Antique & Vintage Postcards

The grand château-style silhouette of the Empress Hotel rises behind Victoria's stone inner harbour wall in this pristine real-photo postcard — sailboats and a small motorboat reflected in the glassy water below, the hotel's copper-green turrets and brick wings perfectly composed against a pale sky. Produced by the Gowen Sutton Co. Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C., this RPPC captures the Empress at a moment when it was already the social and architectural heart of Victoria, having opened in 1908 as a Canadian Pacific Railway flagship property. The card is unused and entirely blank on the reverse — no postmark, no message — preserving it in near-original condition, with the publisher's embossed imprint the only text on the back. A clean, photographic-quality image of one of Canada's most celebrated hotels makes this an appealing piece for British Columbia collectors and CPR / hotel history enthusiasts.