Thanks for the info Ted. I always assumed that the players contracted with the ATC as suggested by the 1912 Sporting News article which stated that the tobacco manufacturers collaborated with sportswriters to help secure the printing rights of the players (or at least Wagner specifically). I figured that once the rights had been secured by ATC, they would then sub-contract with the printer to physically produce the cards.
I realize that the Ball letter does directly reference American Litho so perhaps they retained the printing rights rather than the tobacco companies. If that is the case, then your T207 theory certainly is plausible.
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