Greeting Cards
Ring in the peace
The return of peace in 1918 was a momentous occasion - so momentous that special commemorative greeting cards were printed and sold.
An air force birthday card
To take advantage of a sales opportunity, this enterprising manufacturer may have simply taken a prewar birthday card and embossed on it the crest of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
A card for Mother
This hospital unit was established in Dundurn, Saskatchewan, in September 1940, and went overseas early in 1942. Glen's card to his mother was written a few days before the Canadian raid on Dieppe.
Christmas in the trenches
At Christmas 1917, this soldier wrote that he was "Still Going Strong." Did he survive the war?
Christmas greetings from a veteran
A Manitoba veterans' organization printed this card for its members to use at Christmas, and chose an appropriate quotation from Sir Arthur Currie for the occasion.
Christmas in uniform
Jim Taunton of Verdun, Quebec, was spending Christmas 1940 in uniform, after enlisting in the Black Watch in Montreal.
A gift from home
This Canadian soldier spent Christmas 1943 in North Africa, but even there he was able to enjoy Canadian cigarettes sent by the Ingersoll Cream Cheese Company.
Remembering the Merchant Marine
Merchant seamen were often forgotten in wartime, but this Christmas card drew attention to the vital role they played in supporting the war effort.
Overseas at Christmas
This Christmas card, produced by the Salvation Army, used an idyllic Canadian wilderness scene rather than any holiday imagery.
A last Christmas at war
For the unidentified soldier who sent this card home in 1945, the best Christmas present was the knowledge that this was the last wartime Christmas to be spent away from home.
Easter on the Western Front
Canadian chaplains serving in France distributed these cards to their troops at Easter in 1915 - some of them would spend the next five Easters away from their families.
Missing home at Christmas
This unidentified gunner could have been spending his fourth Christmas away from his family, and might have had another three Christmases apart still to endure.
A Christmas wish from Italy
This Christmas greeting, sent by a member of the Royal Canadian Dragoons serving in Italy, was sent by V-Mail, a system of microfilming letters so they took up less shipping space.
A cenotaph Christmas card
Saskatoon's war memorial might seem like a strange image to use on a Christmas card, but it represents the importance of the memory of the First World War to Canada in the 1930s.
Santa drives a jeep
On this card sent home by a Canadian soldier serving with the occupation forces in Germany, Santa Claus has exchanged his reindeer for a military-issue jeep.
Like a medieval knight ...
This Christmas message draws a direct connection between a medieval knight on horseback and the lowly soldier of the Second World War.
A Canadian frigate at Christmas
The Beacon Hill, a frigate built in Esquimalt, British Columbia, went into service in May 1944. She served on convoy and escort work in the North Atlantic for the rest of the war, and was eventually paid off in 1967.
Christmas wishes from a sailor
This card used by a sailor in the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve gives a jaunty impression of life at sea.
A Highlander's Christmas Greetings
The 134th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, was raised by Toronto's 48th Highlanders. It never saw action as a unit but was broken up to provide reinforcements to other battalions.
Highland Light Infantry Christmas cards
Captain George Hipel of the Highland Light Infantry of Canada sent two very different Christmas cards home: a hurriedly printed black and white card in 1944, when the unit was still fighting; and an impressive colour card in 1945, when the unit was back in England.