Hillier Preserving Co. Photographs From Prince Edward County

Newly acquired vintage images from Hillier, Ontario from the early 1900's.

A SUNDAY MOTOR TRIP IN NOVEMBER, WITH A LITTLE WHITE DOG NAMED "MUFFIN"

A GOOD DAY FOR HUNTING AND GATHERING ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES

     HILLIER PRESERVING COMPANY, THE COMMUNITY OF HILLIER, ONTARIO, LOCATED IN PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY, ESTABLISHED IN THE 1820'S. THESE ARE THE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOWN ABOVE. I DON'T KNOW IF THE PEOPLE SHOWN WITH THE BUILDINGS, WERE PART OF THE COMPANY'S MANAGEMENT OR NOT.

     I write about and introduce old photographs frequently on this blogsite. Well, you already know this. I look always through boxes of old photographs that most antique shops stock, sometimes by the hundreds, looking for ones the dealers might not appreciate, for what unique historic content they contain, of a greater interest than just black Victorian attire. For example, I am always looking for Civil War images, which don't always seem, on first glance, from that period of time. And these photographs don't only profile soldiers or battlefields. It's surprising what the diversity of images, that can be considered of Civil War era significance. You simply have to know Civil War history, to make these judgements. Occasionally, I will come upon an image or two, shoved in a box with a hundred others, or a dog eared album, that will contain four or five images I want to own for any number of reasons. It's not just about the valuation of an old photo that attracts me, but rather, the heritage and artistic significance. Some photographs can possess a huge social / cultural value based on what is contained within that border; from what the subjects are wearing, in the case of a military uniform, or should the focus of the portrait, an individual or group, be standing in front of an historic building, or backdrop that possesses something of heritage value, such as an advertisement.
     I adore vintage photographs, and when I'm able to pick-up an old photo album, at an antique or second hand shop, especially with images dating back into the 1800's, I can lose my perspective of cash value. In other words, I will probably spend too much. Hey, I don't smoke, or drink, and I don't have a lady friend on the side, who I buy expensive jewellry; but then I don't buy Suzanne this nice stuff either. Geez, I got to fix this situation. Suzanne, looking over my shoulder just now, said as an anecdote, "Yea, you'll probably want to get a  girlfriend. You never going to give up your antique-buying stash to buy me a nice ring or broach." I was coy about this, because Christmas is coming up.
     Buying vintage photo albums for me, is an investment that will pay off in the long term, because of the eventual exploitation of certain images in the collection. This week, I will let you in on what this is all about, because honestly, even as a wordsmith, the images are far, far more important than what I can write about them.
     I was able to pick up the old album this afternoon, at "Antiques on 11 North," operated by the Lauer family, a neat treasure-finding mall just north of Orillia, where we find ourselves and dog Muffin, (the caddy), most Sundays through the year. We are fussy where we shop for antiques, and this relatively new antique mall, gives us a good selection of items we collect, for personal interests, and for our Gravenhurst shop. I never leave without buying something. This is how I judge an antique venue. It's just a nice place to wander about, on a grey November day, and for that matter, right through the winter season, and the staff by now, are old friends, as are some of the vendors, including the lads from our neighbor shop here in Gravenhurst, Dave Campbell and Tim Webb, who have a booth sponsored by their shop known as Gypsy Market Mews.
      Well, today was a minor bonanza for us, because I was able to purchase one of these vintage photograph albums from our other friend, Ted, who has a great selection of antiques and collectables in his booth. We also got a fantastic vintage Wilf Carter show poster, that we will be adding to our "Circle M Ranch" photo display, from Kleinberg, Ontario, with many signed black and white pictures, of the Canadian country singer, also known as Montana Slim. We got the "Circle M" photographs from Ted about six months ago, and have been adding to the exhibition with lots of other Wilf Carter memorabilia. The Circle M Ranch, by the way, was a haven for country singers and cowboy actors, back in the 1930's to early 1950's, run by Charlie Mavety, who hosted celebrities such as Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry and Wilf Carter of course. The property was used by the CBC during filming of the 1960's kids show, "The Forest Rangers." I'm getting off track here, but it's a great collection that we share with our shop visitors.
     We also got an incredible handwritten and painted art piece, from the 1920's, featuring Lieut. Col. John McCrae's "In Flander's Fields," as painted by Ada E. Greenland. We will publish this on our facebook page, on Remembrance Day, which is this Wednesday, with some other war-time items. This was also purchased from Ted who has a pretty good eye for Canadiana and heritage art work.
     Most exciting for me, was that he had a rather beaten-up photo album, from a family that once lived in Hillier, Ontario. The photo collection isn't a large one, but it contains some outstanding Canadiana, in terms of rural images of long time citizens in their elder years. I couldn't believe some of the amazing images, that were taken by amateur photographers, but represent rural lifestyle, culture and work, so artistically, as if they were posed by an artist, to create a painting about family life in a rural setting, in the early years of the 1900's. There are dozens of these vintage photographs I plan to publish on this site, in the next few days, to share what I believe, are works of art that were never planned to become even mildly iconic. But what they show, is a side to Canadian, Provincial, and regional heritage, that doesn't always show up in these collections - photographs that are stand alone images, that could be shown as an exhibit, profiling the social / cultural realities of rural life in this country, at a much earlier time in this country's legacy. These images are naive, and intimate, and even though there are many images of the same family members, they are enormously photogenic, beautifully chronological, and there's a story to write about every image. I haven't seen better family type images to be honest. I begin posting them in tomorrow's blog. Please join me.