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About Us

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Nostalgia's Attic is not a corporation. It is a serious private collector from a long established Canadian family, who is selling his many rare collectibles aquired in Canada and in 80 countries he has visited during his diplomatic and business travels. See below for more about the collector.

We are aware of the problems of selling over the net, and how both the customer and the vendor can be at risk. Knowing this, we would like to assure you of our total honesty and reliability, and make you as comfortable as possible with buying from us.

After looking into different methods of payment, we have concluded that the best for both parties would be paypal, certified check, money order or regular check with shipment upon clearence of the check, or any other method of paying that is secure. For most items we ship by regular mail, but for certian items, by request or if of great value, we will ship by UPS or such. WE WILL PAY THE SHIPPING for cigarette card orders over $100! If your order is less than $100, appropriate charges will be added to your bill for shipping.

On request, we can provide a photo, scan and/or detailed description. In most cases the cigarette cards are in excellect condition, and the set complete. In case of errors on the website, we will verify the set and its price when you e-mail. Same goes for other items for sale.

We look forward to your inquiries.

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The Collector

Ian Macdonald majored in economics and is a graduate of Queens and Toronto Universities. He is a Veteran of the RCAF and Fleet Air Arm. Following graduation he joined the Canadian Foreign Service as a Trade Commissioner, and served in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Sri Lanka, USA, and Middle East before being appointed Chief of export development research for the Department in Ottawa. Among a number of trade successes, he was the first Canadian to literally sell overcoats to the Africans as a substitute to the traditional blanket worn by tribes. Subsequently he was engaged in the formation of export consortia and on their behalf undertook overseas project marketing and negotiations in North Africa, Central America, West Indies, UK, and the Far East. Before leaving government service he successfully established the first and only manufacturing plant for vinyl-based denture resin and obtained approvals from dental authorities throughout the world. He opened a mine in Quebec and obtained dental-grade feldspar for the manufacture of porcelain teeth. He then embarked on a career in real estate, purchasing and restoring large Victorian houses in downtown Ottawa for which he received the Mayor's award for excellence in Heritage Preservation. Simultaneously, he converted a second hand furniture store in the old Bytown Market into a 190 seat restaurant with design based on the Golden Age of Hollywood featuring Jean Harlow's image and hundreds of authentic relics from the 1930s. Click here to find out about purchasing a Harlow Restaurant package. He also opened a gallery called The Frame House in one of the oldest wooden houses in the downtown core, featuring early Canadian paintings, artifacts, and thousands of 19th century books. Click here to read about the Frame House. He purchased the last remaining Edwardian tourist home in Ottawa's Centertown and operated it for several years before changing it to a Moroccan Restaurant, which was named in Town and Country Magazine as one of the five best restaurants in the Ottawa region. In 1990, he converted three large Victorian houses with a total of 25 bedrooms to a luxury Bed and Breakfast named The Olde Bytown. He was landlord to 4 Embassies and to a variety of foreign diplomats, politicians and media figures. During this time he organized the first two Canadian Trade Missions to Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe and arranged the visit of two Zimbabwean mining and trade delegations to Canada. His diplomatic and commercial experience in Arab countries earned him a request from the government of Libya to bring a 96 member Canadian Delegation to the high profile Peace Conference of 1987 in commemoration of the US bombing. He narrowly escaped assassination in an anti-Libyan plot to discredit the conference. (Chris Halens, the son of a German diplomat and reporter for Southam News became the ultimate target). Ian was the Chief Canadian Delegate to two International Conferences in Moscow on sanctions and led three business missions to Baghdad following the Gulf War. Currently he is writing a series of books based on his experience with foreign subversion of the political process in Canada and about the techniques employed by the media to conceal the problem from the public. He also is a trombonist in Great Jazz, a Swing Era Big Band.

Achievements:
Placed second in national competition for entry into Trade Commissioner Service; initiated first major sale of Canadian aircraft to West Germany; first Canadian sale of hydroelectric project in Asia; first arms-length sale of Canadian automotive castings in US; first sale of Canadian aircraft to Oman; first Canadian joint venture agreement with major foreign oil producer; first sale of Canadian wheat flour and salt cod to Sri Lanka; first major Canadian agricultural project negotiations, Saudi Arabia; arranged Canadian participation and financing ($171 million) for deluxe US tourism complex in Cuba; author of numerous published articles on foreign trade and investment; cofounder of first Canadian export trade magazine published overseas (Canada Journal, Beirut); builder, with partner, of first modern long-liner fish boat in Sri Lanka; founder of first company to manufacture denture resins in Canada and first export of this product from Canada; owner and occasional operator of two farms, private real estate investor (purchase and restoration of twenty heritage buildings in Ottawa center); cofounder of Pan Canadian Research Group (market research and analysis); substantial collector of antique automobiles, Victorian fine art and paper antiques; numerous speaking engagements; many papers on public finance, foreign policy, immigration monetary policy and other subjects of general and special interest, initiator and leader of first Canadian trade and mining delegations to Zimbabwe, organizer and manager of 96-member Canadian delegation to Peace Conference, Tripoli, 1987, Chief Canadian delegate and speaker, International Conferences on Sanctions, Moscow 1998, and 2000.