WLS-P01 Type I — ex. Larry Paige

This example of a WLS-P01 Type I card shows the use of a 5¢ Jubilee stamp cancelled with a Montreal Flag cancel dated July 26, 1897. The card was mailed to T. Wm. Wilson, 176 Mance, City. The card has a MT JY 26 97 cancel next to the handwritten text “Please leave stamp on this card”. The 5¢ postage was beyond the 1¢ that was required to deliver the card, but appears to have been sent by a stamp collector interested in the new Jubilee issue.

WLS-P01 Type I business use — ex. Colin Banfield

This card was printed by J.C. Wilson & Co. as a Jubilee trade card, on the occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, and was intended to be distributed by hand rather than through the mail, but it represents an iconic variation of this card.

An unusual used copy of the Jubilee Card was auctioned by R. Maresch & Son in June 2003. The card bears a ½¢ Jubilee stamp tied with a light grid cancel. However, since the only address was to J.C. Wilson & Co., and it bears no information other than the J.C. Wilson ad, a valid reason for its use seems improbable, other than as a favour cancellation as a souvenir.

The reverse of the card is illustrated below.

WLS-P01 Type I Business Use

This WLS-P01 Type I card was printed on the front and reverse for business use. Unlike the J.C. Wilson Jubilee trade card, this card was intended for postal use, with the text “PUT STAMP HERE” in the upper right corner. The card front bears extensive text extolling the virtues of PATENT FELT.

A similar WLS-P01 Type I card was also sold in the Jim Hennok auction in December 1988. The card was postally used with a Port Hope squared circle, but, similar to the card shown above, did not have the two white bars for writing of the addressee. That card bore an ad for “Patent Felt” mattresses sold by J.W. Smith of Port Hope.

On the reverse of the card, shown below, an illustration and additional text describe the Patent Felt Mattresses. A hand stamp with “J.L. Peters, Digby, N.S. “ is also shown, with the makers of the “Celebrated ALASKA BRAND” mattresses presumably distributing the cards to their distributers, who would in turn mail them to prospective purchasers.

WLS-P01 Type II

This unused version of a WLS-P01 Type II card shows a similar card to Type I, but with two bars added to allow for an address to be written more legibly than over the dark red ink of the the Type I card.

WLS-P01 Type II — June 22, 1897

This WLS-P01 Type II card is hand dated June 22, 1897. A partial squared circle cancel, presumably from Halifax, remains after a Jubilee stamp fell off or was removed. The card is addressed to Mrs. Walter. Palfrey, Lawrencetown, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. This date would have placed this card on the third day after the release of the Jubilee stamps. This may be the earliest example of a J.C. Wilson patriotic postcard.

The reverse of the card is shown below.

WLS-P01 Type II — June 23, 1897

This WLS-P01 Type II card is postmarked with a Montreal Flag “C” cancel dated June 23, 1897, and bears a 1¢ Jubilee stamp, mailed to Arnprior, Ontario,

WLS-P01 Type II—July 22, 1897 business use

This very nice copy of WLS-P01, postally used with a 1¢ Jubilee stamp with a Halifax squared circle postmark dated July 22, 1897, dates to about a month after the first appearance of this J.C. Wilson postcard design. What makes this more interesting is the use of the card as a notification that W.B. Day would be visiting a potential customer of W. & C. Silver of Halifax, with a full range of their dry goods, mantles and clothing four days hence, as shown below.

WLS-P01 Type II—November 16, 1897 ex. Allan Steinhart

Allan Steinhart shows a copy of WLS-001 in his “The Postal History of the Post Card in Canada” on page 35, mailed Nov. 16, 1897. He notes “these cards were not officially sanctioned as post cards until December 9, 1897”. That card is shown above.

A similar card to the ones pictured above was sold by auction by Jim Hennok in December 1988 as part of the Stewart S. Kenyon Collection. That card, sent to Amherstburg, Ontario, bore an ad for F.W. Fearman Co., Hamilton, “Pork Packers and Lard Refiners” on the reverse.