Quote:
Originally Posted by toppcat
I have long thought the cards where shipped in uncut sheets along with the cigarette box flats and cut at the factory but if so why would another cut be made, presumably at the AB factory?
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From studying the confirmed front/back combination patterns we know sheets of front images were printed and then had the back ads applied. In the 350 Series the same printed front image sheets had AB 350 Frame, Cycle 350, Broad Leaf 350 and Drum ads applied. In the 350-460 group the AB 350 No Frame and Drum ads were applied to the same front image sheets. And lastly in the 460 Series it's possible the AB 460 and Uzit backs were applied to the same front image sheets.
This is important when studying the American Beauty cards because it shows the sheet configuration was not any different than any other T206. The narrower width had to come from at least one additional cut to reduce the width.
Why were they cut again? I don't know for sure but whatever the reason it wasn't a short lived practice that was abandoned. They continued with the extra cut through three different production groups. And given the extra labor required to thin the cards I have to believe they would have gone to a simpler solution had there been one or abandoned it all together had it not been imperative.