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Edmund Fitzgerald at Soo Locks

27 March 2025 by thepapergirl +

When the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was commissioned in 1957, she was designed with size in mind: upon her launch in 1958 she was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes and immediately became the flagship of Oglebay Norton, the company that sailed her. They put her to work hauling iron ore from Minnesota to be processed at various ports along the Great Lakes.

edmund fitzgerald at soo locks sometime in the 1970s

The Fitz was a familiar sight at the Soo Locks over her 17-year career. One day in 1970, photographer Lucy Gridley snapped this shot of the massive laker at the locks. Captain Peter Pulcer, ever the showman, was likely engaging in his regular running commentary over the intercom on the way through. He was in command from 1966 until Captain McSorley took the helm in 1972.

Something I didn’t know about the Fitz was that, in 1969 and 1970, she was involved in 3 separate incidents that caused significant damage inside and out.

In September 1969, she hit ground near the Soo Locks. Less than 8 months later, she collided with SS Hochelaga, and 7 months after that she hit a wall while passing through one of the locks.

If you’re curious, you can find a timeline of SS Edmund Fitzgerald‘s life and death at ssedmundfitzgerald.org.

I can’t imagine she would have been easy to navigate, especially with over 26,000 tons of taconite on board.

Today’s postcard is from my personal collection. I’m very interested in ships and shipwrecks, so I tend to stash away most of my ship postcards—however, if you’d like to get your hands on a postcard like this one, eBay usually has some listed.

I recommend starting your collecting journey there. Most postcard resellers are as passionate about these pieces as you and I, and if you’re not sure about something, you’re welcome to reach out to me.

Until next time, friends.

P.S. Consider buying me a coffee or subscribing to my newsletter to help support the site. This is a passion project, and earnings from products, affiliates, etc. help me spend more time writing and editing.

A Birthday Postcard and Almost-Milestone

7 February 2025 by thepapergirl +

I recently turned 39.

This has nothing to do with the birthday postcard that I’m sharing today, other than the fact that a birthday was recently had. I hid my birthdate on Facebook to avoid the influx of notifications and was surprised that I didn’t completely escape (thank you again for your kind wishes, Aunt Peggy & Shona!), but thankful all the same.

I wouldn’t be able to remember birthdays if Facebook didn’t occasionally remind me, either (I’d be wise to start adding them to my phone calendar, I suppose). I wouldn’t say it’s laziness. My brain is full of all sorts of mush and panic at all times, so there’s all sorts of nonsense happening. Other things slip through my grasp. Whoops.

The postcard above makes excellent use of forget-me-nots to make up the word ‘Birthday’, though it does get a little lost in the shuffle. It might have been more effective if ‘Greetings’ was done up the same way! Imagine a typeface in this style. You couldn’t use it on anything that wasn’t a heading or title.

To say I’m not particularly thrilled with hitting 39 is an understatement: I thought I’d be more independent by now, with less debt and more freedoms. Instead, I’m scrabbling to get by and I don’t even have my own place to live. I’m eternally grateful to my parents for housing me, mind you, it just feels… like failure.

I owned a house from 2009 to 2014! Had I known back then what I know now, well. No use dwelling on that. ADHD took a lot from me and now I’m doing what I can to dig myself out of it, which means setting up some services. I’ll be advertising those in the coming weeks.

So, apologies if I’m a little glum. I’ll perk up again in time. In the meantime, now that I’ve switched newsletter service providers, consider signing up for my newsletter and inviting me into your email. I’ll keep it positive, and I’m told I’m a fucking delight. 😀

Ta-ta for now,

Lakewood Lodge, Coboconk Real Photo Postcard

26 January 2025 by thepapergirl +

A few weeks ago now, I found some of my old Coboconk postcards, including this Lakewood Lodge, Coboconk Real Photo Postcard (RPPC).

We’ve covered RPPCs here before, and they’re a very common category—but they’re also among the most interesting because anybody could make these postcards and send them to friends. I’ve stumbled on RPPCs of all sorts, even some by amateur photographers!

