Rhapsody in Brick: 1940

The blue of that sky brings tears to my eyes. Hooray for Kodachrome.

This looks like the powerhouse for a factory, as evidenced by the whistle and steam exhaust stacks. I wonder if the engine(s) pulled a lineshaft or generators.

I'm sure that the architect who designed the industrial building with smokestack often said, "This was my greatest achievement, thank goodness they used brick. I weep for the future."

You're right,it is pleasing to the eye. But look at that newer brickwork on the right; at first sight it looks like a cavity wall outer skin with all the stretchers showing, but in fact every seventh course is stretcher, header, stretcher, header, which makes it more likely to be a solid nine inch wall. Is this a well-known American bond? I don't remember ever seeing it before.

How much more pleasing to the eye is the brick structure than one made of grey concrete? This is from the days when artisans, not labourers, turned an architect's design into reality. Anyone can mix concrete but it takes talent to lay a course of bricks correctly.