1911 St. Louis Missouri Third National Bank Building Vintage
📸 Click any thumbnail to inspect Front, Back & Angles (2 Photos)
As an eBay Partner, we may earn a commission if you make a purchase.
Item Specifications
- Era: Divided Back (1907–1915)
- Postmark Year: 1911
- Publisher: Adolph Selige Publishing Co.
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Subject: Third National Bank Building
- Print Technology: Lithograph (Printed in Germany)
- Category: Postcards & Ephemera
- Format / Type: Vintage Postcards
Looking for Modern Alternatives?
Explore top-rated, modern Postcards & Ephemera and related historical accessories on Amazon.
Shop Postcards & Ephemera on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Historical Context & Overview
At the turn of the twentieth century, St. Louis was rapidly transforming into one of America's primary industrial and financial hubs. Following the momentum of the 1904 World's Fair, the city's skyline pushed upward with monumental steel-frame skyscrapers that reflected its economic vitality. Standing prominently among these architectural achievements was the Third National Bank Building, an eighteen-story skyscraper designed by the renowned architectural firm Eames & Young. Rendered in high-detail color, this vintage 1911 printed postcard captures the grand scale and classic ornamentation of one of downtown St. Louis’s premier financial addresses.
German Color Lithography and Adolph Selige
During the Golden Age of Postcards (1907–1915), local American publishers frequently outsourced their printing to skilled artisans in Germany. This card was published by the Adolph Selige Publishing Company, a prominent St. Louis firm known for distributing exceptionally crisp view cards throughout the American Midwest. German lithographers utilized sophisticated multi-stone color processes, allowing them to render subtle sky gradients, rich brickwork tones, and animated street scenes. The image depicts the bustling intersection below, complete with horse-drawn carriages, early motorcars, and busy pedestrians walking along the wide urban sidewalks.
A Unique Personal Snapshot from 1911
What makes this specific piece particularly captivating to postal historians and ephemera collectors is its unique personal provenance. Postmarked in St. Louis on February 4, 1911, the reverse side features a crisp mechanically typed message—a relatively uncommon method for personal postcard correspondence at the time. Sent by Emma F. Searcy to friends living on McRee Avenue, the note invites them to drop by her office in "Room 1400" of the Third National Bank Building. A handwritten note on the front margin under the printed caption also references this exact office room number.
A Piece of Midwestern Architectural History
Complete with a canceled 1-cent green Benjamin Franklin stamp, this postcard offers a double layer of historical value: a vivid visual record of early 20th-century skyscraper architecture and a tangible artifact of daily business life in St. Louis over a century ago. Whether preserved in an architectural history collection or a Missouri postal history archive, this card stands as an authentic testament to the booming urban landscape of 1910s America.