Rising like a secular cathedral above Madison Square, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower dominates this richly colored pre-linen postcard from 1912 — its campanile-inspired form modeled on the famous clock tower of St. Mark's in Venice, still one of Manhattan's most iconic silhouettes even after more than a century. When completed in 1909, it briefly claimed the title of tallest building in the world at 700 feet. The sender, writing to a Miss Alice in Poolesville, Maryland, couldn't resist the architectural irony: "This bldg is 50 stories high. Why don't one of you write? I have one of those miserable colds can hardly talk. Try and come up. I have a nice little room and board in the house." A charming slice of New York social life, postmarked from Times Square Station, September 18, 1912.