Relaxing

In praise of Canadian manhood

A Canadian soldier sent this postcard, with its verse tribute to soldierly masculinity, home to his mother in 1916.

How the officers eat ...

George Parker, a barber who enlisted in the CEF in September 1915, writes to his wife about his work procuring food for the officers' mess of his unit.

Parker.pdf (17.72 MB)

The Imperial family

The relationship between Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as seen by a First World War graphic artist.

Scoring on the Kaiser

During the First World War, it was common to draw the connection between sport and war - as in the postcard featuring a Union Jack soccer ball.

The British lion triumphs

This postcard, showing the British lion mastering the German eagle, was a generic design - the word "Canadians" could be replaced with the name of another nationality or unit.

The Navy's Here

This patriotic cover, with the warship and crossed ensigns, honoured the Royal Canadian navy.

Canada's War Effort

One of the many commemorative covers honouring the Canadian effort during the Second World War.

Bingo for soldiers

Bingo was just one of the many means used to raise money to supply soldiers overseas with cigarettes.

Army life in 1914

Printed early in the First World War to satirize army life, these cards were mailed by a soldier at Valcartier, Quebec, to his family in Melfort, Saskatchewan.

A long training march

A soldier from Nova Scotia describes a brigade training march, involving 6000 men in a formation three miles long.