Thursday, June 9, 2011

Chrysler Building - Tall Building & Tall Postcard



This postcard of the Chrysler building in New York is as tall (long) as three regular size postcards. This card was designed to be folded to the size of a regular postcard for mailing.



Below is a scan of the text portion of the card's back. (click to enlarge)



The black and white photo shows the Chrysler with its surroundings ca. 1930. This photo is from a Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.



The following information is from Wikipedia.
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at 319 meters (1,047 ft),it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 365.8-meter (1,200 ft) Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position. In addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height.

The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s, but, although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.



Visit Sepia Saturday for More Vintage Photos




17 comments:

  1. that's an awesome postcard of an awesome building. I love the snippets of history that you provide on every single post. Amazing. Nice of old Walt to pay for the building himself -- hope the kids appreciated it ;>)

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  2. Oh that video was fun - the architects funny hats, the dancers with those wonderful art deco costumes. Wonder if lady gaga has seen this video!,
    Thanks so much for a great post.
    Nancy
    Ladies of the grove

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  3. Skyscrapers don't normally strike me a beautiful buildings but The Chrysler does Have A Certain Beauty.Saying That, I,m glad skyscrapers Postcards never became the fashion...this would have not been popular with Postmen!

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  4. Oh I rather like the idea of a ‘novelty’ postcard like this one. It is a rather beautiful building ...for a skyscraper.

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  5. What a fascinating post! I loved all your research and that video!!! I didn't know anything about the Chrysler building before today.

    Oh, the postcard itself is wonderful also; I've never seen a long one like that.

    Thanks so much for stopping by and saying hi.

    Take care,

    Kathy M.

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  6. Great building from a great city. Have no been for a few years now - maybe it's time to go again.

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  7. I would love to find one of these in my mailbox! :-) Besides it's my favourite building in NYC.

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  8. A fascinating card. But I'm not a fan of high buildings despite this one having a certain engineering beauty.

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  9. Great post. The Chrysler Building is truly stunning.

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  10. I have never seen such a tall card to be folded up for mailing. Interesting.

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  11. I'm not sure that I've seen a postcard that "unfolds" like that. Very cool!

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  12. Very interesting, I learned a lot!

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  13. well, i've never seen a triple sized postcard!! double, yes, but never a triple.
    :)~
    cool postcard, cool post!!
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  14. One of my favorite buildings in NY, I wish today's architects would bring this classic style back.

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  15. The Chrysler building is incredible and makes a great subject, from its' distinctive spire, to the "gargoyles", to the decorated grood floor lift doors.

    I featured it on my blog last year, albeit in a slightly different vein.

    One day I may even get to see it.

    The postcard, on the other hand, would be a postman's nightmare.

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  16. I've never seen a card like this. It's stunning!

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