Posted By:
Hal LewisScott:
On a more serious note...
Since you obviously believe (as do I) that the purple "BW" stamp was put on the back of your card in 1903 by the company for advertising purposes...
then doesn't that PROVE that the Type II cards were indeed CUT and DISTRIBUTED by the "BW" company???
If they were distributed on a "box top" or "poster" of some sort (as has been erroneously reported in the past)... then there is NO WAY to explain the stamp perfectly placed on the back of your individually cut card.
The ONLY remote possibiity is that the Type II card were distributed by Breisch Williams as STRIP CARDS with SEVERAL of them still attached...
and with the purple "BW" stamp INTENTIONALLY placed on back of ALL of the cards on the strip...
with the INTENTION of having the cards CUT APART and collected individually by the consumer.
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SO...
at BEST, we know that the Type II E107's were individually cut apart (obviously HAND CUT) by the Breisch-Williams company in 1903 BEFORE they were ever distributed...
and at WORST, we know that the Type II E107's were individually hand cut apart in 1903 by the person who received them from the Breisch-Williams company, just as the company INTENDED for them to be.
In other words...
the fact that most all Type II E107's are hand-cut does NOT make them "TRIMMED"...
it just makes them "FACTORY HAND CUTS."
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Granted, there was nothing to stop someone in 2001 from buying a Type II E107 and "trimming" it to make it look neater in appearance...
but I doubt anyone who owned something so rare and treasured would do any such thing.