Friday, January 28, 2011

i-beam

I recently sent this postcard of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to a postcrosser. What's interesting to me is how the I-beam, a symbol of the steel industry that once supported the region, is used to frame past and present. The past is the Moravian Book Shop, established in 1745, and the local steel industry itself, while the present is the Sands, operated on the grounds of the old steelworks. From steel producer to casino: a fable for our times.