E97 C.A. Briggs Dating

[Webster]

Having spent a good deal of time with this set, I've enjoyed reading this discussion as well as the longer thread referenced above. I would suggest the following timeline for the issue, and would be very interested to hear comments or alternatives:

1. Briggs decided to put together a set in early 1909 - perhaps as early as January. They put together the Black & White series as we know it today with 30 cards.

2. Being a Boston-centric company, Briggs printed cards of local players Joe Kelly, Irv Young, and Denny Sullivan. The Black & White cards have no team variations, each is shown with the team they played for in 1908. They also include misspellings of "Dolan" and "Steinfeld" which would be corrected only on the later color versions.

3. These Black & White cards were issued in early 1909. How and for how long, who knows? Assuming they were printed and issued together, the key card in this sequencing is Admiral Schlei (who was not signed by New York until December 1908). Thus, the Black & White cards were printed AFTER December 1908.

4. In the Summer or Fall of 1909, Briggs decides to do a full color version of these cards. They began printing the fronts with the exact same images and team labeling as the Black & White versions, perhaps preparing for an early 1910 release.

5. In early 1910, they realize they have a few problems. Sullivan and Young are no longer with Boston. Nichols was traded in December of 1909. There are also the misspellings noted above. They stop printing the fronts, and lay out the checklist for the back with the necessary fixes.

6. In composing the checklist, they correctly noted the new team for Nicholls, and decided to "label" (or pass off) Irv Young as being his brother who plays for Cleveland, and Sullivan as Billy who still played for Chicago. The checklist also has the correct spelling for Doolan and Steinfeldt. I think the Nicholls trade is definitive here, because there can be no confusion about names (Sullivan/Young) or teams (American vs. National League). Importantly, ALL E97 backs show this same checklist - and it MUST have been created AFTER December 1909 (Nicholls trade date).

7. Thus, ALL of the colored cards MUST have been issued AFTER December 1909.

8. In short, I think everything about the original issue/printing - aside from some spelling typos (Steinfeldt, Doolan) - was as intended. When they went to issue the color version in early 1910, they fixed as many issues as they could as noted on the Checklist; used up their initial run of colored fronts; then reworked the front plates for Doolan, Nicholls, Steinfeldt, Sullivan, and Young and continued distributing.

9. I think the colored run was issued/distributed throughout most of the 1910 season, but NOT re-issued in 1911. By then, there were just too many players who were no longer in the big leagues, including (I think): Austin, Durham, Dygert, Hinchman, Keeler, Kelly, Kroh, Nicholls, and Rossman.

10. Lastly, I do believe there was one, uncorrected, team error in the original issue: Keeler is shown with New York of the National League. From what I can tell, Keeler did not join the Giants until May of 1910. Given the team changes and timing noted above, I simply cannot believe that ALL of the cards (B & W and color) were created in Late 1910. I believe Keeler's card should have read NY American from the start.

It's just a theory.
Thoughts?