[nolemmings]

Thanks Bob, I had missed that ad for Red Sun.

At this point, I am satisfied that the t205 and its related sets did not get released to the public until 1911, although the design and set composition may have been developed at the end of 1910. The Px7 disks appear to have been released last, not long after the P2 pins. The initial T205 cards and S74 silks came out beforehand, with the white silks preceding the colored. Changes or additions were made to all of these except the colored silks(?), meaning there were multiple printings, likely at various times. The T205 design and artwork were done in advance of the biography and stats on the back, as can be discerned by reading the text and seeing mention on multiple occasions of trades and action that occurred after the 1911 season was underway.

I still tend to believe that T205 in its initial form preceded the white silks, although the timing is close and my degree of confidence is not overly high. The ad for Red Sun silks has them available in May, 1911, but they of course could have been out for awhile, plus, they are the scarcest of the white silks and other brands may have distributed theirs earlier. The T205 Addie Joss card mentions his funeral in 1911, which took place April 17. Fred Beck’s T205 card shows him on the Rustlers even though he was traded from that team in February, 1911–the card back notes the trade but the silk of course has no similar story to tell, even though it too shows the Rustlers. Neither was corrected to show Beck’s new team in Cincinnati or the Phillies team he joined in July, 1911, although it is noteworthy that the card made no mention of the second trade, giving us a likely window for production, and no color silk was made for him. In sum, there remain a lot of unanswered questions, and I am just glad I have my initial question about a 1911 start date to look like its confirmed.