This grand aerial view features the Delaware River Bridge (renamed the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in 1955) spanning the water between Philadelphia and Camden. The illustration highlights the massive industrial landscape of the Camden waterfront, specifically the RCA Victor Plant in the foreground. The back of the card provides impressive technical data, noting that the bridge is 1.81 miles long with a main span of 1,750 feet, rising 135 feet above the water. At the time of this printing, it was celebrated as one of the world's largest single-span suspension bridges.
Era: Linen 1930s (1933)
City: Camden (Waterfront)
State or Region: New Jersey, Pennsylvania
Country: USA
Topic: Bridges, Industrial Waterfronts, RCA Victor, Aerial Views
Condition: Circulated (Postmarked Jun 15, 1944)
Postage: 1¢ Green George Washington Stamp
Address Side: Divided Back
Orientation: Horizontal (Landscape)
Artist / Photographer: Aero Service Phila.
Publisher: Charles F. Williams, Philadelphia, Pa.
Printer: Curt Teich and Co., Chicago
Print Type: C.T. Art-Colortone (Linen)
This "Genuine Curteich-Chicago" postcard features a personal message from "Jessie" to Miss Helen Winton in Scranton, Pa. Written during the summer of 1944, Jessie writes, "I had a nice time in Camden N.J. I like this place very much." The 1944 Camden postmark and the Charles F. Williams publisher credit provide excellent provenance. As a "C.T. Art-Colortone" card, it remains a vibrant historical record of the RCA Victor world headquarters and the engineering majesty of the Delaware River Bridge during the WWII era.
