Hybrid in More Ways than One

We have gone back to the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia, Canada.

This is a picture of a passenger train in the Fraser River Valley. One can see the river in the valley on the right hand side of the post card. There isn’t enough detail to be able to say anything about the engine itself. There is only one engine and it looks like it is pulling a baggage car and three passenger cars. It is on quite the steep slope and the rocks on the slope hint that this part of the railroad was dynamited to be able to get the two parts of Canada united by the transcontinental railroad.

This is a hybrid card. The front of the card looks very much like those printed before March 1, 1907. The printer kindly left a bit of room for the sender to put a short message to the right side of the picture before posting the card.

But, when we look at the back, we see that it was actually printed after March 1, 1907. There is space on the left of the card for the message and the right hand side of the card clearly states: “THIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY.” It is just under the words Post Card at the top. While the card was printed in Canada, the Canadians could not escape the influence of the American postal system.

Middlesex county Woburn was incorporated in 1642. It can be found near Boston in Middlesex County almost on the eastern coast of Massachusetts. It is near Horn Pond, which is one of the sources of the Mystic River. That is where this card was posted, and yet it has a Canadian 2 cent stamp on it. That makes it again a hybrid: Canadian card and stamp mailed in the USA. Amelia sent this message to her friend, Celina: “Hello Celina, Am enjoying myself very much. This is some country. Love, Amelia.” Celina lived in Montague City, Massachusetts. It is found in the northwest part of the state in Franklin County. It is a very young town, being incorporated in 1754.

The post card was published and printed by Warwick Bro’s. & Rutter, Limited out of Toronto, Ontario in Canada. The firm of Warwick Bros & Rutter published over 7,024 picture postcards during what is now called “The Golden Age of Postcards” (1901-1913).

For some years, the firm made a specialty of the production of picture post cards. It was the first Canadian firm to enter the field with “Made in Canada” coloured cards, leading the way in three color and four color printing processes and making available the highest class of color printing at a popular price.

Source: “Warwick Bros & Rutter Limited. The Story of a Business 1848-1923"