Embroidered Card, 2 December 1916

A Métis from St. Pierre, Manitoba, Private Philippe Larivière enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in March 1916. He was training in England when he sent this postcard to his fiancée, Solange Bourgeois.

Messages from distant loved ones turned relatively inexpensive embroidered postcards like this one into much-loved keepsakes. Bourgeois cherished this card, especially since her fiancé did not survive the war. While serving with the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles in France, Larivière was hit in the chest by shrapnel and died from his wounds on 11 August 1918. He was 21 years old.