Toronto — a Philatelic Adventure

P. Charles Livermore (Forest Hills NY)

Thursday, July 20, 3:45 pm at Fort York

Whether it’s post offices, perfins, permits, RPOs, legislative marks, military philately etc. – you can't collect it all from all of Canada, but you can collect a lot of it by limiting their attachment to Toronto. But if you think it’s easy or less expensive – think of Toronto as an iceberg – most of what is collectible isn’t even seen from the surface. At times I feel a bit like the Titanic. Let me tell you some stories that keep me collecting Toronto...

Mails and Dispatches of the War of 1812

David Hobden (Milton ON)

Thursday, July 20, 8 pm at Fort York

David’s presentation will review both the civil postal and military dispatch systems of Canada during the War of 1812, and the sometimes tenuous relationship between the two. Especially noted will be the dispatch systems of Upper Canada west of York, Lower Canada south of Montreal and the varied methods of handling both military and civilian mails during the conflict.
The handling of American mails during periods of occupation of the Canadas, and of British mails during periods of occupation of the USA will also be discussed.

Postal Services in the Western District of Upper Canada

Rob Leigh (Champaign IL)

Friday, July 21, 10 am at Sheraton Hamilton Hotel

When Upper Canada was created in 1792, it was divided into a number of districts, with the lines being redrawn in 1800. The Western District comprised the area that became known as Essex, Kent and Lambton counties.
The District was strategically important in its location relative to the upper Great Lakes and the American frontier. I will trace the development of postal services in these farthest reaches of Upper Canada from its beginning to its dissolution around 1850. This period saw slow expansion, from its early settlements along the Detroit River (principally Sandwich and Amherstburgh), to development along the Talbot Road, the settlements along the Lake Erie shore and the Thames River, to the later settlements along the St. Clair River. With these settlements came demands for reliable communications, and I will show examples of the postal markings used at each of the established post offices.

Canadian Dispatch (Colombian SCADTA Airmail Covers)

Ray Simrak (Maidstone ON)

Friday, July 21, 1 pm at Warplane Heritage Museum

The talk will outline the use of The Colombian SCADTA issues from the 1921 issue to the June 1st, 1929 Gold Dollar Issue. In addition, it will be shown that many other countries used the SCADTA system to expedite mail, goods and services throughout Colombia for commerce and industry. Covers using SCADTA stamps ensured that Mail received Airmail service once it arrived in Colombia.

The Development of Air Transport in Canada and the Evolution of Pioneer Airmai: The First Decade (1919-1928)

Robert Galway (Toronto ON)

Friday, July 21, 4 pm at Warplane Heritage Museum

This presentation will present an overview of the history of Canadian Aviation and focus on pivotal events that contributed to the development of Air Transport in Canada in the first decade following the end of WW 1. Of specific interest will be the role of:
• The Laurentide Company of Grand-Mere Quebec in pioneering the use of aircraft for timber surveys and fire detection. (1919)
• The Canadian Aero Film Company of Burlington Ontario in pioneering the use of aircraft in aerial photography and the creation of documentary films. (1920)
• The Canadian Aerial Service Company in establishing a role for aircraft in geological exploration (1922)
• Bishop Barker Air Service and the RCAF in pioneering the development of aerial topographic surveys.
• The Laurentide Air Service Company of Grand-Mere Quebec in establishing inter-city air transportation and Dr. Galway (L) with hand on spinner, May 2016 the first scheduled Passenger and Air Mail service in Canada (1922-1924)
• The Ontario Provincial Air Service in the development of advanced aerial techniques for Fire Detection & Suppression & Mercy Flights (1924)
• The Red Lake Gold Rush that established the role of aircraft in the eld of Northern frontier development and Mining exploration. (1925-1928)
The presentation will include an overview of Semi-Official Air Mail in Canada for that period. However, it will exclude those aviation entities residing in Western Canada.

The Lower Mainland of British Columbia

Gray Scrimgeour (Victoria BC)

Saturday, July 22, 1:30 pm at Sheraton Hamilton Hotel

Mail service for the Lower Mainland of B.C. did not start developing until the Fraser River gold rush in 1858. The Hudson’s Bay Company had established a fort at Langley in 1827, and this location was provisionally chosen as B.C.’s capital in 1858. In February 1859, Col. Richard Moody selected a new site for the capital, downstream from Fort Langley on the north side of the Fraser River. This became the city of New Westminster. New Westminster became a distribution centre for both the Lower Mainland and the interior mines. In 1869, a post office named Burrard Inlet was opened at a hotel 10 miles from New Westminster. Granville and Moodyville opened nearby as sawmill towns. Granville grew, and became Vancouver (western terminal of the CPR) in 1886. Moodyville became North Vancouver.

Canadian Post Office Departmental Handstamps

Gary Steele (Middle Sackville NS)

Saturday, July 22, 3:30 pm at Sheraton Hamilton Hotel

This presentation covers the handstamps created for various departments within Canada Post. Many of these departments are small with only a few handstamps, however, several hundred can be found for other areas. Over 140 major departments have been identi ed with subsections for many. All forms of mail matter and many internal documents can contain handstamps related to this study.
Not all departments are included that are basically in all or a majority of Canadian Post Offices. These may include handstamps for Assistant Postmaster, Exhibition, General Delivery, Money Order, Letter Carrier, Postal Station, RPO, Dead Letter Office, Parcel Post, Receiving branch, PO Savings Bank, Customs, and Registration etc. However, there could be Supervisors, Managers or special sections within some of these departments mentioned that are included. The period of study starts pre-Confederation and runs to 1975 when a majority become bilingual and used mainly internally rather than on mail matter.

Canada-Palestine Postal History: 1890-1948

Ed Kroft (Vancouver BC)

Sunday, July 23, 11 am at Sheraton Hamilton Hotel

This presentation will review the postal relations between Canada and various postal authorities operating in the Holy Land prior to December 31, 1948. Specifically, this presentation will examine rates, routes and markings pertaining to mail travelling between Canada and the Holy Land. Examples of various types of Canadian and foreign mail will be shown.

Yukon Postal History before World War II

Kevin O'Reilly (Yellowknife YT)

Sunday, July 23, 1:30 pm at Sheraton Hamilton Hotel

This presentation will review the early postal history of the Yukon Territory. Material will be organized chronologically and geographically into eight parts reflecting regional and temporal changes.

1. Before the Gold Rush—Before 1898, inland and river routes
2. The Gold Rush—Dawson and Tagish Lake Post Offices
3. The Creeks—Post offices opened to serve the mining operations around Dawson
4. Southern Yukon—Main transportation route into the Yukon with its own mining operations
5. Expansion of Services—Further development of services for outlying mining districts
6. Central Yukon—New post offices to support transportation and mining development
7. Northern Yukon—Whaling at Herschel Island, Old Crow and other non-post office points
8. Early Airmail Service—Semi-official service 1927-29 and government service in 1937