Toronto Litho | VintagePostcards.ca

Benbow
1st Class Battle Ship

From Wikipedia “HMS Benbow was a Victorian era Admiral-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, named for Admiral John Benbow.was commissioned on 14 June 1888 for the Mediterranean Fleet, with which she served until October 1891. She was then held in the Reserve until March 1894, with two short commissions to take part in maneuvers. Until April 1904 she served as guardship at Greenock, and thereafter remained in the Reserve until sold in 1909.”

Calliope
3rd Class Cruiser

This card is from a series published by the Toronto Lithographing Co. Ltd. that included the Benbow, Calliope, Nymphe & Terrible. They each feature a bulldog on a Union Jack with the text “What We Have We’ll Hold”. This card shows Calliope, a 3rd class cruiser.

From Wikipedia, “HMS Calliope was a Calypso class corvette or third class cruiser launched in 1884. She was used as a Royal Naval Reserve drill ship from 1907, was renamed HMS Helicon in 1915 and took back the name of HMS Calliope in 1931. She was sold in 1951.”

The card has been postally used June 4, 1900 from Sturgeon Falls, Ontario by Gordon L. Cockburn to Albert Rudler Jr. of 227 William Street in New York City, by way Hamilton, with a Hamilton transit postmark on the front to the card.

Above, a second example of this card postally used July 29, 1904 from Winnifred E. Best, 456 Markham Street, Toronto, Ontario to Helen Tiffany, 1721 Lyon Street, San Francisco, California, USA, with an August 2nd San Francisco receiver. Below, the reverse of the card.

Nymphe, Sloop

This card is from a series published by the Toronto Lithographing Co. Ltd. that included the Benbow, Calliope, Nymphe & Terrible. They each feature a bulldog on a Union Jack with the text “What We Have We’ll Hold”.

From Wikipedia, “HMS Nymphe was an Amazon-class sloop, of the Royal Navy, built at the Deptford Dockyard and launched on 24 November 1866. She served in the East Indies and Australia, and was sold in 1884.”

The TLG11-05 postcard has been overprinted with

WISHING YOU
A Merry Christmas
AND A
HAPPY NEW YEAR.

making a TLG11-06 variety. Each of the cards in this series is assumed to have a corresponding Xmas overprint. Toronto Litho Co. Ltd. had used this overprint on a number of different postcard designs for the Christmas of 1902, but, on some series, was also used in later years.

Below, the reverse of the card, postally used from Montreal to England with a 1¢ Jubilee and a 1¢ QV Numeral stamp, cancelled December 26, 1899.

TLG11

Toronto Litho Patriotics

VintagePostcards.ca

Michael J. Smith’s The Canadian Patriotic & Heraldic Postcard Handbook 1897–1945, Volume 2 lists this series of Toronto Lithographic Co. Ltd. patriotic cards as Series 11, featuring images of Boer War-era warships, including the Benbow, a 1st Class Battleship, the Calliope, a 3rd Class Cruiser, as well as the Nymphe & the Terrible.

Each card features one of the four ships at sea, with, in the foreground, the text “What We Have We’ll Hold” superimposed over a Union Jack Flag upon which stands a British Bulldog. The Union Jack and Bulldog was a frequent symbol used to demonstrate the strength and ferocity of the British Empire. It was used as part of a J.C. Wilson Boer War-era series, and was resurrected for use during both WWI and WWII.

Click on the images at left to see each of the series.