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I expect the foreground vault was for safe deposit boxes, hence the more user-friendly entrance, while the background vault was for cash and securities and bank records, and thus more realistically sized. That is, I believe many safe deposit vaults were overbuilt just for show and to appear better than their competing banks. It could also be argued that safe deposit boxes are a more lucrative target and justify a thicker door.
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Two postcards of the same vault, open and closed. It looks like an automatic Hollar. Notice the topmost finial may have been cut short to clear the ceiling trim.
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Some early vaults look like giant cubes dropped onto the floor rather than being architecturally integrated:
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Small world
I have a friend in Spokane, WA. So when I saw the photograph of the vault door in Spokane, I sent the image to him. I was amazed to get this reply:
As a matter of fact, you are looking through the door to the boardroom of GenPrime Inc., a small biotech company founded by myself and three friends about 20 years ago.05:37
It's really beautiful.
The door, that is--
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Off on a tangent! But a few postcards are included.
When I first researched the Spokane postcard years ago, I concluded that Union Trust and Savings Bank had been in the Marble Bank Building:
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See http://spokanehistorical.org/items/show/621 for history of the Marble Bank Building including the point it was demolished in the 1950s and replaced with a new building that seems to pay homage to the Marble. This was all happening at West Riverside Avenue and North Wall Street. Here is what it looked like, and what it looks like today:
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So naturally I thought the door was long gone. But with Chubby's comments I note that GenPrime is at 502 West Riverside Avenue, two blocks east of The Marble. It's quite contemporary-looking:
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Yet, looking around via Google Images, I spotted this image of GenPrime in the Numerica Building:
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How is this all possible? The meeting room seems clearly larger than the vault in the postcard. And why is it in a contemporary building?
One choice is that this door was always here and belonged to an ancestral building. It might have been Union Trust or somebody else, but it sure looks like the old postcard except for the stainless steel cladding on the door frame.
Another choice is that this door was saved in the 1950s and re-installed two blocks away as a very interesting decoration.
Chubby, can your friend cast any light on the history of his door?
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- Dime Bank - Scranton, PA
- Fayette Bank and Trust - Connersville, IN
- First National Bank - Lebanon, PA
- First State Bank - Pittsburg, KS
- Holyoke National Bank - Holyoke, MA
- Home National Bank - Arkansas City, KS
- Onondaga County Savings Bank - Syracuse, NY
- Pontiac Commercial and Savings Bank - Pontiac, MI
- The Peoples National Bank - Lynchburg, VA
- The Peoples National Bank - Scranton, PA
- Wayne County and Home Savings Bank - Detroit, MI
- Wilkinsburg Bank1 - Wilkinsburg, PA
- Wilkinsburg Bank2 - Wilkinsburg, PA
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First National Bank, Fort Smith, Arkansas. In many postcards the printer seems to have chosen very small people in order to make the door look larger but in this case the man appears to be quite tall, perhaps too much. I'll assume that in many cases the people were added by drawing them over a photo and getting the scale just right wasn't a priority. In this case his left leg looks poorly drawn and the right hand seems big.
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Markle Banking and Trust Company, Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Notice the dual electrical cord going from the door into the vault. Usually we see electrical-power cords but this was probably for alarm circuits and is a departure from "periscope" contacts on the outside or the contacts being made part of some of the locking bolts.
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The State Trust Company, Plainfield, New Jersey. A Hibbard-Rodman-Ely door (or more likely a Manganese Steel door) but of quite different design than usual. The porthole windows have been expanded (truncated sectors) and a large worm gear is shown. I believe HRE/Manganese was based in Plainfield.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
VaultDoors
Not sure why the artist added red dots to the boltwork on the Wayne County Bank vault door...