Beware of the Rug: If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 580

Thursday, November 3, 2022

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 580

Grand Coulee Dam, Washington, ca 1940

Featured on this fine-grained linen card is either a drawing or a tinted photograph of what the Grand Coulee Dam was to look like when it was completed. The card was printed and published by E.C. Kropp Co., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Work on the dam began in 1933 with the dam opening on 1 June 1942. Since the dam was not completed until 1942 and there is no postal code included on the card, we can know that the card was produced prior to 1942. There is a blurb on the reverse at the upper right: “’Called the Eighth Wonder of the World,’ this dam, when finished, will be over 4,300 feet long at the crest and will cover 30 acres. It will be the largest in volume and the second highest in masonry dams in the world.” The number 19191 appears at the upper right on the reverse.

In 1898 E.C. Kropp began producing “chromolithographic” cards as souvenir and private mailing cards using the name Kropp. In 1907 the E.C. Kropp Company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and increased the number of postcards produced on various subjects. The company’s linen cards were known to have a finer grain than other linen cards. The company was bought out in 1956 by L.L. Cook and today is part of the GAF Corp. U.S.

Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River. Originally the dam had two powerhouses. A third powerhouse, to increase energy production, started in 1967 was completed in 1974. The addition of the third powerhouse required demolishing the northeast side of the dam and building a new fore-bay section. The 12 older turbines and generators were altered to incorporate 6 of the largest generators available. This dam is the largest power station in the United States. The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake after President Roosevelt who presided over the dam’s authorization and completion.