This is a postcard created in Cortland New York in the late nineteenth century.  The postcard illustrates the Gillette Skirt Company building, along with people passing by it.  This postcard was created to show the progress in the city of Cortland and one the success of one of its most lucrative companies.  Postcards such as these were created to show the success of the city to those outside of Cortland.  Although the postcard was not created to be used as a historic document, it has served as one.  Cortland is now an impoverished city with no factories or large bossiness of any kind.   This series of postcards, which show factory buildings and businesses of Cortland during their industrial boom now serve historians and citizens today.  Those who view these post cards are able to juxtapose the historic images of Cortland to those that exist today, allowing them to see what Cortland was and perhaps what it could be again.