The Bay’s The Place to Shop…For Postcards

After the Santa Claus Parade in Toronto, my family and I stopped at The Bay at their flagship store at Yonge Street and Queen Street. It’s been our family tradition for years to visit Santa there and then for a present my daughter gets to pick out an ornament.  But this year I too got some presents!

The Bay’s stationery department had a rack of amazing greeting postcards. I’ve been good this year so I bought a bunch, including these gems:

I’m not sure the word to describe this facial expression, but it’s very striking.

That’s Audrey Hepburn posing above. The postcard below is a die-cut of an owl.

The following postcard speaks for itself:

Lately, Toronto has been very good to me for postcards. Christmas is coming early!

Happy Birthday Kate Bush

Today is the birthday of my favourite singer, Kate Bush.

Many years ago in a record shop in Guelph, Ontario they were giving away postcards to promote Kate Bush’s album, Hounds of Love. Ever since then this item below has been a favourite of my Collection:

Happy birthday to Kate Bush! Please do a concert in Toronto!

Elvis Postcards

Elvis Presley was born today in 1935.  My mother loves Elvis, saw him in concert, and took us to Graceland when Elvis died.

I like Elvis’ early music, but I wouldn’t consider myself a huge fan. But for some reason, I keep getting a Elvis postcards (see a few at this post). I got one for Christmas even.

But here’s a great one to mark his birthday:

Here’s Elvis’ backside:

Postcard message:
“Hey Glen. The spirit of Elvis is alive and well in Vegas!”

More Postcards for Christmas

I got some awesome new postcards for Christmas this year. Well, I should say postal cards as they were issued by a postal service, Canada Post.

Here are a couple of my favourites of this batch.

Miss Supertest III was an award-winning powerboat. It won an international prize, the Harmsworth Trophy, for  three years (1959-61) and was the first to beat American boats in 39 years. Canada Post and Globe & Mail have more of its history.

Here’s one from Canada Post’s Canadian country singers group:

Here’s Canada Post’s spiel on k.d. lang:

In a career that has spanned nearly 30 years, she has sold millions of records worldwide and won both JUNO and Grammy awards. A recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, lang is also an Officer of the Order of Canada.

This information would be great to put on the back. But Canada Post appears to never put anything on the back of their postal cards other than credits. As a collector, I have a constant craving for such information!

Although, Christmas has past – in just a few weeks it’ll be my birthday so maybe there will be more deltiological gifts to come.

Happy Birthday Elvira

Almost as much as I love postcards, I love bad movies. And the ultimate host of schlocky horror films is Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Years before Mystery Science Theatre made an art of B-film mockery, Elvira was the horror flick “hostess with the mostess”.

Today is the birthday of Elvira’s alter-ego Cassandra Peterson.

Before the Web and social media made contacting and following celebrities easy, In 1995 I had to write to Elvira’s official fan club to ask to join. After waiting for weeks, I finally received this in the mail:

I was excited to have Elvira on a postcard, but it’s not really all (or much) that I had hoped for from her or her fan club.

Here’s the backside:

Rather cold as Elvira’s deathly pallour isn’t it? No personal message, just a spiel for me to buy boring stuff (Phone cards?!? Make it postcards and now you’re talking.)

Sadly, this is the only thing I ever got from Elvira (sniff) or her fan club. But one Elvira postcard is better than one – but nothing would beat a great set though!

Honouring Mary Pickford

Today is the birthday of the first movie star, Mary Pickford born in 1892. The actress started in short silent films by D. W. Griffith, received the second best actress Oscar winner, and would become one of the most famous women in the world at the time.

Although she helped define early Hollywood, Pickford was was born in my hometown of Toronto, Ontario (the hospital for Sick Children now sits on the site of her former house). In addition to staring in many movies (see her IMDB profile), she was one of the co-founders of the United Artists studio.

In honour of her achievements and charitable work, Canada Post released a postage stamp and postcard of Mary Pickford:

Here’s Canada Post‘s description of the postcard:

Toronto-born Mary Pickford defined the concept of a movie star. In 1909, she appeared in her first film and found immediate success. ‘America’s Sweetheart’ beguiled viewers and became internationally renowned for the charming characters she portrayed on screen. This postage-paid postcard for mailing in Canada and around the world highlights her tremendous appeal in the early years of the silver screen.

Tragically Hip

Today is the birthday of Gordon Downie, lead singer of Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. They are definitely one of the best bands Canada has ever produced and probably my favourite.  We saw them in concert once and they were incredible (including Downie’s infamous stage banter)!

Canada Post released a postal card in their honour in July 2013.

I noticed this card shortly after it was released at my local pharmacy’s Canada Post outlet. It was the first time I was aware that Canada Post produced cool postal cards– as previously I’d just seen their uninspired postcards of the moose and loons.

Canada Post is still selling The Hip postcard. Here’s their write-up on the band:

Five friends from Kingston, Ontario – Gordon Downie, Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, and Johnny Fay – founded The Tragically Hip in 1984. The band’s name, chosen quickly before their first gig, was inspired by Elephant Parts, a short video by former Monkee Michael Nesmith.

Known for their powerful, energetic live performances, The Hip has established a demanding concert itinerary, touring extensively in Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

The band has released 12 studio albums, 2 live albums, one extended play (EP), and 54 singles, and sold millions of records worldwide. Enjoying mass popularity and critical success, The Hip has received numerous awards, including 14 JUNO Awards, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.