A Canadian Family

Vintage Postcard: Montreal Ice Shove, Commissioner St.

It’s time for the July issue of Postcard Scavenger Hunt and this month Postcardy Lynne asked us to hunt for a postcard on the theme of  “Night Lights”. I’ve decided to share this  vintage postcard which depicts a quintessential night scene from early twentieth century Montreal.

The term “ice shove” refers to a natural phenomena that used to occur along the St-Lawrence River each year during the great Spring thaw. The St-Lawrence is a mighty river – and Canadian rivers accumulate a lot of snow and ice over the winter –  so as the ice melt would begin, the fierce river currents would drive massive ice boulders  up onto the shore.  The image above depicts one recurring – and particularly well-known ice shove which would form near Montreal’s Bonsecours Market. You can see a painting of the Ice Shove in the same area by artist James Duncan at the Collector’s Passion site. Read more »

July 23, 2009 Posted by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault | . | Montreal, Quebec, St-Lawrence River, vintage postcard | 4 Comments