Quote:
Originally Posted by conor912
I guess my point is, had Burdick not "classified" all of these sets that are only referred to by their ACC #'s, what would we call them? Seems kind of odd to me that a random guy gave them arbitrary "codes" at one point and now that's all their known by.
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I think it was just a matter of being the first one to step up to the plate and do it, to Burdick's credit. That "one point" was also very early in this hobby's lifespan, and was done by an influential collector when not many people collected these pieces of cardboard. In many ways, Burdick's system had the historical luck of simply catching on and sticking.
IF Burdick had not given all these sets names, it's hard to say what someone else would've come up with. I'm guessing 1909-11 ATC baseball card inserts, or something boring like that.
Definitely nothing near as sexy as
Tee-two-oh-six. 
That's another weird thing -- we hear it referred to as T two OH six, but shouldn't it be T-two zero six, or T-two-hundred-and-six??
Regarding the proper name for the T206 "set"...
Back in the early 1900s, when ATC was providing these cards in packs of smokes, I don't think the concept of a "set" was even on their minds. To the producers of these cards, they were simply advertising tools to help sell more cigarettes/tobacco. They did want kids to collect and trade these cards, but I don't think they expected them to try and build a "set".