Vintage Pictou County Postcards

Provost Street, New Glasgow

2010-09-25T07:11:00.000-04:00

The photo for this Torry's Bookstore published postcard shows a store on the left with a sign above the awnings that reads R.E. Jackson. In the 1930's another postcard published by PECO, shows a storefront directly across the street (one building to the right of the yellow building shown above) with the name "JACKSON'S" on the sign. Did they move across the street? The building that they were previously in does not appear to have been affected by the fire, as the architectural elements are identical on their old store in both postcards.

West Side Park, New Glasgow, NS

2010-06-10T22:32:00.001-04:00

A very rare postcard, this scene from within the West Side Park, looks back along the pathway toward the bridge. The card sender noted on the back, that they thought one of the cannons had ended up in the river as it was no longer anywhere to be seen. The card is not dated as a group of postcards were mailed together in an envelope, describing the New Glasgow area, to a friend.

Pastoral Scene with Cows near New Glasgow

2009-11-15T10:08:00.008-05:00

This Torry card shows a pastoral scene that I have never seen on any of their competitors cards. The Torry brothers loved taking a camera along on their frequent weekend excursions. We have not gone through the original photos and negatives that we have in storage, but this is photo is typical of their work.

This card is in excellent as new condition and was never mailed so unfortunately I have no way to date it at this time. If anyone else has a copy of this card with a postmark I would like to hear from you.

Torry's Book Store ... the book that started this collection

2009-01-25T20:23:00.006-05:00

Copy / Paste the address link below into your browser address bar to go to Scribd, the current internet home of the book about Torry's Book Store by Rodney Mackay.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2512421/Torry-Books

As youngsters, the Torry brothers were sent to live with the Buckley family, relatives in Guysborough, Nova Scotia, and there they learned about photography, and how to make a living as merchants. When they returned to New Glasgow, they immediately set up shop, selling books, toys, wallpaper, and other sundries. Their interest in photography (probably learned while living with the Buckley's) proved to be a long term one, and we have evidence that some of their photographs were used on the postcards that were published both by the Torry's and by others.

Torry's Book Store was originally drafted in the 1970's by my dad, Rodney Mackay, and it was many years later that I read my draft copy again and realized that all of the cards he referred to were gone, sold inadvertantly at auction when my mother passed away. I decided to restore the collection and now many years later have about 150 cards from New Glasgow and the outlying area. A large percentage are Torry cards, but I am also interested in cards from other publishers for comparative purposes.

New Glasgow, NS

2008-06-01T16:36:00.004-04:00

PC-00031
This is one of the most popular views of New Glasgow. It was widely used by all the local publishers, over for many years, with variations in the clouds and colouration.

A Word of Warning

2008-05-31T10:36:00.003-04:00

I tried publishing in Blogger using Adobe Contribute CS3, but so far see no reason to continue using it.

First thing it did was mess up my Layout template, tossing my links and Blog history to the bottom of the page, where no one will see them. GRRRRR! Turns out it was a link that was too long in one of my posts that forced the page layout to change. Got to go fix that now.

Second, it does not seem to have a choice of Fonts or at least they are not in a logical place alongside the font size, and attributes such as Bold or Italic etc.

Third it takes longer to upload!

Fourth it won't upload my images. Says they are too big. Blogger had no problem! And I know for a fact they are NOT too big.

Google has a great little program in Blogger. Its fast and easy. I should know better by now! Never mess with a good thing!

I bought Contribute, cause I need it for updating our website, but I will not be using it for this blog.

Parks Falls, New Glasgow, NS

2008-05-31T10:30:00.005-04:00

Photo is identical to the previous post, but printed in Sepia. I do not have this card in my collection. If anyone has one that they would like to sell, or could provide further information such as the name of the publisher, dates or any other information, I would be appreciative.

Parks Falls, New Glasgow, NS

2008-05-31T05:57:00.004-04:00

This was obviously a popular place! I have never been there and wonder if anyone tell me where it is? Anyone have a photo of what it looks like today?

Trying out Adobe CT

2008-05-28T11:44:00.001-04:00

Just trying Adobe Contribute for the first time. Bear with me new postings coming!

Nova Scotia Steel Works, New Glasgow, N.S.

2008-04-26T18:25:00.004-04:00

The ever "scenic" steel mill was for many years one of the largest employers in New Glasgow. My mother held her first job as one of the office staff there whilst she was still in high school, skipping lunches and saving every penny of her earnings to purchase her first item of personal luxury, a full length silver grey goatskin fur coat that she wore for the next 30 years.

High School, New Glagow, N>S>

2008-03-21T12:33:00.004-04:00

Located on Friend Street near the West End of Temperance Street, this school was built in 1882. This card #1524 was published and printed by Warwick Bros. & Rutter, Limited for Torry's Bookstore. Cards published prior to 1907 look identical to this card but are slightly smaller, and do not have the gold glitter outlines that are on this card.

Post Office and Custom House, New Glasgow

2008-03-15T08:19:00.003-04:00

Prior to 1884, mail had to be picked up at a number of private stores located along George and Provost Streets. This elaborate new building was erected at the corner of Provost and Dalhousie Streets. I am not sure what colour the building really was, as some of my postcards show it as red sandstone type building (see my previous post) and others buff, grey or blue grey, with roof coloured as grey, blue and red. Anyone know for sure what colour the stone is on this building?

This card was issued by W.H. Torry, Publisher and the photographer was Waldren.

Provost Street, Looking North

2008-03-14T05:04:00.006-04:00

Trams and electricity arrived quickly in the downtown areas, but the horse and buggy was still a preferred mode of transportation. The post office is shown as a red sandstone building (possibly sandstone from Shediac, NB?) on the right hand side behind the tram. Other cards I have show different stone colour.

