Part of the Whole

This post card is a depiction of a passenger train passing through the state of Nevada. The route was known as the Overland Express. This route was part of the first Transcontinental Railroad, of which the last spike was driven on May 10, 1869 at Promontory Point in Utah.

Here it is west of Promontory Point, passing a water tower in Palisade Canyon in Nevada. The river to which it is running parallel is the Humbolt River. This river is interesting in as much as it doesn’t flow to anywhere. It actually evaporates before it can get to the ocean.

This is a map to give you an idea of where the Palisade Canyon is on the river.

The post card was published by the Newman Post Card Company out of Los Angeles, California. It was a publisher and printer of lithographic postcards, mostly views of southern California, with some cards of Hawaii and Nevada and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

They were related to the O. Newman Company. Founded by Oscar Newman, this company published postcards in hand colored collotype and tinted halftones, consisting mostly of holiday cards and views of southern California. They also published a set on the San Francisco earthquake and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition. Some of their cards were printed with the Newman Post Card Co. logo on them.

This section of the back of the post card indicates that it came from the Newman Post Card Company.
In the 1960s, the Newman Post Card Company was acquired by H.S. Crocker.

The post card itself, is from the Divided Back Era so it was printed and published between 1907 and 1915.

Two More Almost Twins

These two post cards look very much alike. The picture is the same. It certainly doesn’t look like the same picture, but it is. Only the colors are different. Starting at the left, bottom of the card we see that the number of the trolley is the same; in the left it is green and in the right it is brown. The same lady in the same pose is wearing two colors in the left and only blue on the right. Her gentleman friend is wearing a white or yellow hat, depending on which card you choose to look at. The lady in the bottom right has also changed outfits. She is in the same position but wearing two different outfits. Her hat hasn’t changed shape but, it, too, has changed colors. In the middle of the card the car on the incline has not moved; that must have made it easier to change the paint scheme from pink to white!

Of course, all they have done here is use the same black and white photograph and when it was sent off to the lithographer, adjust the color on its second trip.

The card on the right is the original use of the photo. It is from the times when you could only write an address on the back of the card (top scan of these two backs).

There is a rubber stamp in the bottom right hand corner that says it was received (it doesn’t say from where or where it was received) on June 13, 1908. It was published by the Adolph Selige Company, which had offices in St. Louis, Leipzig and Berlin. According to the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York, the Adolph Selige Company was a “publisher of predominantly mid-Western view-cards, humor, and images of Western themes. They also produced a variety of scenes for other publishers under the trade name Seliochrom.”

The card on the left (bottom scan of these two backs) is from a later time period. It is from between 1907 and 1915. This is known as the divided back era. This was the first time that the writer of the post card could add a message. The back was divided into two segments; the message could go on the left and the address was written on the right side. This post card is from the Newman Post Card Company which began in 1907 – just after the divided back era began. Also from the Metropolitan Postcard Club: “A publisher and printer of lithographic postcards, mostly views of southern California, with some cards of Hawaii and Nevada and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition. They were related to the O. Newman Company and were acquired by H.S. Crocker in the 1960’s.” Despite being centered in Los Angeles, California, this post card was also printed in Germany.

Copyright Infringed?

What a Difference a Decade Can Make!

These two post cards look extremely similar.

The titles are even almost the same title. If you look at the clouds in the background they are the same shape. There is a dead tree on the right-hand side of both post cards, too. Even the oranges are growing in the same spots on the trees. I have to admit that I much prefer the top card to the bottom one.

This is a good illustration of how either a) the post card publishers ignored the copyright rules, or b) how one company who owned the copyright sold the same picture to two different publishers. Both of these were common in the early days of post card publishing and selling.

In order to find the answer to this “question” one must turn the post cards over.

When you do, you can see that the top post card was mailed on May 6, 1911 (the clear postmark) and the bottom one was mailed around March 11, 1923 (the hand written date and only the year on the postmark).

The top card was published by the Newman Post Card Co. in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Founded in 1907, they were a publisher and printer of lithographic postcards, mostly views of southern California, with some cards of Hawaii and Nevada and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition. They were related to the O. Newman Company. In the 1960s they were purchased by H.S Crocker and so they kind of still exist. It was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company out of Los Angeles. This company was in existence from 1908 to 1921. Knowing the dates of these two companies, we can date this card to between 1907 and 1921. We can, of course, date it even closer because the postmark says May 6, 1911.

The bottom card was published by the M. Kashower Co. of Los Angeles. They existed from 1914 to 1934. These publishers used a variety of printers to produce their comic cards, holiday greetings, and view-cards of southern California. This card, too, was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company. We could do the math to figure out between which years the post card could have been printed, but the postmark tells us it was mailed in 1923.

My conclusion to the question above is that the Van Ornum Company owned the print and sold it first to the Newman Post Card Company then to the M. Kashower Company. Maybe they got around any copyright agreements by changing the title on the front from “Entering Southern California” to simply “Entering California”.

