EDWARDIAN ERA POSTCARDS from PICTOU COUNTY, NOVA SCOTIA
Famous for it’s early settlers and intriguing historical background, Pictou County was one of the busiest and most prosperous, commercial and industrial hubs in Nova Scotia by the early 1900s. Many of the residents there, had family and friends, who lived in other areas of Canada and the USA and they kept in touch with letters and postcards.
WELCOME to the PICTOU COUNTY POSTCARD WEBSITE
In the early 1900s, a postcard was the equivalent of an email or text message. They were attractive, inexpensive, and initially, cost a mere penny to mail! Postal service was far better than it is today and postcards routinely travelled distances of several hundred miles within a 24 hour period. Friends and family could be quickly notified of events, upcoming visits, a person’s health, or simply how things were going.
This site will showcase many of the postcards that were sold in the shops and hotels throughout Pictou County, primarily during the Edwardian Era (about 1900 to 1919) but also during the 20 year period after that. The collection has a special focus on the cards that were published and sold by the Torry family. James Torey was my great grandfather and he and his brothers owned and operated Torry's Book Store on Provost Street in New Glasgow, along with other commercial interests in Cape Breton. They loved photography, and used many of their own photos, along with those of their friends, to publish many of the postcards of the area.
If anyone has modern photos of the scenes that are shown in this postcard collection, I would be happy to post them alongside the postcards (with photo credits, of course!) to show what the place looked like 100 years ago versus what it looks like now. I would also love to to hear from family and friends of the Torry, Crockett, McLean, Reid, White, and Waldren other families that were involved in photography and postcard publishing in Pictou County.
SOME CONVENIENT NAVIGATION FEATURES have been included in this website.
In the top right hand corner of each page you will find a small box called a Dashboard, that you can use to customize the overall look of this site. Hover over it with your mouse, and it will give you options for changing the background colour, screen viewing width, and increasing the text size.
Also be sure and click on the Menu Headings, for each section, ie. the words Collection Background, New Glasgow, etc. These pages also have information on them. The way the menu's are set up is somewhat confusing but it seems to be a default thing and I cannot figure out how to change it.
COMMENTS & ENQUIRIES or CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME!
Comments, enquiries and information are welcome and helpful! If you would like to see the original high resolution scan of any of the postcard images, please email me. Please bookmark this site and check back regularly for the new additions. I hope you enjoy your visit!
In the early 1900s, a postcard was the equivalent of an email or text message. They were attractive, inexpensive, and initially, cost a mere penny to mail! Postal service was far better than it is today and postcards routinely travelled distances of several hundred miles within a 24 hour period. Friends and family could be quickly notified of events, upcoming visits, a person’s health, or simply how things were going.
This site will showcase many of the postcards that were sold in the shops and hotels throughout Pictou County, primarily during the Edwardian Era (about 1900 to 1919) but also during the 20 year period after that. The collection has a special focus on the cards that were published and sold by the Torry family. James Torey was my great grandfather and he and his brothers owned and operated Torry's Book Store on Provost Street in New Glasgow, along with other commercial interests in Cape Breton. They loved photography, and used many of their own photos, along with those of their friends, to publish many of the postcards of the area.
If anyone has modern photos of the scenes that are shown in this postcard collection, I would be happy to post them alongside the postcards (with photo credits, of course!) to show what the place looked like 100 years ago versus what it looks like now. I would also love to to hear from family and friends of the Torry, Crockett, McLean, Reid, White, and Waldren other families that were involved in photography and postcard publishing in Pictou County.
SOME CONVENIENT NAVIGATION FEATURES have been included in this website.
In the top right hand corner of each page you will find a small box called a Dashboard, that you can use to customize the overall look of this site. Hover over it with your mouse, and it will give you options for changing the background colour, screen viewing width, and increasing the text size.
Also be sure and click on the Menu Headings, for each section, ie. the words Collection Background, New Glasgow, etc. These pages also have information on them. The way the menu's are set up is somewhat confusing but it seems to be a default thing and I cannot figure out how to change it.
COMMENTS & ENQUIRIES or CONTRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME!
Comments, enquiries and information are welcome and helpful! If you would like to see the original high resolution scan of any of the postcard images, please email me. Please bookmark this site and check back regularly for the new additions. I hope you enjoy your visit!
Allison Nelson
LAST UPDATED April 8, 2012.