Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia
This postcard view of Mississaga Street looking east between Peter and West Streets was first published in 1905 without the airplane.
Several years later the same scene was republished with the aircraft superimposed in the sky, creating a new and exciting view of downtown Orillia.
Cars were just starting to be produced in Canada in 1905. The first airplane was flown in Canada four years later and in this view it was still the horse and buggy age, with no pavement or street lights.
At the left, front, is the three-storey Orillia House Hotel with its elegant balconies. Beyond the Orillia House is Gilpin’s Hardware at 44 Mississaga St. E. Next is Perry and Alport which was the big double men’s and ladies clothing store located at 48 and 52 Mississaga St.
On the right is Kane and Kane, “the honest store”, which boasted a full line of groceries and dry goods.