Granite Gate from the Other Side

This view of the Granite Gate is from the other side with the trolley car going back to Echo Mountain from the Alpine Tavern. It contains a very clear view of what a trolley on the line looked like. This is car number 57 of the Pacific Electric Railway which was begun in 1901 by the real estate tycoon Henry Huntington; his is related to the Huntington of Southern Pacific fame (a nephew, I believe). He bought up several smaller lines and renamed them. A bit of trivia for you: the Pacific Electric Railway invented the grade crossing safety warning device: the “wig-wag”. It is the automatic grade crossing signal that wags back and forth with a flashing light in the middle at a grade crossing when a train is both approaching and crossing. I haven’t seen one of these for years!! After some financial difficulties, the Mt. Lowe Railway became part of Henry Huntington’s web of railways in 1902. Back to the trolley car: there is a lovely red and white cloth fringe around the wooden roof. One can see the bell on the top, middle, front of the roof, too. The red ink on the top, left of the post card tells is that this is the “Granite Gate. Mt. Lowe Division, Pacific Electric Railway, Los Angeles, Cal.”. The photograph is so clear that one could swear that the male passenger has a moustache.

This card is from the “divided back” era. It is pre-World War I. The post card was printed in Germany and published by the Newman Post Card Company (NPC) of Los Angeles. It is card “No. C. 16”. This is one of the earlier printings published by the NPC. Later, they will develop a logo in a circle and place it in the upper, left of their post cards. See the blog post of December 10th for more details about this.

Twins, but not Identical – AGAIN!!

These two post cards have the exact same picture on their fronts. This isn’t a matter of copyright infringement; they were both published by the same company. This time the company is the Newman Post Card Company. It existed from 1907 until it was acquired by H.S. Crocker in the 1960s. They are somehow linked to the Oscar Newman Company, but I am not sure how. Like almost all the post card companies, the Newman Post Card Company (NPC) had their post cards printed in Germany. Germany had the technology, the experts and the experience to be able to print colored post cards very inexpensively. NPC followed the pattern and shipped their images over there with the instructions for colorization and got them back for less than what was possible in the United States – and received a better quality product. Most of the cards of NPC were of Southern California, although there were other topics.

The reason I brought these two into the blog is not because the fronts are the same, as much as for the difference of the backs. Both post cards come from the “divided back” era. The card on the left is younger than the one on the right. It was printed in Germany. The line up the left side of the card contains the card number (No. C. 11.), the fact that it was published by NPC of Los Angeles and that it was made in Germany. Below, in the bottom left corner is says, “Write here.” Unlike other cards of this era, it does not say either, this side is exclusively for the address, or this side for correspondence. It seems that the Newman Post Card Company is so young that they have not even had time to develop their logo. The post card on the right is older. By this time, they have developed the logo (top left corner). They expanded from Los Angeles into San Francisco, where the Oscar Newman Company formed a partnership with Edward H Mitchell (EHM), the prolific post card publisher. Just the look of the back of the card shows to me that EHM had some influence on the design. Plus, what I think is his own invention of saying, “On the Road of a thousand wonders” is on the bottom left of the card. It keeps connection to the first post card because it reminds us that this is still post card No. C. 11.

The image is that of the Granite Gate on the Mt. Lowe Railway. You can see that the image is the same. Only the titles are different locations. The one on the left is so much easier to read – this is the card that was printed in Germany. In the white box are the words: Granite Gate, Mt. Lowe Division, Pacific Electric Ry. Cal. These exact same words appear on the card on the right. But, they are hidden by the tree. They are at the top center in red ink. (This, too, I believe, demonstrates the influence of EHM).

Enjoying the Trip on Mt. Lowe!

Once one got to the top of Echo Mountain a person could enjoy a wonderful view of the San Gabriel Valley. Also, while up there, the tourist could enjoy a bit of a zoo, the Echo Mountain House, a casino, some gardens and an observatory. Combined, these were called the “White City on the Mountain”. On the other hand, the tourist could continue on the journey and go even higher up the set of mountains toward Mt. Lowe. Echo Mountain was about 3,200 feet above sea level; the Alpine Tavern – the destination on the rest of the journey – was at 4,420 feet above sea level. This thousand foot rise was accomplished through another trolley ride.

These post cards are pictures of the continuing trip. I have chosen these post cards because they are all from the same (divided back) era. The top card is of “Horseshoe Curve”. You can imagine how it got its name!! If you look carefully, you can see the track they were just on crossing a canyon. This trolley has just passed through the Cape of Good Hope and is headed toward the famous circular bridge (post cards to come). The middle post card is not specific about where on the line the picture was taken. You can see that there was a bit of engineering involved to keep the trolley on the side of the mountain and the electrical poles in position. The bottom post card shows one of the many bridges built to take the trolleys to the Alpine Tavern. This particular one is called the High Bridge. The backs of the post cards are interesting, too. They tell their own history.

