Above, WLS-P03 Type I P-2, with Imprint Type B "Entered According to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1898, by J. C. Wilson & Co., Montreal, at the Department of Agriculture" in large and small capital letters used on two lines. This imprint appears on postcards British Ensign, Anglo-Saxon, Rule Britannia and Old Glory. The Stamp Box No. 6 above was noted by Gates as having the same "Stamp Here" text as his other designations. It seems unlikely that Gates was not aware of the "Postage One Cent" text that is frequently found in blue ink on several of the cards. In the listings on this web site, Gates No. 6 designation is taken to mean the variation with the text "Postage One Cent" in lieu of "Stamp Here".

WLS-003 Type I P-3 with Imprint Type C "Entered According to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year 1898 by J. C. Wilson & Co., Montreal, at the Department of Agriculture" in small capital letters used on one line. Stamp Box is Type 4, a very common type.

Above, WLS-P03 Type I P-6, not postally used, showing Imprint Type A "Wilson Montreal Registered" which appears in small capital letters, italicized, on one line and is found on Anglo-Saxon and Rule Britannia postcards. The card shows Stamp Box type 5 with omitted stamp box and text.

The P-4 variety matches P-3, but shows an imprint date of 1899, as shown below, rather than the standard 1898.

WLS-P03 Type I P-11 omits the “Private Post Card” text and the Stamp Box, consistent with a business card printing of the postcard. J.C. Wilson & Co. would print custom printing on the cards for 75¢ per thousand or less impressions.

Below, a second example postally used September 1, 1898 with a Halifax M.C. cancel and a Freeport cancellation addressed to Mr. G.R. Bancroft, Freeport, Digby County, Nova Scotia mailed from Acadia Mines.

Above, a salesman’s card from “The Gault Brothers Company Limited, importers of Men’s fine furnishings. Neckwear and shirt manufacturers.” advising of a visit on or about December 7, 1898.

The back of this card, above shows printed text advertising auction rooms and horse, carriage and real estate mart for John Naylor, auctioneer, at 79 and 81 Granville Street in Halifax.

Below, the front of the card postmarked October 6, 1898 with a Halifax squared circle cancel.

Above, a business use by The Niagara Falls Review, J.B. Stephens, Publisher, Niagara Falls, Ont.

Below, the unused front of the card.

Above, an ad for Trade Review by Henry Harvey & Co., 769 Craig Street, Montreal, just down the street from J.C Wilson & Co. at 698, 700 & 702 Craig Street

Below, the card front showing WLS-004 P-2 Rule Britannia postmarked Montreal July 27, 1898 with receiving stamp Springfield, Mass. (USA) July 29, 1898

This J.C. Wilson patriotic is thought to be unique, the only known Wilson patriotic from the Chinese Treaty Port of Foochow to Palestine. It bears a 5¢ ultramarine no. 40 Hong Kong Queen Victoria stamp.

The card was used in 1898 from the Chinese Treaty Port of Foochow, (or Fuzhou) by way of Hong Kong, Colombo (then Ceylon, now Sri Lanka), and Suez to Labetha Mission School in Jaffa, Palestine.

Fuzhou was one of the most important Protestant mission fields in China. In 1846 the first Protestant missionary entered the city and soon set up the first missionary station there. Two others followed by 1850. These three Protestant agencies remained in Fuzhou until the communist takeover of mainland China in the 1950s. The Canadian Methodist Mission entered China in 1891. The London Missionary Society also opened a mission in Fuzhou in the late 1800s. No doubt the card was sent from one of the missionaries, probably a Canadian, to a colleague at the mission school in Palestine.

The card took about a month in transit, from early December 1898 to early January 1899. A most unusual use for a J.C. Wilson.

Above, J.C. Wilson patriotic postcard WLS-004 P-2, postally used from Chatham, Ontario January 30, 1899 with Chatham CDS cancel on a 2¢ Map stamp to Master E. Pratt, 89 Stafford Street, Timaru, New Zealand, from his cousin Mary.

Below, the back of the card showing a Vancouver February 6 split circle transit cancel and a Timaru receiving cancel dated March 7, 1899.

The postcard is a third card in a series to New Zealand bearing Map stamps, all to the same address, by the same sender, sent on the same date. The other two cards are illustrated as Figs. 250 & 251 in A Canadian Postal History 1897–1911 by George B. Arfken & William S. Pawluk.

From The Hugh Westgate 1898 Map Stamp Collection, ex. Beverlie Clark (1998), Fred Fawn (2007).

This WLS-P03 Rule Britannia postcard bears a 2¢ Map stamp, no. 86, mailed from Quebec to Seine, France, where it was received with a Montrouge receiving cancel.

Above, WLS-004 P-2 with postage due marking, postmarked Montreal September 23, 1898 with flag cancellation with receiving stamp Droyssig (Germany) October 5, 1898.

This J.C. Wilson patriotic was used from Toronto, Ontario to Joseph Hooper, esq., Port Hope, Ontario on August 22, 1898, with a Flag F cancel.

The card bears a 1¢ Jubilee stamp.