A beacon blazing red and white against a midnight-blue Manhattan sky, the Empire State Building erupts from a glittering carpet of city lights in this breathtaking linen-era night view — one of the most dramatic postcard images ever made of the world's then-tallest skyscraper. Printed by Curt Teich & Co. under their "C.T. Photo Colorit" process (file no. 2A-H122, dating to ca. 1932, barely a year after the building opened in May 1931), the card captures the structure when it was still a source of national wonder and a symbol of Depression-era ambition. The reverse proudly states "102 stories — 1,252 feet high — The tallest structure in the world," and notes a combined land-and-building valuation of $55,000,000. Published by Frank E. Cooper at 255 Broadway — a slightly earlier address than his later 258 Broadway imprint — this is an early-issue example of what became one of the most collected postcard subjects in American philatelic history.