The various Tobacco Factory's and their associated T206 T-brand's

[tedzan]

Before we get into the Factory stuff, I have to emphasize this.....T206's were not printed at the various FACTORY's. As some on this forum have alluded to.

These cards were printed at the American Lithographic Co. in New York City. The production of these cards was the result of a complex 6-color process, which
is only possible at a sophisticated Lithographic printing firm. The Cigarette Factory's simply had machinery and employees that produced Tobacco products.


American Litho building is at 19th St. & Park Ave. South
Various professional offices now reside in it.



At the beginning of the 20th Century, PIEDMONT was the flagship brand of the American Tobacco Company (ATC). The PIEDMONT brand's market share was approx. 50 %
of all of ATC's tobacco production. The Richmond, VA plant produced many 100's of Millions of cigarettes.

Factory #25....Richmond, Virginia

... . . . . . .







Factory #30....New York City
. . . .





Factory #42....Durham, North Carolina
. . . . . . . .




These three Factory's were the major ATC manufacturing facilities on the East coast. Stay tuned, as more Factory's will follow.



TED Z
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[tedzan]

Liggett & Myers Factory #42 in Durham, North Carolina




TED Z
.

[Bliggity]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Liggett & Myers Factory #42 in Durham, North Carolina




TED Z
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Ted - what a wonderful picture of the old factory in Durham. The American Tobacco buildings have become the centerpiece of a major downtown revitalization project in Durham over the past decade. The ATC campus is now a beautiful mixed-use space that thousands of people enjoy every week. The iconic Lucky Strike towers in your picture are still there, and look down over the equally beautiful Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It's a great experience for any baseball fan.

[tedzan]

Really great photos, thanks for posting them.

I've been meaning to visit the Raleigh-Durham area on our trips to North Carolina.

We visit friends in the Great Smokey Mountains region (Sylva) occasionally, so on our next trip
we will stop in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Take care,


TED Z
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[Pat R]

Based on previous discussions here I think most people agree that t206's were not printed at the cigarette factories. My question is, with numbers in the hundreds of millions of t206's printed
in a time frame from around may 1909 to sometime in 1911 and ALC owning several large printing facilities during this time how can we be certain that all of the t206's were printed at their NYC facility.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Pat R

Based on previous discussions here I think most people agree that t206's were not printed at the cigarette factories.

Yes, most T206 guys realize this now. Although, very recently a Net54 poster posted to the contrary.

Early 2005, when I first checked out this forum, very few had even heard of American Lithographic (ALC); and, their impact on all these Tobacco cards.
Brian Weisner, Scot Reader, and I were the first to inform everyone on this forum of ALC. You can use the Net54 Search function to read all about it.

Originally Posted by Pat R

My question is, with numbers in the hundreds of millions of t206's printed in a time frame from around may 1909 to sometime in 1911 and ALC
owning several large printing facilities during this time how can we be certain that all of the t206's were printed at their NYC facility.

I did NOT say...."hundreds of millions of t206's".

I said......"The Richmond, VA plant produced many 100's of Millions of cigarettes.".

I would estimate that 10 - 20 Million T206's were printed between Spring/Summer 1909 thru to the Spring of 1911. I base this figure on my (and other's) estimate
that approx. 2 Million T206's are currently in circulation.

OK, let's consider this hypothetical 20 Million number of T206's printed over a period of 2 years.

Approx. 10 Million cards per year divided by 333 working days/year (3 round the clock shifts) = 10,000 cards per day.

My research indicates that T206's essentially were printed on sheets of 100 cards. If true, then that results in 100 such sheets per day. Is this an ambitious estimate ?
Perhaps so, but it certainly was work-able.

I would bet that the NYC firm of American Lithographic was the sole facility that produced all the T206 cards during that 2-year period. What some fail to realize is that
these cardboard gems we love so much were just a relatively small part of ALC's lithographic operation.


Sorry about this lengthy post, but I'll close by noting that there are 52 subjects representing the New York Giants in the T206 set. This amount is far greater than any
other BB team's representation in the T206 set.
In my opinion, this tells us a lot about this New York based Lithographic firm....and, where these cards were printed.


TED Z
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[tedzan]

Old p/c with a view of Richmond from across the James River. Factory #25 comprises of a complex of buildings, warehouses, etc. identified as "Tobacco Row".
Perhaps, someone on this forum will chime in and provide us more detailed information.


.................................................. .................................................. ..............………......v...... Tobacco Row .…..v





TED Z
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[atx840]

Nice Steve, great sign.