Vintage Italian-Canadian photos from the SFU Archives

It’s a rainy day, so it’s a good day to look back and reflect. Lucky for me, I’ve found a great trove of vintage Italian-Canadian photos to check out and share with you. Simon Fraser University offers a wealth of images, audio and video that gives a snippet of what life was like for early Italian immigrants to Canada. Here’s a few and there’s more to come…

Italian-Canadian march (city unknown)

Italian-Canadian family with horse and carriage

Continue reading »

Found: Vintage Italian Postcard – Napoli 1907

Another favourite Italian vintage postcard! From the depths of a million vintage postcards, at a vintage paper show in Toronto, these little gem is a look at an old life in Italy. I’m not sure what drew me to this more: the long clothes lines or the donkeys and wagons. Do you have any vintage photos of Italy or Italian-Canadians to share? Let me know in the comments!

Found: Vintage Italian Postcard – Venezia 1902

Another blast from an Italian past with this vintage Italian postcard. This muted watercolour print postcard was a great find at a local (Canadian) vintage paper show. Originally sent to an address in the States, it ended up with Canadian collectors. Here’s the inscription:

July 15, 1902
Think of a night in Venice as you read about. If this is a dream of Venice to you, but to us it is real. Ah if you could only see it. Brother, Joe.

From the archives: Italian immigrants arrive at Union Station

These are some of my favourite vintage photos as an Italian-Canadian. From the archives at York University, these pics show Italian immigrants arriving at Union Station in Toronto. The clothes, the suitcases, the look of wonder; these photos from 1951 look almost movie-perfect to any story about immigrant arrival. I’m on the lookout for more vintage, archival photos of Italian-Canadians, if you know of any, share them in the comments!
 

Found: Vintage Italian Postcard – Rome 1898

Reminders of Italy and my heritage are all around here in Canada. I have a penchant for vintage items that are a peek into past lives, the way things used to be or a time when life was different. As a writer by trade, I also love paper items, especially with a story written on them.

As I come across them, I’ll share my Italian-related finds here. The first is this aged postcard from Rome, mailed in 1898 to New York. I can’t imagine what travel was like in that time or the cost it would be to travel from New York to Rome for a trip. What I love most is the writing on the front while the back is mostly empty, save for an address.

Here’s what it says:

Dear Caryl,
As today is your birthday we sent this card in place of a letter and shall send a book when we reach London which will be next week some time. We wish you a happy birthday, many, many, happy returns of the day. Your papa came to Haples on Thursday – to Rome today – I shall write to Grandmas in a few days. We are glad you are such a good little girl. With lots of love to you all and kisses for our little Caryl.
Your mother,
S. Jayne

How these papers get separated from their owners, or where the name Caryl for a girl came from, is beyond me. But I don’t mind that it makes me daydream of Rome.