Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1902-1932 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
14 cm of textual records. -- 312 postcard.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mr. Charles (Chas) Plowman and Samuel Plowman were born in Northampton, England in 1853 and 1858. Their Toronto business, The Plowman Brothers, was either a grocery store, a confectionery, or a fruit market. Charles married Ellen Anderton in Toronto while Samuel remained unmarried. Charles and Ellen had three children but only Ella Olive Alberta, born 3 September 1882, survived childhood. Olive Plowman married Francis McCann in 1920.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Collection consists of 312 postcards received or collected by members of the Plowman family. The collection has been arranged as follows:
1.) Postcards addressed to Olive Plowman (178; 1903-1932, predominant, 1908 - 1919)
2.) Postcards addressed to Charles Plowman. (15 postcards)
3.) Postcards addressed to Samuel Plowman (9 postcards)
4.) Postcards addressed to Ellen Plowman (53 postcards)
5.) Postcards addressed to Charles and Ellen Plowman (21 postcards)
6.) Postcards addressed to the Plowman family (3 postcards)
7.) Unaddressed postcards (33 postcards)
The postcards have been arranged chronologically. Undated cards have been placed at the end of the sections. The majority of the postcards are addressed to either 120 MacPherson Avenue (Toronto) or 96 MacPherson Avenue (Toronto), while the remaining 11 postcards are addressed to various hotels, inns, sanatoriums, and homes in Buffalo (NY), Rochester (NY), Long Beach (CA), San Francisco (CA), Petaluma (CA), and San Benito [?] (CA).
The collection includes greeting cards for birthdays, Easter, Christmas, New Years, Halloween, St. Patrick's day, the 4th of July, Valentine's day, Mother's day, and Thanksgiving. The collection also includes popular novelty cards such as photographic portrait postcards or postcards decorated with glitter. Numerous postcards depict buildings and streetscapes, the aftermath of the San Fransisco earthquake of 1906, and advertisements for barbershops, department stores, and hotels.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The Plowman Family Postcard Collection can also be access through the University of Toronto Library Catalogue.
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
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Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Revised by S Rogers, 25 September 2019.