merry bag-o-wheels

A 1910s auto sporting a 1917 licence plate. Beside the car is its owner, a nurse, and her satchel of medical records, etc.

Toronto. The automobile has been with us for over a century and a quarter now, replacing the bicycle on the road over 100 years ago. Collectors find old auto photos of particular interest and often add a category of “automobile” to their collection. .

The photo at left shows a nurse with her car (displaying an auto licence of 1917). Written on the back in pencil is a notation “Ottawa, Illinois“.  Unlike our federal capital city of the same name, the Illinois ‘city’ only has a population of around 19,000 souls in recent times (it is also a county seat).

While you may or may not find old auto photos at our 2025 events such as the Fall Fair on the 19th of this month, you will find lots of goodies to add to your collection! Details are pinned to this web site and in our PHSC News for this September (issue 25-9).

NB. The title of this post is a riff on the 1905 song, “In My Merry Oldsmobile“. The inventor, Ransome E Olds, ultimately sold his vehicle factory. The Oldsmobile name ended up with General Motors (GM) and prospered for decades until the auto industry phased out the number of automobile models and names. The Oldsmobile line ended in 2004.

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come fly with me

summer of 1962, Dorval Airport Montreal in a Vanguard aircraft ready to go

Toronto. Functional “Heavier than Air” machines have been around for about a century and a quarter now making the machines a logical sub category of old photos for collectors.

The pivotal flight was by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk in 1903. In Canada, our first powered flight was the Silver Dart in 1909 flown by Doug McCurdy in Nova Scotia on Baddeck Bay.

Collectors can attend our 2025 events to add to their collection. Next is our Fall Fair on Sunday, October 16th. While there may or may not be old photos of aircraft available, there will be lots of interesting items to complement any collection. Details of the fair are pinned to the top of this site until later on the 16th. Collectors can also find details (and other interesting articles) in the September PHSC News (issue 25-9).

NB. This post was inspired by the c1958 Italian song, “Volare” sung here in Italian and English by Dean Martin. The actual post title is the same as that of a 2010 British TV series (to my surprise).

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celebrations

May 7 1945 – Toronto celebrated VE day and John Boyd snapped this photo for the Globe (from the Toronto Archives).

Toronto. Old Photo collectors are fortunate. There are so many categories of old photos to choose from – or collections can be eclectic!

One such category could be tagged as “celebrations” – national events, country based events, corporate events, anniversaries, birthdays,  etc. etc.

The photo at left shows Torontonians celebrating the end of the war in Europe known as VE Day. A few months later in August it was VJ Day and the end of WW2 in Japan – and the beginning of the atomic age.

While we can’t really say you will find ‘celebration’ photos at our fall fair on October 19th, we can say you will find lots of interesting items for your collection. Take a peek at the poster pinned to this site until the show, or read the September PHSC News.

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spooky stuff …

summer 1988 BC funeral

Toronto. Well, you know what October 31 is … Our Programme exec, Celio Barreto,  has a special event for October 15, 2025 called “Spooky Images Show & Tell”.

Celio writes, “Spooky Season is upon us! Let’s talk about those interesting and spooky images in your collection!

“What are spooky images? Spirit photography, postmortems, medical, halloweenie stuff, erased relatives, funerary and surprising uses for human bones!

“Join us on October 15th via ZOOM and bring your spooky images for a special edition of our Show and Tell series!

“All you need to do is have your images ready to be screen-shared on ZOOM. If you require any assistance prepping your images, please get in touch with us at program@phsc.ca before Wednesday the 15th, and we’ll get them ready for you.

“The Spooky Image Show & Tell ZOOM link will be sent out on Tuesday, October 14th.”

And remember to visit our 2025 events. Our next event is the Fall Fair. While we can’t say there will be any ‘spooky photos’ to collect, there will be lots of interesting stuff for your collection plus free parking, good food, and easy admission. See the pinned post on this site or peek at our September PHSC News (issue 25-9) for details.

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bugs galore …

A Monarch Butterfly rests on a Toronto Island Chrysanthemum on its long flight south for the winter

Toronto. The photo at left was taken on Toronto Island in September about 50 years ago during the annual migration of Monarch butterflies to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

These tiny insects survive some four or more weeks. They prefer to feast on milkweed plants (many varieties exist including the rather coarse common milkweed and the tastier (and daintier) cinderella swamp milkweed).

While old photo collectors prefer much old images, photos of various ‘bugs’ make an interesting (and often outdoors) sub group.

Join the fun at our 2025 events and pick up some interesting additions for your collection (there may or may not be bug photos). Up next on the 19th of October is the PHSC Fall Fair. Peek here and at the PHSC News for September (25-9) for more details.

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city streets

a helping hand in Yorkville c1978

Toronto. An old image category for photo collectors is city streets. Photos outdoors are always of interest, and they offer scenes of the work, the people,  and the places of yesteryear.

The photo at left of a car getting a three-man push is relatively new (Yorkville area of Toronto about 45-50 years ago). Today, the area would be totally different in look. Cranes, construction, Condo Towers, etc. wherever you look in the city

In your collection there may be many older photos of City Streets – some known and dates, others mysterious.

