Plow Boy Distribution?

[canjond]

Just curious if the board has any insight into how Plow Boys were distributed. I had assumed it was similar to T3s in that coupon were redeemable for the cabinets but I have never seen the coupons. Is this the case? Do coupons exist?

[Leon]

Hey Jon
I can't help a lot but the tin I have, that I believe to be close to period, says MFG by Spaulding and Merrick, Ligget & Myers inc Successor, St.Louis, MO......

regards

[canjond]

Thanks Leon. It is helpful. I am familiar with the round tins and there are also scrap tobacco packs (similar to Polar Bear and Honest Long Cut). Obviously both of these products could not have packaged cards within them but I'm curious as to whether they could be obtained by coupons packaged within the products. I have never heard of a coupon but there may be one out there I'm unaware of.

[jimonym]

Jon, as I recall, the Plow Boy cards (like T3's) do not include the factory, state, and revenue district information on the card. As of 1902, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue ruled that any card, ticket, coupon, or like insert had to have this information printed on it when the card, coupon, etc., was to be packaged and distributed with the tobacco product. The rule applied to both tobacco products like Plow Boy and to cigarettes. (If you're interested it's in Regulations No. 8, concerning tax on tobacco, snuff, cigars, and cigarettes).

The reasons were twofold: any ticket or coupon scheme that had the characteristics of a lottery was illegal, and any card with indecent or immoral text or pictures was forbidden. To enforce these, the Bureau had to be able to trace inserts back to the factory and manufacturer.

Plow Boys must have either been a ticket redemption premium or a point of sale giveaway, I would think.

The only series I can think of that seems to break the law and to have been packaged in tobacco products but without the required info was T217s. I have no idea why. If they'd been caught, all the cigarettes would have been forfeited to the government. Perhaps this is one reason why T217s are so rare. On the other side, I know there have been long and impassioned debates on the board about whether the Ty Cobb Tobacco backed card is a T206 and how it was distributed. The cards have the factory, state, and revenue district info, so they were at least printed with a certain kind of distribution in mind.

Jamie