Two photographers stand at tripod-mounted cameras beneath a massive ice-encrusted pier in Michigan City, Indiana, the inscription on the image face reading "In Winter / Mich. City, / Ind. / T.M." The real photo postcard format and undivided-back style with a plain "POST CARD" imprint suggest a date in the early twentieth century, consistent with the subject matter and the initials T.M. as a possible photographer credit. Industrial smokestacks and a vessel are visible across the frozen water in the background.
The pier's wooden support posts are entirely transformed by accumulated lake ice, each column swollen into bulbous formations with long curtains and icicle fringes hanging from the overhead railing structure. Both figures wear heavy dark overcoats and caps appropriate to the extreme winter conditions, and a small dog is visible at the far left on the snow-covered surface below. The overcast sky and flat gray light reinforce the severity of the scene.
Michigan City's lakefront pier on Lake Michigan was a recurring subject for winter ice photography during this period, and images of this subject were produced and sold as souvenirs and postcards by local photographers. The initials T.M. inscribed on the image have not been conclusively attributed.
The reverse bears a printed "POST CARD" imprint with a Cyko stamp box, a penciled price notation of "5.00," and a handwritten catalog notation reading "2-89 SF-RF" along the right edge.
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