Souvenir of the State Buildings at the Capital: Albany, N.Y.

Souvenir of the State Buildings at the Capital: Albany, N.Y.

Albany, Federal Architecture, foldout postcards

This postcard, exhibiting the civic architecture of Albany, N.Y., was created by a now discontinued postcard-publishing company that specialized in scenes from notable cities and parks in the United States. The company, Curt Teich & Co., is most recognized by their “Greetings from…” cards that encapsulate scenes from a given location within the letters of the location’s name. The Newberry Library uploaded a guide to dating the Curt Teich postcards using the production numbers. This card, D-537, was published in a collection of foldout postcards, souvenir booklets, postcards, pamphlets, and brochures as the company branched out from postcards into other materials.

Sixteen drawings in the collection depict various exterior and interior scenes of the New York State Capitol, Court of Appeals, New State Office Building, and New York State Education Building. The New York Court of Appeals was built in 1842 and followed the common Greek Revival style of American public architecture of the time. The use of Ionic columns, a rotunda, and stone arches, was meant to evoke a sense of justice and order within Western law by emulating Greek democratic architecture. The New York State Capitol building was under construction from 1867 to 1899, with multiple architects contributing to its design. The building reflects this, with design inconsistencies between floors and throughout the structure. There are influences from Romanesque, Renaissance Revival, and French château styles. Despite the long, disjointed building history, the building conveys a continuous theme of grandeur and authority. The New York State Education Building was built from 1908 to 1912 and followed a Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical style of architecture. There are heavy signs of classical influence, with a colonnade of 36 marble columns supporting a wide entablature. The style was meant to reflect order and civic virtue by mimicking classical democratic architecture. The New State Office Building is the newest in the collection. Construction for the New State Office Building began in 1927 and it was still under construction in 1929 when the postcard was published. The style of architecture reflects this, as it has a more modern look. At its completion, it became the tallest building in Albany. The Art Deco style interior heavily reflected the creative boom of the 1920s and was meant to emulate progress and modernity.

The last two drawings depict scenes from the Iroquois Indian Exhibit that was located in the Museum of the State when the museum was housed in the Education building. The exhibit was first established in 1918, with sculpture work for the dioramas done by Henri Marchand. When the State Museum was moved into the State Plaza Cultural Education Center in 1973, the dioramas were not moved with it. The sculptures were made with fragile materials and built into the architecture of their site. By the 70s the sculptures would have been brittle, damaged, or structurally unsound, meaning trying to move them would have caused significant damage to the exhibit. Ultimately this left room for a more ethical, culturally aware design that moved away from the Euro-American perspective and worked towards archaeologically accurate, community-informed exhibit.

Description (ID): Fold-out postcard comprised of a cover resembling an envelope and a long sheet of paper that folds up to fit into the postcard-sized cover. The folded sheet depicts 18 drawings of state buildings in Albany, N.Y. In the top left corner of the cover is the title of the postcard. Below the title on the left half of the page is a drawing of the New York State Capitol Building. On the right half of the cover are the lines for a message on the card. On the back is a drawing of the State Educational Building that fills the entire page. In the inside of the cover is a description of the development and history of the buildings included in the postcard collection. The collection of drawings is fixed to the inside of the cover above the descriptions and folds out in an accordion style to reveal nine drawings on the front, and nine drawings on the back.

The front of the page, in order, depicts: 1) an aerial view of the state capitol building, new state office, and education buildings, 2) the senate chamber in the state capitol, 3) the assembly chamber in the state capitol, 4) the executive chamber in the state capitol, 5) the million dollar staircase in the state capitol, 6) a street view of the state capitol and education building, 7) a street view of the court of appeals, 8) a room inside of the court of appeals, 9) and a street view of the new state office building. The back of the page, in order, depicts: 1) an aerial view of the state buildings, emphasizing the capitol building, 2) a street view of the state education building, 3) the main entrance of the state education building, 4) the main staircase of the education building, 5) the rotunda in the state education building, 6) the general reading room in the state library, located in the state education building, 7) the hall of vertebrate paleontology in the state museum, located in the state education building, 8) the corn harvest scene of the Iroquois Indian Exhibit that used to be housed in the state education building, 9) the Seneca Hunter Group scene of the Iroquois Indian Exhibit that used to be housed in the state education building.

Physical Dimensions: Cover – 4 in (10.16 cm) x 6 in (15.24 cm); Unfolded – 36 in (91.44 cm) x 6 in (15.24 cm)

Curt Teich & Co., Chicago, U.S.A. (Production Number D-537)

From the Collection of Lydia E. Ferguson

C.W. Hughes & Co., Inc., Mechanicville, N.Y.

1929

Mary-Katherine Lewis

This material is subject to copyright law and is made available for private study, scholarship, and research purposes only.

JPG

English

Physical Object