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Not collected these myself but have seen many over the years and having trawled this one up a while back it got me thinking of the others I'd seen around.
Many have a charm that seems to overcome any artistic license or technical inaccuracies while perfectly capturing the splendour and nostalgia of the era.
I'll start things off with this one
Attachment 19159
So, feel free to post any of these old cards here...
A Lovely Lady!
Never seen a safe/vault postcard.
Compare this one with the first. It looks like the same artwork was used for the two different banks with some changes.
Attachment 19163
Here's a real old one, Banco Nacional de Cuba:
Attachment 19173
and one from Lips...
Attachment 19174
One from Houston, circa 1911, Union National Bank. Now the Hotel Icon.
Attachment 19176
Great stuff keep them coming, the variety of doors, tones and colours is always amazing on these.
The Lips card has to be the most vivid colours I think I've seen on one to date.
The proud stance of the Cuban Bank guard is typical of most which makes the Union National Bank card all the more strange as that guy looks pretty awkward!
Speaking of awkward, this Hibernia Bank card looks very posed, especially the guard(?) in the center:
Attachment 19178
This Dime Savings Bank card looks like it was colorized from a black-and-white photo, as was the Hibernia (and shows a nice Strauss-designed door):
Attachment 19179
A pair of postcards for the same vault, the first one is circa 1918:
Attachment 19210
Notice the foreground vault has a drop-floor section in front, while the background vault does not.
After a name change, a newer postcard circa 1924:
Attachment 19211
There is now some sort of box attached next to the gate and "islands" have been installed to increase the number of available boxes.
It's amazing the artistic license with these, also the foreground vault has 5 clear steps to the doorplate whereas the background one has 4.
It's a handsome door overall though, the proportions and boltwork are certainly visually appealing.
Also noticed the fixing flange of the top hinge carriage is bevelled to clear the top pressure bar stanchion.
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.
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.
Attachment 19222 Attachment 19223
Some early vaults look like giant cubes dropped onto the floor rather than being architecturally integrated:
Attachment 19229 Attachment 19230
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--
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:
Attachment 19239
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:
Attachment 19240 Attachment 19241 Attachment 19242
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:
Attachment 19244
Yet, looking around via Google Images, I spotted this image of GenPrime in the Numerica Building:
Attachment 19243
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?
- 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
Attachment 19245 Attachment 19246 Attachment 19247 Attachment 19248 Attachment 19249 Attachment 19250 Attachment 19251 Attachment 19252 Attachment 19253 Attachment 19254 Attachment 19255 Attachment 19256 Attachment 19257
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.
Attachment 19258
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.
Attachment 19259
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.
Attachment 19260
Not sure why the artist added red dots to the boltwork on the Wayne County Bank vault door...Quote:
Originally Posted by VaultDoors
The same question would apply to the Dime Savings door seen earlier.Quote:
Originally Posted by VaultDoors
Attachment 19261
A few more.
Attachment 19262
Aetna National Bank, Hartford, Connecticut. Do you suppose the two men are guards?
Attachment 19263
Pacific-Southwest Trust & Savings Bank, Pasadena, California. A very southwest look. It also looks distinctly hand-colored.
Attachment 19264
Los Angeles Investment Building with the largest vault door in the West. Notice the name of the bank is missing.
Attachment 19265
German American Trust and Savings Bank, Los Angeles. I posted this years ago, wondering about the apparent double-cross-link boltwork.
Farmers State Bank, Middletown, Indiana. I don't own the actual postcard but it seems to look like two photographic prints were glued to card stock then hand-lettered?
Attachment 19270
German American Trust Company, Denver, Colorado. Based on the arrangement of the rack-and-pinion drive this looks like a Remington-Sherman door.
Attachment 19271
A couple of comparatively contemporary cards.
The first one is from North Kansas City, The National Bank, circa 1962. The second is from Lynwood, California, and seems to have been scanned with extra color contrast (other images of other copies are not as bold).
Attachment 19275 Attachment 19276
A few more --
Attachment 19281
Above: Citizens Southern Bank, Savannah.
Attachment 19282
Above: The Savings Bank of Peoria.
Attachment 19283
Above: National Metropolitan Bank, Washington, DC.
Attachment 19284
Above: Miners National Bank, Pottsville, PA.
One more batch --
Attachment 19293 Attachment 19294 Attachment 19295 Attachment 19296 Attachment 19297