Antique & Vintage Postcards

From a commanding hillside vantage, the twin spires of the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré pierce a theatrical linen-era sky, the great shrine's white stone façade gleaming against a distant sweep of the St. Lawrence River — one of the most beloved pilgrimage destinations in North America, drawing hundreds of thousands of the faithful each year since the 17th century. The view sweeps across the village rooftops and lumber yards of the town below, capturing a mid-century Quebec streetscape that has since changed dramatically. Published by the Photogelatine Engraving Co. Ltd. of Toronto (PECO), masters of the vivid linen postcard, this general-view card is number 5 in a series devoted to the shrine. The reverse is pristine and unwritten, with the PECO maple-leaf logo and a price notation of "50" (cents, likely a dealer's pencil mark) in the upper right corner.