Milwaukee - Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Building

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard that was published in 1917 by E. C. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee. The photography was by T. Newcomb of New York.

On the back of the card the publishers have printed:

'This building is said to be
the finest office building in
the world; eight stories high,
of white Vermont granite, with
a colonnade of ten Roman
Corinthian columns each
74 feet high  occupying five
stories of the front.
A parapet and balustrade
mask the top story.'

Although the card was not posted, someone has used a pen in order to write the following across the divided back:

"This is the building where
I work. The cross denotes
the room.
It is a beautiful building
inside and out, and
everything is so convenient."

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Building

The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. was established in Milwaukee in 1858. Northwestern Mutual's continued expansion has necessitated its moving to larger premises several times since it opened its home office in Milwaukee in 1859. 

On each occasion the new building has been erected in the prevailing architectural style of the period.   By 1888 it had constructed an imposing new headquarters building at 611 Broadway, and was the 4th. largest insurance company in the world.

The building in the photograph , designed by Marshall and Fox, is situated at 720 E. Wisconsin Ave. Built in 1914 by the George A. Fuller Co., it is a good example of a Beaux-Arts classical design, built at the height of its popularity. The taste for classicism on a grand scale had dominated American building design for many years since the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Marshall and Fox translated Northwestern Mutual’s business success into high-quality materials and craftsmanship for its headquarters. Huge Corinthian columns made of granite front the green terra-cotta wall at the main façade, and giant pilasters line the side walls. Cast and extruded bronze entrance doors and exquisite lampposts flank the front steps. 

The use of classical elements not only evoked the popular City Beautiful movement, but also suggested that this office building was a temple guarding each client in sacred trust.

In 1932 the building was enlarged with a harmonious, if less obviously classical, addition northward to East Mason Street. This wing was eight stories in height, but its foundation was designed to carry an additional sixteen stories at some later date. The addition was razed to the ground and replaced with a glass atrium in 1976.
   

Taken on: April 8, 2022

Tags:

postcard

old

nostalgia

nostalgic

Milwaukee

Northwestern

Mutual

Life

Insurance

Company

Co.

building

1917

Kropp

Newcomb

New

York

Corinthian

columns

parapet

balustrade

1858

1859

1888

Broadway

Marshall

Fox

Wisconsin

Avenue

1914

George

Fuller

Beaux

Arts

1893

1932

1976

glass

atrium

37MNM48 « less

Sets appears in: • United States

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