Welcome, as we cruise the skies of North Bay…well, in our imagination, at least. These vintage Canadian aviation postcards from North Bay, Ontario are part of our collection of old postcards from the Nipissing District and that part of the Parry Sound District which is in the “Blue Sky Region”; they’re shown for educational purposes. If you have images or historical information which you’d like to share with our digital virtual museum, feel free to do so.

We also maintain an entertaining and frequently updated postcard blog. Or, browse the world’s largest postcard bookstore.

In 1938, the first federally-constructed air terminal in Canada was built north-northeast of North Bay, with Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) starting non-scheduled flights into the city that year and scheduled passenger service using 10-passenger Lockheed 10-A aircraft beginning in 1939. Now, North Bay’s role as a transportation hub was solidified. The late 1930s postcard at bottom left shows a TCA refueling truck between two twin-engine passenger planes, the one on the left marked CF-TCO and the plane on the right marked as TCN. Notice the (by our standards) small radio towers on either side of the terminal.

Three interesting 1939 postal covers commemorate the opening of the airport to civilian travel that year. The cover at top left, commemorating the first official Ottawa-North Bay flight and postmarked on 1 March 1939, shows a plane flying over Chaudiere Falls, with an idealized Indian reaching skyward. The following day, on 2 March, a maiden flight was made to Winnipeg, with Fort Garry and two armed troops watching over an Indian teepee shown in the inset. An Indian brave and one of the soldiers smoke a peace pipe. The plane overhead has “CF” and “TCI” written on the left and right wings respectively. The third cover, postmarked on 11 March 1939, depicts the first flight from Montreal Harbour to North Bay. The corresponding insets are shown below, reading left to right.

Chrome postcards, the name for the modern glossy views which we’re accustomed to seeing, debuted in the late 1940s. Here are two c. 1950s chrome postcards of CF 100 jet interceptor aircraft at the North Bay airport. The image on the left has rounded edges popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and was published by Alex Wilson of Dryden, ON. The photo at right was taken by John McNeill and published by Forder. The center chrome postcard shows the terminal as it appeared in the 1970s. It’s in the larger “continental” style of postcards which began to appear in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Speaking of aviation, here’s a scarce c. 1910-11 futuristic real-photo postcard titled “Flying High in North Bay, Ont.” The photograph has been manipulated and the airplane inserted into the North Bay scene. After Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio flew the first “heavier-than-air machine,” as airplanes were known, on 17 December 1903, airplane images began to be inserted into town-view postcards, as part of a civic-minded boosterism intended to promote the forward-thinking and progressive nature of the town shown. It’s believed that J. W. Richardson flew the first plane in North Bay, in 1928. If you know differently, please let us know. The message on the back of this card also reflects the boosterism of the era, saying in part: “You will notice by this card, that we are right up-to-date in North Bay.”

Further proof that the image was manipulated is demonstrated in this c. 1913 postcard, published by Rumsey & Co. of Toronto and showing exactly the same view sans airplane. While we were originally under the impression that the picture was taken from one of the twin towers of St. Vincent de Paul (1265 Wyld St.), the church wasn’t completed until 1932. Looking closely, one can see what appears to be the north or northwestern side of the first high school, seen in an earlier image on this page. This likely places the location where the image was made as the old “Priest’s Hill,” where St. Joseph’s Hospital is now.

In the extreme, futuristic fantasy postcards could result in such fanciful images as this c. 1901-1907 undivided-back view, entitled “Atlantic City, N.J. in the Future.” Any number of abnormally large pleasure craft are seen in the water, while the sky is filled with a variety of improbable contraptions such as a bicycle held aloft by a balloon, with the cyclist pedaling to power a propeller behind the balloon; a monorail which never was; hot air balloons; a dirigible whose partial name is “Mars,” below which there is a platform crowded with travelers; and a sort of propeller-driven rocket straddled by a man waving a patriotic red, white and blue flag.

A Canadian example advertises an August 1911 aviation meeting at the Walker House Hotel in Toronto. During that month, the first intercity airplane flight in Canada traveled from Toronto to Hamilton. A hot air balloon advertises the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, while numerous dirigibles bear advertising for the GTR (Grand Trunk Railway) International, the Niagara Navigation Co., the CPR Transcontinental and the Transcontinental Mail. An improbable airborne vehicle to the right pulls a banner for the CNR Flyer, while numerous other small planes, including one based on the Wright Brothers’ design, fill the sky.