Cake and a book to mark PSFS's 200th anniversary
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, the Loews Philadelphia Hotel - which renovated and occupies the landmark at 1200 Market St. - will observe PSFS's 200th anniversary with cake (because what's a birthday party without cake?) and a meet-and-greet with author Bruce Sauerwine, now out with the book PSFS: Two Centuries of History.
PSFS may have gone the way of other banks, but its iconic former headquarters remains.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, the Loews Philadelphia Hotel - which renovated and occupies the landmark at 1200 Market St. - will observe PSFS's 200th anniversary with cake (because what's a birthday party without cake?) and a meet-and-greet with author Bruce Sauerwine, now out with the book PSFS: Two Centuries of History.
PSFS, designed by William Lescaze and George Howe, was the city's tallest building at its opening during the Depression and was America's first skyscraper in the International style. It was also the first skyscraper to have air conditioning - a radical idea at the time.
Although PSFS is long gone, the landmark red-lettered PSFS sign on the top of the Loews still lights up the Philadelphia skyline.
Sauerwine, a longtime banker and financial planner who lives in Galloway, N.J., was inspired to write the book in 2013 while attending an employee reunion dinner at the Loews. He did extensive research in the bank's archives, which are housed in the Hagley Library in Delaware, and interviewed numerous people for the project.