Posted By:
Mike PeichHi Jon,
The Turkey Red box scan that you posted is the same box sitting on a shelf in my study. I bought it from a Lew Lipset auction in, I think, 2005. It came with two T3s. Like you, at first I thought it may have been used to send cards, but then I discovered that the cards were mailed in envelopes--given the number of Ex/Mt copies of T3s that still exist, the post office was more careful handling the mail in 1910-1911!
The box measures 9 X 7 X 21/2 inches, and my hunch is that it was used for shipping/displaying packs of Turkey Red cigarettes in the same way that contemporary cigarette manufacturers put packs of smokes in cartons of ten. Beyond this, I am not certain what other function the box could have had.
An interesting question, and I hope this helps shed some light.
Cheers, Mike