It takes a keen eye

So... I flipped the page in my album to see what the next set of post cards will be; surprise! we're still in the Royal Gorge. These two cards are a close-up of the Hanging Bridge - about which I know I have posted in the past (see earlier today).

These two pictures are much clearer than any others I have. As I examine them closer I see that this is because they were printed in 1938. These two cards are from the Linen Card Era. The number in the bottom right hand corner (8A-H192) tells me right away that these cards were printed by Curt Otto Teich's company. The 8A indicates that it was printed in the 1930s (the A tells us that) and specifically in 1938 (th 8 tells us that). The H after the dash indicates that the cards are of the Colortone type that Curt Teich produced. The 192 is an internal information number.
I kept both of them not because one of them is more yellow than the other (although that could be an indicator of a different print run - not just poor storage) but because they are actually from different print runs. Everything on the front is exactly the same (except the yellow hue); but, when you turn them over there is a very clear indicator that they are not from the same print run.

As we turn over the card, they do both look exactly the same. The descriptive words that tell you what is on the front of the cards are the same; the publisher on the left-hand side of the card is the same; the printer the "line" down the middle of the card is the same printer. But, upon closer inspection we see that the words POST CARD are in a different location and in a different font. I believe that the bottom card is older than the top one. When the US Postal Service finally allowed us to send post cards in the mail, the back side was for the address only. Then on March 1, 1907 we were able to put the address and a short message on the same side of the card. The address had to be on the right-hand side of the card and the message on the left. Many, I dare say most, of the post cards of this era remind you of which side which part is allowed. "THIS SIDE FOR ADDRESS ONLY" and "THIS SIDE FOR MESSAGE" are very prominent on the cards in my collection. It looks like this card has a bit of a carry-over from that era.

The other indicator that these are two print runs is that the name of the publisher, Curt Otto Teich and his patented printing process ("C.T. Art-Colortone")are each printed in the opposite direction on the two cards.

Who is the publisher? you ask. The Deseret Book Company is the official printer and distributor of the Mormon Church print material. The Deseret Book Company is the result of a merger between the Deseret News Bookstore and the Deseret Sunday School Union Bookstore in 1919 and formally adopted its name in 1920. They can both trace their organizational roots to George Q. Cannon, a Latter-day Saint General Authority. The bookstore is named after "deseret," a word from the Book of Mormon meaning "honeybee".

Triplets

At one point, in the Royal Gorge, the river and the two canyon walls are so close together that there was no easy way to lay the tracks for the train to pass through. A genious engineer (civil, not train) thought of laying a bridge that was suspended over the water rather than held up by piers. They inserted girders into the canyon walls and suspended the bridge for the train to get through the canyon.

These three post cards show the bridge from the same angle.
The top card and the card on the right (with the steam engines obviously drawn in)are from the same printer. They are both embossed. You can feel where the girders are in the picture as well as some of the mountains. When you turn them over the writing surface is not even. The words Post Card are both over an Amercian flag on a staff laid on its side.

The card on the left looks suspiciously similar to the card on the right. The big difference is that the picture is much more fuzzy. The blotches on the canyon wall to our right are in the exact same locations. And, it looks like a second steam engine is right behind the one on the bridge. When I turn it over I see that it is printed by a different company. The Post Card words are surrounded by an ornate swirl.

I love the creativity of the printers and publishers of this eara. One of the cards was mailed on June 9, 1908 at 2:30 PM. I guess everyone was making enough profit from selling these cards that they didn't have to worry about copyright infringement, etc.

This type of duplication is very common and I see many times over in my collection of train postcards. I know it happened in other types of cards, too.

Copyright Infringement?

Comparing the fronts of these two cards, we could easily come to the conclusion that they are the same picture. Because one is darker than the other, we might think that the only difference is that they were printed earlier and later in the same print run. That is almost the correct story.
These are the same picture.

They are pictures of the Hanging Bridge in the Royal Gorge, in the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas River in Colorado. The descriptions on the backs of the cards have the exact same wording. They were even both printed by the same company; that is what the little critter on the top, middle of the card indicates. “He” is the logo of the H. H. Tammen Curio Company of Denver, Colorado. It existed from 1896 to 1953 at its last known address: 1516 Arapahoe Street, Denver, CO.
But, at first glance, it looks as if the same picture was printed by two different companies. It could make us wonder about copyright infringement. However, if you look in the left margin of the cards you will see that they were published by two companies with very similar names: The Van Noy-Interstate Co. and The Interstate Co. This led me to want to delve deeper into the mystery of the publishing companies. Here is what I have found.

Van Noy Railway Hotel and News began a series of mergers and acquisitions in 1914, starting with the Brown News Company (also headquartered in Kansas City) which was acquired on October 1, 1914 began operating as Van Noy News. In 1915, the Company began consolidating operations with the New York City based Interstate News Company. The company name was then changed to The Van Noy Interstate News Company in 1917, but the company headquarters remained in Kansas City under the leadership of Ira C. Van Noy. As a result of changes in railroad passenger train service, Van Noy Interstate began to focus more on the hotel side of their operations. In 1922, the Company acquired the Gem Fountain Company, and in 1926 the company began operating as the Interstate Company.
Both cards belong to the “White Border Era”, which lasted from about 1915 to 1930. The card printed by The Van Noy-Interstate Company was published first – sometime between 1917 and 1926. The card published by The Interstate Company was printed between 1926 and 1930.