Antique & Vintage Postcards

Twin Moorish towers rise behind a gleaming 1957-era station wagon in this vivid Lustrachrome chrome card — the Lynn Bath House, a remarkably ornate municipal bathhouse on the Massachusetts North Shore, looking almost too grand to be a place where townsfolk simply changed into swimsuits. Built in 1902 on the city's famous beach, the Lynn Bath House mixed Spanish Mission and Mediterranean Revival touches into an improbable seaside confection: red terra-cotta tile roofs, arched loggias, decorative cartouches, and paired square towers flanking a baroque central entrance. The American flag snaps at half-mast or in a breeze between the towers, adding a patriotic flourish to the postcard-perfect scene. Published by Wakefield Trading Co. of Wakefield, Mass., and printed via the Barton & Spooner "Lustrachrome" process, this unused chrome is a sharp survivor in excellent condition — a must for Lynn, North Shore, or municipal architecture collectors.