[sreader3]

Ted, Jim:

Here is my thesis: Kleinow (Boston) WOULD HAVE BEEN a Drum 460 except for the fact that American Litho didn't go to the trouble to make Drum 460s due very small Drum production quantities. It was a matter of simple economics. American Litho initially intended to make Drums with 350 and 460 backs so they put the "350 subjects" designation on the initial Drum back. But they later aborted the plan to create a Drum 460 back due to miniscule Drum production quantities. After all, why pay someone to create a Drum 460 back if you're only going to ship a few hundred cards with that back? So even though the 460 print run had technically started, they decided to ship Kleinow (and possibly Smith) showing the team updates with the Drum 350 back.

One might then fairly wonder why there is a Broad Leaf 460 back. However, while small relative to Piedmont, Sweet Caporal, Sovereign and even American Beauty and Cycle, total Broad Leaf production still dwarfed total Drum production, making the creation of a Broad Leaf 460 back far more economical than a Drum 460 back would have been.

A Drum 460 find would be brilliant indeed, but the discovery of Kleinow (Boston) with Drum 350 provides compelling evidence against the existence of Drum 460.

Your thoughts?

Scot