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Joe D.you say:
"It was a sequential process, where they would first start with the Piedmont brand and produce several press runs of just these cards. Then, an order would arrive for another T-brand and they would crank up the presses again and start rolling (with say the Sweet Cap's)."
I am agreeing with the sequential nature you suggest.
What I am adding is that the printing company most likely pre-printed backs and kept that paper ready-to-go (with blank fronts) before the individual orders came rolling in.
From a schedule concern and an economic concern... this makes complete sense and is common in the industry. It is a lot less expensive to print one-hundred-thousand sheets of Sweet Caporal than it would be to print ten-thousand sheets ten different times. In addition to being cheaper - you can knock off half of the print job (time-wise) by printing the backs and having them ready for when orders roll in (when the tobacco company needs the cards).
So, I envision the pressroom had sheets ready to go with each brand.
Scot mentioned that the Johnson did not come in that Sweet Cap back. Add that to the fact that this particular print variation happened in the early stages of the print process... and all of the pieces fit. What we have (I believe) is an order that came in for a tobacco brand that Johnson did come in (say piedmont) -- and the operator of the press loaded up the wrong paper in the press (he loaded up sweet cap paper). It was caught by the pressman and the 'bad' copies were discarded and the 'right' paper was loaded in the press for the press run.
edit to say:
Ted - to be clear - I agree, I don't think the printer thought of what combinations were a 'no-no'. In fact, I don't think ANY combinations were a no-no to a printer. The only reason we don't have certain cards from certain tobacco companies is because those companies did not place an order for those particular cards. So, if one day the printer was given an order for those Johnson cards with Sweet Cap backs he would have printed that order. That day he just had an order for another brand and loaded the wrong paper.