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Mount Rushmore at Tivoli Miniature World, Vineland, Ontario
When most Ontarians think of miniatures, they think of Cullen Gardens in Whitby, with its sprawling floral displays and miniature village that paid homage to Southern Ontario. Or, maybe, it’s just because of where I’m from and my age: I spent a lot of time in the Durham Region when I was growing up, and even lived there for seven years. Cullen Gardens was opened in 1980 and closed in 2006, so it was active during my formative years (and advertised on television all the time).
Tivoli Miniature World is new to me, though it’s by no means a new attraction! I stumbled upon it when listing postcards from my last batch scan.
Located next to Wet and Wild at Prudhomme’s Landing in Jordan, Ontario, Tivoli opened in the late 1970s and was active at that location until the 1990s. Visitors could experience fiberglass reproductions of famous landmarks from all over the world, such as Mount Rushmore (pictured above), the Taj Mahal, and more!
This park even had a little train that visitors could ride around the property, kinda like Peterborough’s Riverview Zoo.
Tivoli moved to Victoria Avenue in Niagara Falls in the 1990s, but it was not to last, and the park went bankrupt sometime around 1995. All the models were sold to a Brazilian company, with the train eventually making it into the collection of the Amusement Park Historical Association of Niagara, where it remains today.
The postcard in today’s listing is the Mount Rushmore attraction at Tivoli Miniature World and was published by Stephen A. Carter, who was also the photographer. This is a Dexter Color, Canada postcard.
Browse eBay for more examples of Tivoli Miniature World postcards and ephemera, or, visit the APHAN website to learn more about this park and other lost Niagara Falls attractions.
Special thanks to APHAN for their fantastic site, and for their work keeping amusement park history alive.
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SOLD: A Magical Stewart & Woolf Silhouette Postcard
This old postcard is truly something special.
Stewart & Woolf of London produced spectacular silhouette postcards, with windows aglow and each building’s details outlined in at least one of the background colours, around 1904. Examples I’ve seen have used limited colour palettes—usually two colours, no more than four—to stunning effect. There’s a lot of vaguely-metallic silver and/or gold, with the overall effect being akin to staring at the location head-on during sunset or sunrise.
I don’t run into these often. In a decade of postcard-collecting I have stumbled on exactly one, and that was the Old Machar Cathedral seen above. Aberdeen, Scotland.
Their collectability goes without saying. Stewart & Woolf silhouette postcards pop up on eBay every so often and range in price from $10 CAD to $40 CAD before shipping.
The Aberdeen piece sold in October 2025 for $24.00 CAD and, after transaction fees, I walked away with $18.94 CAD. Not bad!
Let me know what you think of this post by commenting below!
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Changes Happen Now and Then
It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Back in February 2025, we decided that it was time to close Treasures by the Locks, and the months after were a whirlwind of preparation and panic. We ran an auction through MaxSold for most of the store’s stock—the leftovers that we didn’t want to try to sell on our own went to 1-800-GOT-JUNK and we walked away from 7 May Street at the end of May.
I fully intended to dump all of my energy into this venture… and then I went and got myself a full-time job (insert sweatdrop emoji here). It has me working 45 hours per week (50, if you include the commute), with very little energy for much else.
This job is allowing me to pay down my line of credit (I’ve gone from $9,5331 owing to $6,250 since July) and, with any luck, I’ll be free of it in 4 months. At that point, my credit card will be next and can probably be knocked out in a couple of months.
It’s also letting me get some desperately-needed upgrades: a few additions to my wardrobe, a new document scanner, and some other things here-and-there that I’ve been needing for several years but haven’t been able to buy.
The new scanner is set up and ready to go. I need some storage bins (to make sense of all the crap I’ve had to shove into my room since shutting down the store) and, possibly, a few other organization-related things, but, it’s a step in the right direction.
In short: a lot has changed since I last posted anything relevant to what I’m doing here. I haven’t given up, I’ve just had to take a step back.
I’m looking forward to taking that scanner for a run and to work’s yearly shutdown, so I can get back into the swing of things here. In the meantime, watch the shop and check out the new Patreon.
See you soon,
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Edmund Fitzgerald at Soo Locks
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.
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.
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A Birthday Postcard and Almost-Milestone
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,
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Lakewood Lodge, Coboconk Real Photo Postcard
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!
The historic Lakewood Lodge, now known as The Saucy Willow Inn. 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!
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A Beautiful Victorian Calling Card
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,
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6 Blank Postcards for Crafts & Collage
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.
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Vintage Happy Birthday Card for Mom
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.
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!
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2 Antique Paper Textures
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!
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The Paper Girl
Antique & Vintage Ephemera Since 2019
