Postcards from 1900 - 1910

Proving that children really did have a l-o-n-g walk to school back then!

"Owning a first-edition book is like having a baby and not being able to cuddle it," says George Murray of J. N. Barfield* Books in New York City.

"A scratch, a rip, or smudge diminishes a first edition's value as an investment." For those who wish to own fine books and read them, too, leather-bound volumes offer handsome rewards. Barfield's collection dates from about 1870 to 1929, when bookbinding went the way of the stock market, never to rebound. The shop welcomes and educates browsers.
~ BOUND TO BE ENJOYED, Country Living Magazine, Dec. 1991.

*J. N. Bartfield Rare and Fine Books, New York

Early Postcards although sent with warm sentiments were poorly crafted with no embellishments. Later as the quality of paper and printing methods improved, cards became decorative works of art.

Postcards from the Past

"The Cayuga Bridge Company was incorporated in 1836 and the bridge was completed soon afterward. A bridge was also built at Seneca. The Cayuga company was a joint stock operation, financed by shareholders, who profited from the tolls which were collected. The government set limits on the tolls: total annual amount collected could not be more than 20 per cent of the total cost of the bridge."
In 2011, as the plans for a new bridge to replace the old in Cayuga are revised and revealed, we read with interest the chapter on the history of roads and bridges in Haldimand County.
Available at The Neat Little Bookshop The Early Years by Cheryl MacDonald, author and historian. $20.

Here Comes Santa Claus ~ excerpts from CHRISTMAS IN ONTARIO*
In Ontario, the tradition of visiting Santa at a store goes back to the late 1800's. In some cases, he was an invisible presence ~ one Toronto bookstore billed itself as Santa's depository for gifts. But stores that featured a real live Santa had a definite edge, especially if his arrival was marked by a special event.
The most special event of all was Eaton's annual Santa Claus parade, which started in 1905. Prior to that time, Santa was enthroned in the Toronto department store's Toyland.

"This compilation brings to life the very best holiday stories from across Ontario." ~ Cheryl MacDonald

Cheryl has been writing about Canadian history for nearly thirty years. A long-time resident of Nanticoke, she is a full-time writer and historian.

*Available in The Neat Little Bookshop $9.95

"A composer friend, visiting Heine, found the poet at his desk gloomily surveying a blank page. Asked what the trouble was, Heine replied, "Well, I just met X in the street, I stopped for a moment to exchange ideas, and now I feel like a complete idiot."

~ Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), After 1831 he lived in Paris, where he was involved in radical political journalism, wrote essays on French and German culture, and composed satirical verse.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, 1985