PSA explanation from 2006.
https://www.psacard.com/articles/art...-block-lelands
The card is made of medium stock with a reddish-orange color and measures 3-3/8 x 4-3/4". Notwithstanding the grade of PSA 1, this card still presents very well and has excellent eye appeal. It has some age wear, creasing, a 3/4" tear at the bottom right border, and wear to the corners which is consistent with the cards age. More importantly, the front of the card features a portrait of a young Honus (Hans) Wagner in a Louisville Colonels uniform pitching for "Henry Reccius, Manufacturer of Hans Wagner--10¢ Cigar" and "Koda Bowler Our Favorite Farmers' and Gardners' Favorite 5¢ Cigars."
On the reverse, there is a lengthy paragraph extolling the virtues of "Union Made" products and the workers who make them. The method in which this card was first distributed is unknown, but there is speculation from its size that it was either inserted in boxes of cigars or just handed to customers at the point of sale.
A "Honus Wagner" cigar box featuring this same image of Wagner was recently auctioned elsewhere and was shown to be from 1919, but the National Cigar Museum has confirmed that these were a completely different brand that was separate and distinct from the "Hans Wagner" cigars sold much earlier by Henry Reccius. In fact, the federally assigned factory number for Henry Reccius was Fact. 45, 5th Dist. KY. By 1893, they were already assigning factory numbers in the 600's in the 5th tax district in Kentucky, so Reccius was indeed assigned a very early number.
There is indisputable proof that Henry Reccius was making cigars as far back as 1870 when he was only 18 years old! The 1870 United States census of Louisville, Kentucky, lists "Henry Rewcius" as a cigar maker, and he was still living at home at that time with his two more famous brothers, John and Phil, who both went on to play professional baseball for the Colonels in the 1880's. In addition, the 1890 city directory for Louisville lists Henry Reccius as living on Elliott Street, and Louisville had 4-digit phone numbers prior to 1900. Accordingly, PSA had no problem authenticating this card as indeed having been distributed during the 1897-99 time period.