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Illustrated Vancouver Vol 38 – Millionaires Hockey Cards!

YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND! Vancouver Millionaires Hockey Cards! Here's the goalie card for Hughie Lehman! With caricatures by Hal, these were drawn way back in 1919, 94 years ago to be exact! I've got Hall of Famers Duncan "Mickey

YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND! Vancouver Millionaires Hockey Cards! Here's the goalie card for Hughie Lehman! With caricatures by Hal, these were drawn way back in 1919, 94 years ago to be exact!

I've got Hall of Famers Duncan "Mickey" MacKay, and allstar Fred "Cyclone" Taylor! From wikipedia:

Acknowledged as one of the first stars of hockey, Taylor was one of the most prolific scorers of his era. He won several scoring championships, and won the Stanley Cup twice, once in 1909 with Ottawa and again in 1915 with Vancouver. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. While in Ottawa in 1907, Taylor gained employment with the Canadian government. He maintained this employment after his career in hockey, later becoming Commissioner of Immigration for British Columbia and the Yukon.

Way back in 1909, Cyclone Taylor was actually the highest paid Canadian athlete - in fact, he made more money than the Canadian prime minister, a whopping $5,250! But there's more! There are 9 cards in total in this set, and you're probably wondering where I found them! Well, ehr, boy, I'm so excited I can barely type. You see, I found them, uhm...

...in the attic of my grandmother's bungalow...ehr, or, no. I found them under a stack of encyclopedias at MacLeod's Books! No, wait - I found them...you're going to love this...I found them at an estate sale in Shaughnessy! No, actually, to tell you the truth, I GOT THEM FOR FREE! Yes, it's true!

I got them for free, on the Internet, thanks to the Vancouver Archives. You see, the Archives uploaded these photos from the Stuart Thomson fonds, and, well, I completely fabricated the cards you see here in Photoshop. You can see all nine high resolution cards at my post on Illustrated Vancouver.

Sorry for trying to fool you, so late after April Fools Day! And frankly, I should have posted these much earlier last month in honour of the day the Canucks wore the Millionaires jerseys (March 16, 2013 to be exact). But, well, my lightning wit didn't think of the idea until now. So there you have it. The legend of the hockey cards that never were...

...or maybe, just maybe, somewhere out there lies a set of Vancouver Millionaires trading cards just waiting to be discovered! Best of luck in your quest for the holy grail of Vancouver hockey!