Mysterious Factory Photographs

No idea where these were taken, but they seem to have all come from the same photo album. Found them in a St. Louis antique store. The one that caught my eye was this dramatic, post-fire picture of a young man sitting calmly in the factory ruins:

 What kind of factory was this, anyway?

I like the expression on the guy on the left.

Loading some kind of contraption onto a cart....and below, a standard group shot:

 And of course the gag photo with the guy pretending to be asleep. Any ideas as to where this was or what they made?

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR YOU UNDERNEATH THIS PICTURE

(As ever, click to enlarge.)

Imagine the disappointment of the young blade who first opened this deceptive come-on, circa World War I--a message from star of stage and screen Fannie Ward! But on lifting the flap all he got was this:

Maybe not a deception on the scale of the subprime mortgage scandal, but still, what a pisser. Miss Ward was a native of St. Louis who became a big star in London and led a pretty wild life. She was born in 1872, which would put her in her forties when this picture was taken. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Ward