We've had quite a few collectors post here that they would NEVER attempt to soak cards. Given that consignors to auction houses often are even less knowledgeable than we are about such things, it's quite a leap to assume that the consignor knew that the cards would not soak off the pages.
It's reasonable to assume that the original owner back in the day simply chose a glue that wouldn't soak - does anyone here really think that someone in 1912 would intentionally seek out a type of glue for their scrapbook that either was or was not water-soluble? They chose glue to make their cards stick to the pages, not thinking about collectors 100 years in the future. If they abused their cards by flipping, trading or any other method, they could easily be creased or worn at the time they were glued in.
Conspiracy theories work much better for today's modern money-oriented people than for 1912's simpler card collectors who weren't worried about investment value of every single item they came across.
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$co++ Forre$+
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