Rochester's imposing State Armory looms like a medieval castle transplanted to upstate New York — its crenellated towers and rusticated stone walls dominating the streetscape in this vivid linen-era color card from around 1930, while period automobiles including a sleek black touring car lend an authentic Depression-era atmosphere. Published by the Manson News Agency of Rochester, this handsome architectural card was posted on May 1, 1939, by a sender named Gloria who dashed off a breezy note to Carl in Lewiston, Illinois — mentioning she was "on my way to the fair now" and passing along regards to H.B. Reid, a small slice of everyday American social life on the eve of World War II.