[nolemmings]

What I find strange is that the box size changed or at least the set changed from 96 to 100 when going from movie to baseball stars. Of course the baseball cards could have come first and then the set size reduced, but it's hard to believe that they could not come up with 4 more stars to keep the set size the same.

I brought up the change in company name on the back of the box to suggest what you likely already believe-that there was more than one printing of the cards. In that case, it's possible they did not have Ruth's blessing when the set first came out, and it was only after he gave his approval that his cards supplanted the 4 so-called short prints. I collect m101-4 and m101-5, and when the earlier of these was issued, it did not include Ty Cobb, which seems ridiculous. It could not realistically be considered an oversight, but rather some difficulty that caused the omission. The same might hold for the Ruth and R316, and might explain the "substitution" theory. Still, I recall from prior threads and posts from those who collect this set (I do not) that one of the four short prints--Todt?--is much more plentiful than the others; if so, one wonders why that would be so if all four were pulled evenly to make room for Ruth.

Finally, if you want a long shot, maybe look into Maurice Kashin. He was on Broadway in the early part of the last century, then bought and/or operated the Kashin Theatre in Montreal. An account of his death in 1946 said that he spent the last 20 years of his life in advertising. So there's a New York, theater and advertising connection. We know that some r316s (or cards of the same design and size) carry ads for theaters on the back. Felix Mendelsohn, the progenitor of m101-4/5, was involved in a variety of activities in the teens, including pushing arcade games. Maybe this Kashin was of the same spirit. Like I said it's a longshot, but who knows?