The top two post cards were published by the Newman Post Card Company (NPC). They had office in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The top card alone was printed in Los Angeles by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company. They existed in Los Angeles between 1908 and 1921. Most of their work was printing scenes of Southern California. I bring up this point because the middle card was also published by the Newman Post Card Company. But, it was not printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company. It was printed in Germany. The number of the top post card (found on the back) is C8. The number of the middle card is C 26. In just a few print runs, the NPC discovered, like many publishers of post cards, that they could send their orders over to Germany and get them back – with good quality – for less than an American company would charge. This led to a glut of post cards on the market and a huge drop in prices (think tulip craze from Holland) with the resulting boon to consumers. We do not know who printed or published the bottom post card. But, we do see that the Mt. Lowe “corporation” has developed a trade mark that will appear on many, many, many post cards in the future. For more information about Mt. Lowe, check out this webite: www.mountlowe.org It is a site that belongs to an organization dedicated to keeping the legacy of Mt. Lowe and Thaddeus Lowe alive.

Ten Years of Going UP HILL!

We are going to pick up where we left off – Echo Mountain, California. In the last postings you were seeing the incline up Echo Mountain from the bottom. You have seen the cars at the bottom of the incline with the people smiling for the photographer. Now we have climbed up the incline a bit to take of picture of the people in the car as they head up to half way up Mt. Lowe where the Alpine Tavern awaits them. Here are four post card views of the cars on the way up with their excited and happy passengers.

This card first was mailed on October 1, 1909. It shows a bright red car. This matches the color of most of the cars in the post cards taken at the base of the incline. The post card was published by the Newman Post Card Company which existed from 1907 to the 1960s. So this card was published in the first two years of the company’s existence. It began in Los Angeles, CA as a publisher and printer of lithographic postcards, mostly views of southern California, with some cards of Hawaii and Nevada and the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition. In the 1960s they didn’t just disappear, they were purchased by H.S. Crocker.

The top post card is the oldest of these three. It is from the “divided back era”; this is from approximately 1907 to 1915. This card falls right on the edge of the era. Part of the message on the back reads, “…It is sure a great trip and very warm…” It was mailed on July 26, 1915. The middle card is really a reproduction of the first card. But, now we are in the “white border era” – from 1915 to 1930, more or less. It saved the printer a bit of ink by putting a white border around the picture. It was mailed on June 3, 1920. The bottom post card is also from the “white border era”. But, as we look at the picture, we can see how the brush on the side of the mountain has grown. It also seems that the safety committee has visited and suggested that the sides of the car be enclosed!! It was published by the E. C. Kropp Company. In 1898 the E. C. Kropp Company started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by publishing high quality cards. It became the E. C. Kropp Company in 1907 and produced cards from scenes right across the United States. They did some pioneer and experimental techniques. In 1956 the company was sold to the GAF Corporation. In order to make his dream come true, Mr. Lowe had to invent the equipment to take people up this hill – 3000 feet long journey. It was a set of tracks with two cars on them. The cars met at exactly the middle point and followed the tracks as they bent out enough for the cars to pass without bumping each other. The safety equipment, especially the braking, was unusual for the time. But, he had no accidents that I am aware of.

I turn 101 years old today!!

Today we are celebrating a post card that turns 101 years old (according to its postmark) on this very date.

This card seems to be part of an advertising campaign by the Southern California Tourist Agency. It probably isn’t, but it certainly highlights the attitude that people had about Southern California. The description of the scene on the top of the card says, “Entering Southern California, through Orange groves, in mid-winter”. I love that fact that they are combining Southern California with orange groves. I have actually seen train tracks through the orange groves. We moved to Southern California in 1959 and for a family outing would drive randomly through the state near our home. The part that really impresses me is the addition of “in mid-winter”. There is no snow to be seen; the grass is green; the orange trees are full of fruit. This card was published in the divided back era (1907 – 1915). It sure would have impressed the people back east to see something like this in the middle of a winter blizzard. The post card was published by the Newman Post Card Company. The company was begun in 1907 in Los Angeles. It lasted until it was purchased by the H.S. Crocker Company in the 1960s. The focus of the pictures on their cards was the Southern California area, although they printed pictures from other western points, too. They also took advantage of the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition (held in San Francisco) to produce post cards. The Newman Post Card Company logo is in the top left on the back of the card.

It was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company also out of Los Angeles. Their logo is between the words POST and CARD on the back. They only lasted from 1908 to the 1921. They printed tinted half-tone post cards. On the very bottom, left of the back of the post card it says, “On the Road of a Thousand Wonders”. I have a few cards with this theme. The Road of a Thousand Wonders was theme that the Southern Pacific Railroad gave to the routes from Southern California to Portland, Oregon. The invested in and supported the printed of post cards that depicted the various scenes on these routes. The post cards were used by the railroad to increase passenger volume because the people who received these cards had to come out west and see for themselves. Some of them stayed once they saw how beautiful it really was.