Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisI have researched into Senator Russell's collection, and it's actually not so unusual that he
happened to have the Joe Doyle error card and the Ty Cobb back card. I was fortunate in
that I bought a bunch of Russell's duplicate T206's several years ago. His Great-Granddau-
ghter was selling them.
What struck me about these T206's was that they were all Piedmont 350's. It turns out that
Russell was an avid BB fan and a smoker as a teenager in 1910 when he collected most of his
vast collection of Tobacco cards. Early in 1910 the 350 Series of T206's was available in the
Piedmont cigarette packs. We know that the Doyle error card was inserted in a few of the very
early Piedmont packs in 1910. So, the probability of Russell getting this card was really not that
unusual.
Now, for the Ty Cobb back card......Russell grew up in a little farming town just northwest of
Atlanta. It has recently come to our attention that the Ty Cobb (pipe) Smoking Tobacco was
reported in several newspapers in 1910. So, here again, the timing and the region were perfect
for Russell to have acquired this card in his youth.
Russell's T206 (near complete) set consists of 497 cards. No Magie, or Plank, or Wagner. Simply
because these cards were issued in 1909 (before he started collecting).
His collection also consists of many T210 (Old Mill) cards that were popular down South in 1910.
Hope this explanation helps you....you can see this collection at the Univ. Georgia.
TED Z