Lot #728: Vintage 1900s Ontario Postcard - "Canadian Pacific Railway Elevators, Fort William" - "Made in Germany" (pre-1914) - "Dave Davies Collection"

One Vintage 1910s Ontario Canada Postcard, unused, showing "Canadian Pacific Railway Elevators, Fort William, Ontario, on Line of C.P.R." publisher unknown but "Made in Germany" and numbered "201346". Never used postally, but stamped "Dave Davies Collection Mar 1975" No Stamp or Postmark. No Message. This "Made in Germany" card represents the pinnacle of postcard production from the Golden Age (1900–1914). Before the outbreak of World War I, German lithographers were the undisputed world leaders in the field, utilizing advanced chromolithography that could involve up to 12 different ink layers. This card documents the industrial heart of the Lakehead. At the time, the grain elevators at Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay) were among the largest and most technologically advanced in the world. The Canadian Pacific Railway used these postcards as marketing tools to showcase the industrial might and "progress" of Western Canada. The elevators were the vital link between the prairie wheat fields and the steamships of the Great Lakes. Because it was printed in Germany, the detail on the grain cars and the architectural lines of the elevators is exceptionally sharp. After 1914, German printing exports to Canada ceased due to the war, and the "Made in Germany" stamp disappeared. The Numbering (201346) is probably a Stengel & Co. or a Valentine’s global production number. Many German printers used a six-digit serial system to track their massive international inventories. The "Dave Davies Collection" stamp adds a layer of provenance. High-end collectors in the 1970s often used "library stamps" to mark their acquisitions. This suggests that this unique card was once part of a curated, professional-grade collection. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}