1908 J. A. Topf & Söhne industrial advertising postcard for chimney cowl
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1908
This original vintage industrial advertising postcard, issued by the German engineering firm J. A. Topf & Söhne based in Erfurt, documents the company's early 20th-century technical achievements.
The front features a monochrome photographic print of a record-breaking 11-meter-tall revolving chimney cowl, manufactured in 1906 for S. Liebmann's Sons Brewing Company in Brooklyn, New York, with workers visible on the scaffolding. The reverse side serves as a promotional tool, providing technical details regarding their patented ball-bearing ventilation systems. Postmarked in Erfurt on September 21, 1908, the card includes an intact 3 Pfennig Germania postage stamp and is addressed to the Imperial-Royal Institute for the Blind in Vienna.
Measuring approximately 14 cm by 9 cm, the postcard is printed on period cardboard stock. It represents a significant historical artifact, illustrating the industrial expertise of a company whose combustion and ventilation technology was later repurposed for the construction of concentration camp crematoria during the Second World War.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Postage
- 3 Pfennig Germania stamp
- Material
- cardboard
- Dimensions
- 14 cm x 9 cm
Technical characteristics
- Postmark
- Erfurt 21.9.08
Design
- Inscriptions
- Größter Schornsteinaufsatz der Welt!
- Front subject
- World's Largest Chimney Cowl
Identification
- Source note
- Described from a single auction-house listing published on Invaluable (reproduced with Invaluable's permission). Details apply to that one example; other examples of the type may differ, and the listing is supplementary evidence, not authentication.
- Maker named in listing
- J. A. Topf & Söhne
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.