Posted By:
Jamie HullThanks Brian.
I'm not sure print marks is the proper term. I'm referring to the crosshairs that are present on the right, left, and top edges of the card, in the white border. I'd always thought such marks were alignment marks to help the pressman align the sheet of paper with the printing plate. But I'm certainly not a printing expert.
If you look at the 40-odd 1911 Obaks on the Library of Congress site, you'll see there's about a half-dozen cards there that possess similar marks.
I'm more curious why'd they'd be present on so many (relatively) finished cards. It's not like these are handcut proofs or scrap, which is where I've mostly seen similar type marks on other tobacco issues.