Antique & Vintage Postcards

Richly lithographed in warm taupes and mossy greens, this linen-era card presents the grand Second Empire bulk of the Windsor Hotel rising above Dominion Square in Montreal — red Canadian Red Ensign flags snapping from the roofline, a gleaming burgundy automobile parked at the entrance, and horse-chestnut trees in full leaf softening the limestone façade, all rendered in the vivid if slightly dreamlike palette that defines the linen postcard golden age. The reverse tells a quietly compelling story: mailed from Montreal on April 3, 1946 — barely eight months after V-J Day — addressed to a woman named Alfred's wife in the small upstate New York village of Unadilla, the card carries a Canadian 4-cent King George VI war-issue stamp still fresh from wartime printing. The hotel's own promotional text on the back proudly notes that "Their Majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were honoured guests of The Windsor Hotel during their stay in Montreal in 1939" — a detail linking this humble souvenir card to one of the most celebrated royal tours of the twentieth century. Published by Folkard Company of Canada Limited, Drummond Building, Montreal, copyright 1929.