Lot #740: Vintage 1910 Washington D.C. USA Postcard - "Treasury Building" - Night View - USA 1¢ Green "Benjamin Franklin" Stamp

One Vintage 1910 Washington D.C., USA Postcard, used, showing a night view (with full moon) of the "Treasury Building, Washington, D.C.". This coloured postcard has no publisher given, but has a divided back. Includes One Green USA One-Cent "Benjamin Franklin" Stamp. Postmarked August 1910 at Washington, D.C., USA. Cryptic Ink message in elegant calligraphic hand: "Am awaiting for your answer". Addressed to "Miss Besse Dern, Seymour, Carrol County, Maryland" This postcard is a striking example of the "Night View" or "Moonlight" craze that swept the postcard industry between 1905 and 1915. These cards were a technical feat of the era, created by heavily tinting a daytime photograph with deep indigos and blacks, then leaving the "moon" and window highlights as unprinted white space (or adding a yellow wash) to create a glowing effect. The U.S. Treasury Building, situated right next to the White House, is a masterpiece of Greek Revival architecture. Night views of government buildings were popular because they emphasized the "eternal" nature of the capital—as if the seat of power never slept. The silhouette of its massive Ionic columns against a "full moon" would have been a very dramatic souvenir in 1910. The lack of express Publisher imprint is not unusual: It was common for high-volume tourist hubs like D.C. to have "generic" cards printed by large lithographers (often German or American firms like Curt Teich) that were sold in bulk to various street vendors who didn't require their own branding on the back. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}