Drop by our 2025 events and see what you can add to your collection. We are hosting the PHSC Fall Fair here in the city (southwest corner) on the 19th of this month. Grab a peek at PHSC News for September (25-9) for details.

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rhymes with snap-shot …

who feels the needle most? Ouch!

Toronto. … how about pet-shot? Collectors of old photographs sometimes specialize and sometimes do not. Those who don’t might categorize or group photos with similarities – portraits, work, religion, pets, etc.

The photo at left from the late 1970s may not be old and collectible, but it shows that similar old photos can be grouped as pets, work, veterinarian, medical, etc.

You nay not find a pet photo in our 2025 events … but you will find photos (and more) to augment your collection. Next up is our fabulous fall fair on October 19th. Details in the poster on this site and in the September 2025 PHSC News (issue 25-9).

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better than pearl …

early 1930s construction of the Oakland- San Francisco bridge – photo by Peter Stackpole

Toronto. A young Peter Stackpole shot the construction of the Bay Bridge  (to Oakland) and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with his Leica A – the first professional quality and successfully marketed miniature camera.

The last edition of the Leica Manual (15th, printed in 1973) carried some of Stackpole’s photos including the one shown here.

The cut-line states in part, “Peter Stackpole’s photographs of the building of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge were started in 1934, when he was 21. Before that, he had photographed without pay for a Hearst paper and was fired for using his first Leica [model A] on the job. ‘I guess all this makes me a pioneer’. ” By 1936 only  about 57,000 Leicas had been made for sales world-wide.

Image collectors should look for old construction photos of bridges, buildings, viaducts, etc. While we can’t say you will find such photos at our 2025 events, you will find many interesting items for your collection!

Our next event is the October 16th fall fair at the Trident Hall in south Etobicoke (south-west Toronto). Details are now pinned to this site and listed in the PHSC News for September (issue 25-9).

About the post title: I first thought the Stackpole photos I recalled were of the Golden Gate bridge construction and did a Segway to “Gates Ajar”, a fancy funeral floral arrangement for the wealthier folk when I was a kid and then to the “pearly gates” of heaven.

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September 2025 PHSC News 25-9

cover of PHSC News for September (issue 25-9)

Toronto. A 15 page issue in the usual fine upscale style we have come to enjoy from editor Gunn.

I got a chuckle from the cover- any Torontonian knows the challenge of downtown travel and parking these days!

Click on the icon of the cover at left to snag a copy.  Like all issues this year, issue 9 is a delight to read and see!

Issue 25-9  has the now familiar stunning layout and great quality in both images and text. The PHSC is an all volunteer operation and as such we rely on our volunteers, especially those with envious talent like that shown in the newsletter!

Click here for a copy of 25-9 or visit NEWSLETTER above for this and all other issues. Do you prefer a personal copy (notice sent directly to your in-box)? Just email news@phsc.ca and be added to our MailChimp list.

Remember, this and all issues are free and feature many news items and announcements of interest to photo collectors. Enjoyed the issue? Tell Patrick at news@phsc.ca.

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amazing Oskar

O series Leica in a 2018
Westlicht auction

Toronto. In a recent Digital Camera World article, it was announced that Leica Camera AG had its best  (in revenue) year ever – this on the 100th anniversary of the first sale of Leicas ever.

Like many firms in Europe, the E Leitz Optical House began as a family affair. After the death of the founder, the new owner brought in Ernst Leitz to standardize and optimize the manufacture of microscopes – the company’s primary line of products.

Ernst Leitz eventually took over the facility and renamed it after himself (Ernst Leitz Optische Werke). Around the beginning of the 20th century, Leitz made some photographic lenses and cameras.  Barely into that century Leitz hired Oskar Barnack.  Amongst other things, Barnack  had an idea for a tiny camera using movie film.

In the great depression of the 1930s, the Leitz firm decided to build and sell the tiny camera to hold on to its technical craftsmen. The camera became known as the Leica (LEItz CAmera). The well built and utilitarian little camera was the first commercially successful 35mm camera. It caught the mighty Zeiss/Zeiss-Ikon conglomerate flat footed. It took a few years before the awesome Contax hit the market with its vertically running metal strips shutter and wide range of lenses.

During WW2, the firm began designing a replacement for the screw mount Leica, and in less than a decade afterWW2, the famous M3 was placed on the market, once again revolutionizing photography.

With the inroads of Japanese cameras, the company struggled. A SLR line was introduced. Some rangefinder models were made in Japan by Minolta and Panasonic. Finally, the Leicas and a few other consumer products were sold off and the Leica seemed to be destined to disappear. The cameras became an expensive niche product celebrating various anniversaries/organizations  and stepped up the targeting of collectors.

When digital technology took off, the Leica design and its excellent lenses (both very expensive) slowly began to increase sales. And today, as noted in the DCW article, the camera is once more very profitable. Happy anniversary little guy!

PS. Visit our 2025 events – you are bound to find a Leica there. Next upon October 19th is our fabulous fall fair. Check out this site for details (poster pinned to first page until the 19th).

PPS. The post title is a riff on the spiritual song “Amazing Grace“.

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