A Christmas card from Island Tug & Barge. The exterior is blank, the left side of the card has the words: With our best wishes fro Christmas and the New Year from Island Tug & Barge Ltd. The right side of the card contains a drawing by Edward Goodall of the “Towing of the Battleship ‘Alamirante Latorre’ Chile to Japan”. The tug Cambrian Salvor pulling a military ship with clouds in the sky and a seagull near the bottom left corner near the signature. There is some slight discolouration.

A Christmas card from Island Tug & Barge. The exterior is blank, the left side of the card has the words: With our best wishes fro Christmas and the New Year from Island Tug & Barge Ltd. The right side of the card contains a drawing by Edward Goodall of the “Barque ‘Pamir’ Outward Bound in Tow of ‘Island Commander’”. The drawing shows the tug Island Commaner pulling a sail ship with 4 masts under a bridge surrounded by mostly forested land, with some tall buildings in the distance with many seagulls flying around. There is wear and tear and marks on the inside of the card.

This collection of Christmas cards belonged to Joseph Dakers, as he was childhood friends with Harold Elworthy. The Christmas cards of Island Tug and Barge are well known with their illustrations by Edward Goodall.
The company was founded in 1924 by Harold Elworthy (1901-75), acquiring Gardner Towing in 1926, 1956 acquired Young & Gore and in 1958 acquired Victoria Tug, who remained the president of the company until 1970. It provided towing services to different local industries in Victoria and then expanded in World War II to deep-sea towing and salvage and pioneered the use of self-dumping log barges. One of their most famous was the “Sudbury” tug. The company is now known to offer bulk fuel transportation, specialty towing, marine logistics, submarine cable laying, commercial diving, and more. They are the marine transporter of choice for some of the world’s leading multinational oil companies. In 1960 McAllister Towing of Montreal, purchased the company in 1960. In 1968 it was acquired by Genstar Ltd, which in 1969 joined Dillingham Corporation. In 1970 Seaspan International Ltd. was created by the acquisition of the Vancouver Tug Boat Company and Island Tug & Barge through Dillingham. The name Island Tug and Barge was sold 1993. Seaspan has continued to purchase and merge with companies in the marine transportation and building business.

This collection of Christmas cards and photographs from the 1910s and 1920s belonged to Joseph Dakers and Bill Mills. As the family lived in Victoria these photos are from Victoria and Vancouver Island.
The following information is provided by the donor, Elizabeth Stanlake. The two Christmas cards were sent to her grandfather, Joseph Dakers, as he was good friends with Harold Elworthy, who founded Island Tug and Barge as they grew up together. The original owners of the photos are unknown as they were found in the family home and either belonged to Bill Mills or Joseph Dakers. The photos of the tugs and the wreck of Kenkon Maru III were taken by a friend of Bill Mills named Arthur.
The fonds consists 11 items.
There are 2 series:
Christmas cards, containing 2 cards
Island Tug and barge, containing 3 photos
6 at the item level not in a series