A brilliant linen-era burst of colour showcases downtown St. Louis at its pre-war finest: vivid red tulip beds ring a foaming fountain in the Sunken Gardens, the Gothic spires of Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal) soar behind, and the monumental limestone Public Library anchors the right — all beneath an optimistically blue Missouri sky. Published by E. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee and photo-copyrighted by W. C. Persons, this linen card (No. 16911) carries a 1-cent Ben Franklin stamp and a St. Louis Machine cancel promoting U.S. Savings Bonds, firmly dating it to the World War II home-front era. On the back, three self-described "batchless" friends — one of them named Barney — dash off a cheerful note to "Lena and Bill" at 601 Fourteenth Street, Port Huron, Michigan: "Barney is here and are we having fun?" A tiny window into wartime leisure travel when the Sunken Gardens, opened in the 1930s, were a beloved civic showpiece.