When the main house was built in 1878, it was as the home of Mr. Adam Carl, who owned the surrounding farmland (including the ‘point’ that makes up the end of Albert Street) until 1919. He sold the house to some Americans, who gave the home its “Lakewood Lodge” moniker, and they owned it until 1927.

The Lodge first became a tourist destination when Mrs. Bertha Caton purchased it around 1927. She made it into a summer lodge and hosted visitors, who kept coming back because of her hospitality, her delicious food, and the beauty of the location—you could canoe right into Balsam Lake from Lakewood!

It must have been awfully quiet for Mrs. Caton in the winter months, when she had the property to herself and wasn’t renting to tourists at all. Winters in Coboconk back then were far more harsh than they are now.

The postcard shows the Lodge during the 1950s. In the present day, Lakewood Lodge is The Saucy Willow Inn, and its most recent owners have completed extensive restorations on this beautiful property.

Considering a visit to Coboconk? Book your stay with The Saucy Willow Inn and experience its historic charm for yourself.

Ta-ta for now!

A Beautiful Victorian Calling Card

3 January 2025 by thepapergirl +

This week, as I was digging around on my external hard drive, I found something I knew you all would adore.

When calling cards cross my desk, they’re usually in big batches—I have two little boxes FULL of them, for example—so I’m not sure how this one wound up separated from the pack!

Disembodied hands show up quite often in old calling cards, as do florals. Each card would be left somewhere to inform someone that they had a visitor, and designs ranged from the simple “signature on a rectangle of heavy paper” to “specialty printed graphic with shiny gold details” and everything in-between.

A deep dive into the world of the Victorian calling card is due, I think, but not today. For now, enjoy this transparent PNG—and if you’d like to download it at a much higher resolution (8″ x 4.5″ instead of 4″ x 2″) while supporting my work, you can find that file by clicking into my shop.

Thank you for joining me, I’ll be in touch again soon.

xoxo,

6 Blank Postcards for Crafts & Collage

19 December 2024 by thepapergirl +

These 6 blank postcards are from my stash and are perfect for collaging. Download each, assemble as many as you want or need on a page, and print—or make digital collages. After all, mini-collages make great junk journal ephemera and are so easy to make.

The first piece in this batch was printed by Bamforth & Co., Ltd., in England. It came from a lot of postcards that were up for sale in an antique shop, at one point, hence the price in pencil. This format has a separated ‘address’ and ‘message’ area, though not labeled as such, and bears the Bamforth logo.

P-C Paris is short for Papeteries de Levallois–Clichy, which was a postcard company that produced a variety of real photo postcards during the 1920s. I’m very weak for old postcards featuring pretty ladies, so, of course have a handful of their pin-ups in my collection. Their photography is gorgeous.

Age has faded the hell out of this Souvenir Post Card, but leaves us with more than enough to appreciate—like the decorative element under the title. Most of my postcards come from the 1920s, and that line is very typical of the era’s style.

Believe it or not, Toronto had a lot of postcard-makers and printing companies, many of which you won’t find information about unless you’re able to dig in places where I can’t.

PECO, a.k.a. The Photogelatine Engraving Co., started off in Ottawa, opened a Toronto office, and then moved all operations to Toronto starting in 1947. The company closed in 1954.

If you’re interested in the history of Canadian postcard companies, I suggest perusing the site for the Toronto Postcard Club… which I desperately need to sit down and scour.

The above card was also made in Canada and shows a lot of age. This format is used on a lot of RPPCs—most of my old Canadian postcards have this backing, I think.

Our last piece today is another from PECO, this time out of their Ottawa offices. Note the maple leaf logo! That’s how you know they’re Canadian. 😉

Thanks for joining me again! Stay tuned for more news and views from The Paper Girl.

Vintage Happy Birthday Card for Mom

1 November 2024 by thepapergirl +

Today’s graphic is a vintage happy birthday card for mom, though it’s way more formal than that. Reading it makes me feel like a small Victorian-era child.

