ACC numbering

[steve B]

The T213/T206 thread has finally prompted me to ask a question I've been wondering about for some time.

Is there any correspondence or notes about how the numbers for the sets were chosen? Aside from sports being in the T200's I've tried to figure out some pattern, but can't find one. Companies aren't grouped together - T200 and T222.....Cards issued together aren't always together T3/T9... Not chronological or T205 wouldn't be before T210.....

I think all this early hobby stuff is fascinating, and I'd love to see stuff relating to the process of creating the catalogs.

Steve B

[Leon]

At this moment I am not sure why Burdick used the exact numbers he did. I know he did change them from the very first catalog in 1939. I hope to uncover some information in the near future as more is researched. I am sure there are members that know but who knows if they will post or not? The great majority of folks would rather read than write.....

[rhettyeakley]

Burdick basically did whatever he wanted, but there was a rhyme and a reason...

N-cards are basically seperated by Manufacturer (until you get up into the N400-N690's). For example
N1-N68 Allen & Ginter
N70-N158 Duke/Gail & Ax
N162-N175 Goodwin & Co.
N180-N206 Kimball & Co.
N210-N246 Kinney Bros.
etc., etc.

When he was breaking down the T-cards he abandoned the manufacturers and went alphabetical (most were made by the ATC so Manufacturers no longer seemed relavent, and there was too much variation)...
T1-T24 were for large cards (not true cabinets but we call some of them that anyways...Turkey Reds, etc.)
T25-T121 were non-sports T-cards listed alphabetically by Series Title
examples...
T25 Actors
T39 Battleships
T58 Fish
T80 Military Series
T96 Prize Dog Series
T113 Types of Nations
T121 War Series

T122-T199 were used as needed for new additions to the above that were found later.

T200 and up were used for sports T-cards. He sorta alphabetized them by putting "Baseball" as T200-T217 ... T218 Champion Athletes ... T222 Famous Baseball Players ... T223 Prizefighters ... T227 Series of Champions ... T230 World's Champion Athletes.

T231 and up were used much like T122-T199 above (as additions to T200-T230)

He didn't really care about organizing the "Baseball" series but he did keep them together in a block.

Hope this helps a little, it is a little simplistic as it is a little more complex than that but it shows the basic organizational model he was going with.
-Rhett

[Jaybird]

Thanks Rhett, helps to make it a little clearer in my mind at least.

[terjung]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting that Rhett!

[Leon]

Good job Rhett. There is quite a bit more info I will try to add sometime later. The only slight error I see offhand is that Burdick didn't use "N" for Nineteenth Century. He only used a number. There is a lot more on this subject to be discussed in the future. Great thread.....

[steve B]

Thanks Rhett. I don't know why I never considered alphabetical by series title

Steve B

[rhettyeakley]

Leon, you are correct, I added the recent "N" designation so that people would understand better what I was illustrating (N was actually originally used for Central/South American issues-- ie Diaz Cigarettes were N258, how many use that!?!). Like I said in the last line of my earlier post it is more complex than what I laid out but what I wrote gives the basic gist of his organizational model.

[autograf]

To build on Rhett's FANTASTIC work...........

For the A&G's for instance.....and the others that he initially describes in the N series..........

A&G N1-N34 are small (normal T206 type sized) cards (lithographed)
A&G N35-N44 are large cards (lithographed)
A&G N45-N54 are photo cards (varying sizes)
A&G N57-N67 are 'special issues' (varying sizes)

So he does a very similar thing for Duke/Goodwin/Kimball/Kinney and most of the others from there on too.........

Small cards(lithographed)/Large cards(lithographed)/Photo Cards/Miscellaneous/Special

He also left spaces throughout for future updates.

If you look at the E cards................
Starts out based on size, then goes to manufacturer, then goes to hodge-podge

Normal sized (T206-type) cards
E1-E8 Military Subjects
E15-E19 Flags
E26-E34 Animals
E40-E51 General Subjects
E75-E80 Prizefighters
E90-E107 Baseball

Then by manufacturer for E120-E211
Then to unclassified for E220-E258 (for A to Z)
Then it looks like he starts over for E259-E262 and other groups as different iterations of the ACC were published. Adding a few each time till he gets to where he ended up in 1960 edition.




I have photos of all of the E cards in Burdick's 2nd E card album in the Met for some research and it's interesting that some of the sets are completely unrepresented in his albums and some are complete. I always was under the misconception that he had ALL the cards but there were many sets he had but a few examples of and some he didn't even have a single one.

It's still amazing he was able to correspond with so many people and organize things into the book he did without email, fax, ebay, scanned images, etc. I can only imagine how difficult it was to receive all these handwritten or typewritten checklists and try to create the ACC. There are errors in it but on a whole it's stood the test of time for 70+ years.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Leon, you are correct, I added the recent "N" designation so that people would understand better what I was illustrating (N was actually originally used for Central/South American issues-- ie Diaz Cigarettes were N258, how many use that!?!). Like I said in the last line of my earlier post it is more complex than what I laid out but what I wrote gives the basic gist of his organizational model.

Hey Rhett
Absolutely, and good point. At a high level you are correct. Like I say, there are so many facets that we can go into....in due time.