eiffeltower

An ad was placed in the New York Herald in May of 1906 offering investors a chance to get in on this investment in the Globe Tower that was projected to cost $1,500,000 and was expected to pay up to 100% interest annually. Not unlike current times, investors flocked to the project and plunked down their hard earned dollars with visions of a fortune in their future. There was a ceremony for laying the cornerstone on May 26, 1906 with the usual pomp and circumstance. By the end of the year, the foundations were still not laid and investors began to get nervous. So on February 17, 1907 another ceremony was held and the first piece of steel was installed. Promises were made to be 50% complete by May 15th and 100% complete by the end of 1908. By 1908 the fraud was evident, the dream was dashed and there was no government bailout. BUT, we did get some very nice postcards. www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/79558

This reminds me of a famous photo in The Houck Collection of Major Edwin Armstrong in front of the Eiffel Tower in 1918. I believe Armstrong had a hand in setting up this station. He was on loan to the French Army during the war to work on battlefield communications, and was very successful.

Cropped from original Agence Meurisse photo at Bibliotheque Nationale de France's Gallica site, with following caption:
"Le poste de télégraphie sans fil de la Tour Eiffel gardé militairement "
[The military guard at the Eiffel Tower wireless telegraph station]



Pub. Date 1914

Thanks for your picture ! I used it in a post about how to resolve ethical and legal issues publishing a picture with an art work ethiquedroit.hypotheses.org/1521?

Trocadero Palace Eiffel Tower Paris France :=) :=)