*I have been a most agreeable child, Mother.*

Why does presenting mom with a flower-filled water well feel a bit like a threat? Something might be wrong with me. It’s certainly pretty.

Since I’m not capable of leaving well enough alone, I knocked the center out and turned the teal bit into its own frame. Is this useful? No idea. You’re welcome.

The vintage wishing well graphic makes for a nice addition to a spring junk journal, if you’re so inclined! My favourite part of this greeting card is just how detailed this gold segment is—and that it’s all done by hand.

Since I haven’t done anything even a little bit creative in a while, I thought, “what the heck, why not” and set myself a time limit of 15 minutes, so I could show you all an example of how you can use these files. I chose the gold frame and a vintage photograph from my collection.

vintage photograph of a woman standing next to a car. This photo is set within a gold frame graphic from a greeting card. — *Click to open at full size in a new tab.*

I’m learning how to use Affinity and, so far, the learning curve isn’t too bad—a lot of the shortcuts are the same as Photoshop.

Stay tuned for more vintage graphics, and don’t forget to show me what you’ve made!

2 Antique Paper Textures

30 October 2024 by thepapergirl +

If I recall correctly (and there’s a good chance that I don’t), these two antique paper textures were from the backs of two large photographs. I thought the foxing and age spots were neat (especially if turned into multiply layers or used similarly), so they were the first files I scanned.

Antique papers like this are great for making embellished shapes:

create your shape layers (butterflies, hearts, whatever)
clip the paper to the shape layers
clip embellishments and rearrange as desired

They’re also great as overlays for adding texture, as mentioned waaay up there.

This one has a slight gradient effect along the bottom, which could do some fascinating things to a junk journal printable or digital paper.

Until next time!

11 Vintage Mid-Century Modern Bridal Shower Cards

1 October 2024 by thepapergirl +

Today’s batch of mid-century modern bridal shower cards came to me in a plastic bag, and represented over 20 years in the life of a married couple. Not only were there cards like this from the 1940s, there were all sorts of Christmas and birthday cards from then until into the 1960s!

The bride even scribbled down what gift each attendee brought, just on the inside of the card. That’s one way to keep organized!

Lots like this are one of my favourite aspects of my work: as I go through everything I found, I learn a little bit of someone’s story. That story may never be told again, but bits and pieces of it go out into the world here—and will get woven into someone else’s story! I think it’s neat, and a lovely way to explore history from the point of view of regular people.

Our first piece has some potential as a seamless pattern. The bad part about a lot of greeting cards from any era, but especially this one, is the texture of the paper. Textured paper is very difficult to work with in a photo editor!

Some of these images are great candidates for redrawing or running through Vector Magic, which I will tell you about in another post.

Among the most common themes of midcentury shower cards are, of course, umbrellas. Umbrellas in all colours and sizes. Umbrellas with flowers. Umbrellas with rain! So many umbrellas. By the time I get through showing you these different cards, you will be sick of umbrellas.

The sweet hand-drawn floral border is beyond cute, however, so I can forgive the repetition of umbrella umbrella umbrella.

For Your Shower. Very simple and elegant little pink buds and silvered branches. I think a cute pattern could be made from these flowers, with some creative cut-and-paste work—or redrawing them from scratch.

Another theme that props up for bridal showers is the use of hot air balloons! I have never associated them with weddings in my life, but more than one card artist did in the 1940s-1950s, for some reason.

I love the way this image is composed: the greeting written in ribbon; a rose-filled watering can; a very simple colour scheme of blue, white, yellow, and red. The cascading roses do seem a little dangerous, being pointed like that. Perhaps not a great message, but still an overall pretty picture. And the ‘shower’ part! Note the little rain drops.

This card is cute. I like the gold and pink motif, with a few little blooms for flavour. The bells along the side make a great stand-alone graphic of their own! What elements can you pick out of this card that would make interesting patterns?

More bells, more silver, more roses! The addition of little bluebirds is delightful. I am not a huge fan of this textured paper, though the birds make it worthwhile.

