A Classic, Transcendent Post Card of Beacon

"Bank Square, Five Corners, Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y." may be the most publicized old Beacon postcard ever. The postcard first got national attention when it appeared in Fortune magazine, May 1948 issue, in an article written by famed American photographer Walker Evans. The postcard was a favorite of Evans from his collection of thousands. He chose it (first among several other postcards) for his article in Fortune titled "Main Street Looking North from Courthouse Square." His title was a generic one, describing a typical scene for the kind of postcard he was most interested in. Our "Bank Square" postcard actually is a scene looking south from Main Street, at the confluence of the "Five Corners"--i.e., Main Street, North and South Avenues, Beekman and Ferry Streets as viewed about 1905. The Bank Square area of Beacon (the west end of Main Street) is changed totally today, thanks to the devastation of Urban Renewal and the building of the 9D arterial.

Evan, who thought of postcards as a valid art form, wrote the following in Fortune about our postcard: "Here in the mild morning of 40 years ago is 'Bank Square, Five Corners, Fishkill-on-Hudson, N.Y."--epitome of Yankee utilitarianism in subject, in execution, and in mood. Made as a routine chore by heaven knows what anonymous photographer, the picture survives as a passable composition of color, and a well-nigh perfect record of place. Indeed, transcending place, it rings a classic note on the theme of small town main street."

Evans had no idea that his "anonymous photographer"of the postcard was Beacon's native son Harry Van Tine, whose career would blossom from the taking of photos for his father's postcard business at the Van Tine stationery store to becoming the head of the Washington photographers' press corps.

In 2009, the "Bank Square" postcard got further exposure when it became be part of an exhibit of Evans' collection displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Bank Square" also is featured in the Evan's book of his postcards, "Walker Evans and the Picture Postcard," that was published to complement this 2009 exhibit.