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Old 06-01-2007, 09:15 AM
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Default reprint wagner piedmonts

Posted By: Pennsylvania Ted

In 1981 I had the priviledge of visiting with George Moll at his home in Pennsy. He was in his mid-80's at
the time and was still very lucid in his recollections of his Adv. Agency in Abington, PA....that did all the
artwork, photographic work, and the contracting out of the printing of the Play Balls, Horrors of War, War
Gum cards, etc. from 1939 - 1942 for the Bowman Gum Co. (during those years it was known as GUM, Inc.).

I was doing research on an article on the 1949 Bowman cards and that's why I interviewed George Moll
regarding this (and other Bowman) sets. He was very enthusiastic about this and what I thought would be
a short interview, surprisingly was several hours of him showing me original Play Ball, Horrors of War, and
Bowman artwork and uncut sheets. I had a tremendous day with him as he talked about how he loved the
1933 Goudey cards. And, all the great stuff from his collection that he showed me; I recall his #106 Lajoie
(at least ExMt....1st time I has held one). Then to my surprise, he showed me a #106 Durocher. I recall
saying to him that my Durocher had a different #; and, he replied that this #106 card was reprinted to fill
a slot in the Goudey set for collectors of that time. Now, whether he meant the 1930's, or '40s, or '50s....I
do not know. But, what I do know is that his employees could "crank" out any almost perfect copies of any
Sportscards.

So, I relate this story to you in order to give you some insight into what was possible back in the 1940's or
early 1950's. Does this mean I think the Copeland-Gretzky-Gidwitz Wagner was printed in the 1950's....I say
a resounding NO.
However, we are talking about only 30 - 40 years after the T206's were produced and anything is possible.

Most of you are aware of my "PIEDMONT-first" theory, and I am convinced that ATC favored this T-brand
(the sheer volume of T206's with these backs confirm this). Furthermore, the Magie and Joe Doyle errors
reinforce this theory. Therefore, I have to strongly disagree with anyone who says that Piedmont Wagner's
are not an original 1909 T206 card.

Finally, if the Wagner card had been reproduced by the Bowman Co., I am sure Mr. Moll would have shown
it to me. It was unbelievable all the stuff he showed me and he certainly would not have held back on the
Wagner card (in 1981).

TED Z

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