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Posted By: Mark Macrae

As Jay eluded to, I was involved in two finds back around 15 years ago. Both finds came within a few months of each other and both were from outside the hobby. One family was from Shreveport Louisiana, the other from outside St Louis. Each batch contained erratic distibution and heavy duplication. Between both batches there were around 200 total cards, including heavy duplication of Casey,Hartsel,Lajoie,Murphy, Shean & Young. Hartsel & Lajoie were the heaviest as there were several of each included in both batches....Another unusual trait with both groups was that only a small portion had the typically encountered center crease. In talking with both of these families, the Shreveport family suggested that it was a local relative that had originally collected the cards. The St Louis batch had no provenance. It was thought that these were acquired in a paper box lot at an estate liquidation. With regards to product distribution in 1910, it would make sense that most of the material would be marketed within a 250 mile radius of the company's hometown of Temple Texas. Most of the issues in that timeframe, especially food issues, were marketed in a limited geographic area. I've never seen a complete set offered, or heard of any one collector assembling it. I need less than ten for my set to be complete.