Posted By:
Gary B."By the late 1890's, many of these tobacco companies combined to make a single company called the American Tobacco Company. Since there was no more serious competition, making insert cards was unnecessary as a promotional tool. From this time to early in the 20th Century, few baseball cards were made... In the early 1900's the U.S. government successfully sued to break up the American Tobacco Company monopoly. With the splintering of this group into smaller independent companies, cards once again became a viable way to promote tobacco products."
Since I have zero personal knowledge on the question, David's seems to make sense.