The original photo was taken by A.J. Rice. For more details go to: http://www.parl.ns.ca/projects/surroundingtowns/New%20Glasgow/pages/provoststreetsouth

The photo was taken and the card published, sometime between the spring of 1905 (roads are dry) and fall 1906 (road was dry so not into winter yet). The card I have is postmarked Jan 19, 1907, and I also saw this card with a postmark from 1906 on E-bay and made note of it, but did not buy it. The tram tracks were installed in 1904 but no trams actually ran on them until 1905.

This card was published for Torry's Bookstores, New Glasgow, N.S., 1638 by Warwick Bro's & Rutter Limited in Toronto, and features gold glitter along the edges of the buildings and the tram.

New Glasgow, N.S.

2008-03-01T20:39:00.004-05:00

Same image as below, different clouds. It seems the publisher Valentine frequently made minor changes when reprinting a popular card. The post mark of July 13, 1909 on this card indicates that it may well have been for sale on the racks a full 5 years after the photo was originally taken.

New Glasgow, N.S.

2008-03-01T20:23:00.007-05:00

A view of the bridge and the east side of the river. The original photo for this postcard was taken sometime before 1904, as a second bridge was added in that year for the new trams This card was published by Valentine, as #102459, and the next card I will post was also published as #102459, but the clouds are edited and painted quite differently.

Garden of Eden Lake

2008-01-02T20:32:00.002-05:00

This place exists! I have never been there. The writer of this postcard excitedly noted to her friend that she was "Looking (actively we assume) for an Adam!" Those Edwardian gals were every bit as voracious and single as some of the female species are today.

One of Many Pretty Spots, East River, New Glagow, NS

2007-12-02T12:53:00.001-05:00

The same card, with different coloring again, this time clouds were painted into background.

East River, New Glasgow, NS

2007-12-02T12:49:00.001-05:00

Exact same view as previous card, with different colouration.

East River

2007-12-02T12:37:00.000-05:00

This scene was very popular with several of the postcard wholesalers, and was on the racks at Torry's Book Store in several variations for quite a number of years. The girl in the white dress at the left is usually cropped out of the scene in later cards by other publishers, perhaps to avoid copyright issues?

Sinclair's Corner, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-09-16T15:27:00.001-04:00

A view of the tram about to make the turn at the top of the hill above the bridge on the West Side. The area to the left of the sidewalk and trees, was developed into a shopping plaza that is well known among the locals, as it is the home of New Glasgow's first Sobey's store.

East River, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-07-29T17:14:00.001-04:00

The East River was a very popular place with loads of nooks and crannies to explore. Unfortunately, I have only ever seen the East River in passing, through the windows of a car, on our way to visit the grandparents.

Skating in East River, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-07-29T17:05:00.000-04:00

Sitting blogging away a hot mid summer afternoon, with the temperature at 30 degrees Celsius in the shade, this postcard showing a skating scene makes winter look pretty tempting.

East River, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-07-15T20:23:00.001-04:00

One can only wonder what this pair was up to (before they got snagged on the birch tree!) Clearly the water was not deep (yet!) Family letters indicate that there was a good deal of "adventure" that took place with the "younger set" on the East River, sometimes with a bottle or two accompanying them to enliven things.

Canoe Scene as Published by Torry's Bookstore

2007-07-11T23:05:00.000-04:00

Two years later (1907) the identical image was on the market published as "A Shady Nook, New Glasgow, N.S." The card was printed in Belgium and hand coloured.

Back of the Canoeing postcard

2007-07-11T23:02:00.000-04:00

Canoeing Scene, New Glasgow

2007-07-11T22:41:00.001-04:00

This is my personal favourite! The real photo postcard has a home made rubber stamp back and was mailed from New Glasgow, in Nov of 1905 to a gentleman, by the name of Gaston Porcher in France. There is a blue ink rubber stamp on the front which reads J. S. Crockett, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. The Torey family published a postcard with this same view that was printed in Belgium. Its a shot in the dark, but, was Gaston Porcher somehow connected with the postcard printing industry, and was this card mailed to him as a sample photograph? I know that there was a Judge Crockett who was a friend of the Torey family, however who J.S. Crockett is, I am not sure. Does anyone know of the Crockett family in New Glasgow and know what their connection might be to the postcard printing business?

I purchased these two cards on E-Bay the same day, and the seller told me that he got both cards from the same collection in France. Interesting co-incidence since the Torry card was mailed to an address in Nova Scotia.

East River, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-06-26T22:54:00.002-04:00

A beautiful pastoral view of the river bank. There are many places along the East River that remain unchanged from 100 years ago!

New Glasgow, N.S., West Side showing Water Front

2007-06-26T17:12:00.000-04:00

Does anyone know exact location of these houses (street names?)

East River, New Glasgow

2007-06-20T22:10:00.000-04:00

This view of the East River was very popular with the various publishers and must be somewhere between the hospital and the highway, as it is identified alternately as Stellarton on some cards.

West Side Park, New Glasgow, N.S.

2007-05-27T18:22:00.000-04:00

West Side Park is located on the right, just after you cross the bridge (coming from downtown New Glasgow). The idea has been put forth (within our family) that the children in the photo may have been my grandfather, Harold Torey and his cousins. West Side Park was alternately known as Carmichael's Terrace.

First Attempt at Blogging!

2007-05-27T16:00:00.001-04:00

Whew! Dad says no problem ... blogging is easy! I love my computers ... and I can customize circles around anyone making an ACT database, but this blogging and building websites business just seems to b(l)og me right down. I guess one day I will get it, but for now, I feel a bit like an idjit! I plan to post a few postcards at a time, and would love to hear from anyone who has additional information or materials that they would like to contribute.