Postcard Memories

By 1890 Mitchell was one of the largest dealers in furniture as well as carpet, sewing machines, musical instruments and picture frames

Orillia was home to Basic Training Camp No. 26, a 20-acre site near Park Street that contained more than 40 buildings including a hospital and drill hall

Frank and Reta Gold operated Gold Men's Wear in downtown Orillia for more than two decades

This postcard captures the look and feel of Orillia's 'main drag' of Mississaga Street East, circa 1928

The Boyles Home Trainer debuted in 1900 and it's believed it was invented by Orillia's John Boyle to help athletes train during the long winter months

The oil truck slammed into several vehicles but, remarkably, nobody was seriously injured and no fuel was spilled in crash that drew quite a crowd downtown

During the weekends in the summer months, hundreds of tourists would come and go from this little station in the early 1900s

Local crew of letter carriers walked the town faithfully delivering the mail in all forms of weather twice a day, six days a week in the early 1930s

Standard Chemical, Iron and Lumber Company employed more than 100 men following a 'burst of prosperity' during the First World War

In the mid 1950s, you could park in this downtown lot for 72 minutes for a nickel, which, with inflation, compares to today's rates