Speaking of birds. Look at that! He’s even wearing shoes, what a polite… duck? Stork? A duck in duckies would be funny. Multiple themes were combined in the above bird’s card, from the umbrellas right on down to literal presents. Perfect shower card mascot, A+!

We cannot have a collection of bridal shower cards without a lovely bouquet. Note the silver bits and the little butterfly. A very sweet, simple graphic for this kind of card!

What I like about this bridal shower card—aside from how simple it was to save—is that it’s a little gift. What you’re seeing here is what you actually get: that’s it, that’s the card. I forget what it said inside, but it really is a present-shaped card, and it’s beyond cute.

Lastly, this bridal shower card would have been attached to a gift. That typeface is iconic for 1950s-related projects.

Which card is your favourite?

Ta-ta for now,

Holy Bananas It’s Been a SUMMER.

21 September 2024 by thepapergirl +

Y’all.

Some folks are likely wondering where the heck I went. I’m still around, but most of my time is tied up in a completely different project.

You see, mom and I started running a brick-and-mortar store back in 2020. There was a business partner, but she had other plans and buggered off—leaving us in the lurch. This shop is on a back street in a small town and I’m working on getting things together that we ought to have had back then, too.

Like street signage saying what we are. In-store promotional material, bag stuffers, that kinda thing. Looking at whether or not we can pull off a direct mail campaign.

I’ve also been getting treatment for ADHD since September 2023 and that has been something else. Trying to get the issues I’ve had (since 2019!) with shortness of breath during exertion dealt with, too, and I’m just starting to be taken seriously.

Dealing with the medical system is exhausting. The guy that diagnosed my ADHD was a pediatrician and bariatric doctor, so once he got my mood stabilized he was only concerned with my size despite my own concerns about my treatment. I still bounce between projects like a meth-addled squirrel and decision paralysis is actually worse. Oh, and, what impulse control? What’s that?

So I’m back to looking for someone else who can work with me on this. My GP is going to handle my Vyvanse prescription, at least.

I’m better than I was, but not ideal. I really don’t know if I could handle a normal job, even, which is also not ideal. My usual state is “running around in circles screaming”, but because it’s not the “hyperactive child” type of ADHD, I look pretty calm! Everything is weird and this has been my brain for years.

I am still working on things for this blog and website, it’s just had to move to side project status. Over the winter I’ll be busting my butt on the store’s blog, online store, and e-mail newsletter, so if any of that interests you, you can check it out at treasuresbythelocks.ca.

Maybe, eventually, we’ll be able to afford to change the name. 😀 That is A Story, too.

A proper newsletter will be forthcoming here, and the store is starting to take shape. The Paper Girl e-store will be digital products only—if you want to get your hands on vintage ephemera and smalls, you can do so at the Treasures by the Locks store or on my Etsy. More listings are going up on those sites, too, as I have so much material and not enough room.

In the meantime: I have drafts to tweak and get out there. Yay!

Ta-ta for now,

Old or Not? Dapper Young Men Pose at Niagara Falls

18 September 2024 by thepapergirl +

Although this Niagara Falls group shot, featuring three young men dressed in their best, looks and feels old—or is at least grungy as all hell in my hands—I’m not completely sure.

It has this clarity that’s extra-odd for any picture, let alone an old one, though I’m always remarking about how crisp antique cabinet cards look.

In fact, this antique photograph reminds me of one of those souvenir photos you can get in Niagara Falls, Ontario—if you’ve been, it’s likely you’ve wandered by the place on Victoria Avenue and looked at the examples listed outside. It looks like a really cool way to get a souvenir, though I’m sure none of the costumes would fit somebody my size!

A Google Lens search of the photograph came up with a lot of references to Billy the Kid. I, uh, don’t think so, Google.

All of the creases and the grime appear on the real thing, but… well, what do you think? Old or not?

Oh, and as an aside, I obtained this piece before generative AI became a thing—so it’s definitely not AI.