Pictou County Postcards
Vintage Postcards from Pictou County, Nova Scotia

The three Torry brothers mentioned above, were partners in Torry's Book & Toy Store in New Glasgow and in a men's clothing and shoe store in Sydney, Nova Scotia. James B Torey (known as Jim) was my great grandfather, and he eventually became solely responsible for the New Glasgow store. Please refer to the Torey Family Album and the Torrys Bookstore pages of this website, for further details.

Arthur Hambleton (Sr.), emigrated to Nova Scotia from England in 1912, with his wife Dorothy (Matthews) Hambleton and their young family. He worked in the office at the Eastern Car Company in Trenton, a position which allowed him to photograph the employees and the inner working areas of the plant, something that no other photographer could have done on such a regular and personal basis. Some of his postcards identify him as "Arthur Hambleton, Photographer, Eureka" so he may have been living in this nearby village at the time. They lived at 65 Ellis Street in New Glasgow for many years. Arthur and Dorothy Hambleton are interred at the Lorne Street Cemetery in New Glasgow, NS. and their monument can be viewed at http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=61626392 .

James McLean has been a somewhat elusive character in this story. I have only been able to find out that he was the postmaster, and he and his sons had a store that sold books, newspapers and magazines, post cards, wall paper, souvenirs, school supplies in Pictou, NS. He must have had quite an interest in photography, judging from the number of postcards that he published. Like his counterparts in New Glasgow and Westville, James appears to have contracted out the printing work to various printing companies both in Canada and abroad.

Paul Finkenrath Kunstanstaldt, was a company that specialized in high quality postcards and greeting cards that were often embossed and glittery. These cards were primarily for the export market and had a minimum order with an imprint of the town name of 1200 cards. These cards are still commonly available for most towns, due to the volume of production, however in small towns like Trenton, it was likely a one time order, therefore these cards from the smaller towns are harder to find. McCoy Printing Company in Moncton, NB appears to have copied this embossed, glittery format for some of the cards they published, although they may have simply subcontracted the job to Paul Finkenrath.

For further information about this company visit The Postcard Album website at http://www.tpa-project.info/html/body_paul_finkenrath.html

Rumsey was at this address until at least 1918, as they were advertising their services in the January 1918 issue of the Bookseller & Stationer & Office Equipment Journal. Today the Rumsey building is but a shoddy reminder of the past that houses the Tsampa Cafe and some apartments that with unusually large bay windows. Perhaps these corner units were the corporate offices with a view onto Queen Street West. Thanks to Google Street Views for the image of this building.