Item 2023.000.06 - Mohawk Institute, Brantford, Canada

This postcard was created and printed by Stedman Bros. Limited. Stedman Bros. Limited started as the Stedman’s department store chain which began in Brantford in 1905. The business later incorporated in 1908. The chain eventually grew to more than 350 stores throughout Canada through franchising outlets. At some point between 1905-1098, Stedman’s began to expand into producing books, stationery, postcards, and fancy goods.

Many of the postcards published by Stedman’s Bros. Limited included images of the business featuring things like clothing and other retail products. The postcards first went into production in 1905 where they were printed in Germany. Postcards continued to be printed in Germany until the start of the First World War in 1914 where there was a ban on German imports. However, by 1914, it is likely they produced over 7000 postcards. 3200 postcard designs featured Ontario views, 95% of them beginning places outside of the major centres and tourist areas.

This postcard is printed in the half-tone printing style. Half-tone was the cheaper option than the other popular printing method of collotype images. Collotypes was a gelatine-based printing process used between the late 19th and early 20th century to reproduce photographic images on a printing press. These could be left black and white or colourized by directly adding colour to the image. Half-tone prints were cheaper and easier to produce. They are composed of ranges of little dots to create the image. Half-tone prints often look less realistic and “duller”.

The date of this postcard is uncertain. It is likely to have been created between 1908 (after the company incorporated) and before 1914 (when production ended due to import restrictions). However, there is no defining date as this postcard was never sent so there is no postmark or date from a letter, and no publishing/printing date on the card itself. After comparing it to some postcards within the archival collection at the Toronto Public Library, similar postcards are dated to 1910. Since the style matches, it is likely that this was printed around the same time as those. However, one interesting note is that in a similar postcard of the same building, it is labelled as “Mohawk Indian School, Brantford, Ontario” rather than “Mohawk Institute”.

The Mohawk Institute was a residential school located in Brantford, Ontario and is now currently home to the Woodland Cultural Centre. The Mohawk Institute Residential School was in operation until 1971 after being in operation for 140 years. The Woodland Cultural Centre is part museum, library, historic site, and archive which serves to preserve, promote and strengthen Indigenous language, culture, art and history.