Where have all the T206 uncut sheets gone.... ?

[tedzan]

............a long time passing............gone to dust bins, everyone............Oh, when will they ever return ?


We have found regular production uncut sheets of E-cards, OBAK's, GOUDEY's, PLAY BALL's, LEAF's, BOWMAN's and TOPPS cards. However, no regular production T206 sheets
have ever been found. This is very mystifying, since we know that Millions of T206's were printed.

Research of the American Lithographic Co. (ALC), that printed most of the Tobacco cards (circa 1909 -1919), reveals that they printed on 19" wide x 33" long cardboard sheets.
Indeed, uncut sheets have been found with American Tobacco (ATC) related items (cigarette packs, etc.) that are 19" x 33". This sheet size can comprise of as many as 144
T206 size cards printed in a 12 x 12 array. ALC printed the front images on these sheets using a 6-color process. The backs of these pre-printed sheets were blank. They were
hung up to allow the ink to dry and then they were stockpiled.

The various Tobacco Factory's in the ATC system would order cards from ALC to insert into their cigarette packs. ALC would print the specific advertising brand and its Factory
number on the backs of the pre-printed sheets. The significance of the exact Factory # was due to Federal law. Circa 1903, a Federal Tax law was established identifying every
tobacco product's Factory. It also required that any associated advertising premium(s) were labelled with the exact Factory #. Then, 1000's of T206's would be shipped from ALC
in NYC to Richmond, VA (Factory #25), Durham, NC (Factory #42), Rochester, NY (Factory #649), Middletown, OH (Factory #6), etc.....or stay in New York City (Factory #30).

Here is a scan of the 12 subjects that were the start of the T206 press runs in the Spring/Summer of 1909. These cards were initially printed with the PIEDMONT and SWEET
CAPORAL brands. The Wagner card was discontinued due to his claim "of not endorsing cigarette smoking". Connie Mack's biography tells us that Connie Mack and Eddie Plank
were strongly "anti-tobacco" and did not want their picture associated with tobacco cards. *


Note....cards are not necessarily in the correct order as they were printed


\................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ......... approx. 18 inches .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........../



150-Only Series

PIEDMONT (Factory 25)
12 subjects......All 12 of these cards were most likely "multi-printed" on the first sheet. My conjecture is a format that was 12 cards across a row by "n" number of rows down.
Resulting in a vertically repeated array of each card.

DITTO for SWEET CAPORAL (Factory 25 & 30)


150/350 Series

PIEDMONT (Factory 25)
144 subjects......possibly 3 x 48-card sheets

SWEET CAPORAL (Factory 30)
141 subjects......possibly 3 x 48-card sheets (3 subjects were double-printed)

SWEET CAPORAL 150 Factory 30 overprinted with Factory 649
34 subjects......36-card sheet (Powers and a 2nd subject were double-printed)


Southern Leaguer Series
Brown HINDU back.....34 subjects.....36-card sheet (two subjects were double-printed)

OLD MILL or PIEDMONT 350 backs......48 subjects....48-card sheet.


"350/460" Series
SOVEREIGN......66 subjects......possibly a 72-card sheet (surveys indicate that the 6 Super-Prints were most likely double-printed)


460-Only Series
PIEDMONT (Factory 25) or SWEET CAPORAL (Factory 30)......46 subjects......48-card sheet (Duffy & Ford were double-printed)



Furthermore, the 48 - Major League subjects in the 1910 Coupon set were derived from the pre-printed sheet in the 350 series of the T206 set that included the 6 Super-Prints.
The backs of this 48-card sheet were printed with the "COUPON" brand. **

And, a complete T215 set consists of 96 cards. It was issued in two series. The 1st series of 48 cards were printed in 1910. The 2nd series of 48 cards were printed in 1912.


The breakdown of the sheets with the tougher T206 backs is still a work in progress.


NOTES

* A follow-up post here will provide more information regarding the T206 Eddie Plank and the card of his battery-mate, Mike "Doc" Powers.

** The1910 COUPON cards were printed on sheets of thinner cardboard stock than the regular T206 cards. Apparently, this was done because these cards were not intended
to serve as "stiffiners" in cigarette packs. This "COUPON" brand was a new offering by ATC; and, the cigarettes were packaged in boxes, instead of standard cigarette packs.


FINALLY....The Gretzky T206 PIEDMONT Wagner and the Charlie Conlon PIEDMONT Plank originated from Long Island, NY
I came across some information recently that may explain why this was......and, may also explain why a number of Wagner cards have originated from Long Island.

Stay tuned !


TED Z

a.k.a......T-Rex TED