first I thought she might have meant “my house”, but her house in South Jersey was about 450 miles away — and it doesn’t make sense that my grandfather would drive 120 miles and then stop for the day. They might have stopped to visit some of his relatives in North Jersey, but they would still have been more than 330 miles from Longueuil — and I can’t think of anyone whose initials were M.H., nor do I see any towns on the map that might fit.
• On August 8, they were at the Expo.
• For August 9, she writes, “To Quebec, 174″. Odd, considering that they were already in Quebec. Perhaps sightseeing?
• At last, they arrive in Drummondville on the 10th, some 159 miles later. Not sure what was worth seeing here.

Unfortunately, it’s a mystery without a solution, as neither of them are around to ask.

Byron Harmon left Tacoma, Washington in 1903 to photograph mountains and, realizing that there were no photography studios in the Canadian Rockies, settled in Banff, Alberta. The surviving collection of photos numbers over 6,000.

On this card, barely visible near the bottom center, is the legend “Lake Louise. 118.”, scratched into the negative by the photographer. An identical real photo postcard with a more visible legend can be seen in Toni McLaughlin’s collection of Harmon RPPCs (look for #118). Toni also has images of a dozen white border postcards of Harmon’s published in the early 1920′s, the first of which is Lake Louise taken from an ever so slightly different angle.

The back of the card reads “Along the Line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Photographed and Copyrighted by Byron Harmon, Banff, Canada.”