The Toronto Litho Co. Ltd.’s Canadian Cities Series of pioneer postcards, first published in 1898 and in use until the early part of the XXth century, contains one of the most diverse set of varieties of its day, only superceded by J.C. Wilson’s wide variety of subtypes in their series of patriotic post cards.

The Canadian Cities Series features vignettes of buildings and views of major Canadian cities. Most cities are represented by two cards from each city, although for some cities, only a single card design is known, and for Toronto, 3 card designs are known. Below are a few examples of these cards. You will note one series of the cities-related cards, denoted as Type I, has the address and the stamp on the front, and a blank back, while a later series, denoted as Type II, replaces the stamp box with a crest, and has notations for the address and stamp on the back, brought in when postal regulations changed.

There are further variations to these series, reflecting different ways in which the company’s name is recorded on the card, by variations in text, placement and colour, and by variations to the reverse of the card (in the case of Type II), where different card backs are use.

Some card faces include the words “Private Post Card”, in reference to postal regulations of the day.

Another pioneer postcard series illustrates Canadian Sports. See also Toronto Litho’s patriotic cards and their view cards also shown on this site.