T206's thrown away back in the day?

[Bunker]

I am curious how many people actually kept the cards that came in the packs? It is hard to imagine (at least for me), but I can see where a guy that smoked a couple of packs a day wouldn't even look at the card and just discard it along with his empty pack when his smokes were gone.

[packs]

I'm pretty sure there are a million T206s that have survived. Maybe not a million but have to be up in the hundreds of thousands.

[z28jd]

There are stories out there that kids waited outside stores and bothered adults for the cards. I've also heard that they would go over to the store and picked up discarded cards.

One estimate says that between 5-10% of T206's actually still survive to this day. They say 20 million were printed and 1-2mil still exist

[slidekellyslide]

I thought I saw a picture once of the interior of a bar circa 1910 that had cards laying on the floor.

[Bunker]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I thought I saw a picture once of the interior of a bar circa 1910 that had cards laying on the floor.

I would love to see that!

[MyGuyTy]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I thought I saw a picture once of the interior of a bar circa 1910 that had cards laying on the floor.

Originally Posted by Bunker

I would love to see that!

Yes please, I would love to see that photo as well.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by Bunker

I am curious how many people actually kept the cards that came in the packs? It is hard to imagine (at least for me), but I can see where a guy that smoked a couple of packs a day wouldn't even look at the card and just discard it along with his empty pack when his smokes were gone.

I'm sure if the original smokers put their T206s in penny sleeves right away, just like today's collectors do with modern cards, T206s in Gem Mint 10 condition would not be as rare, and as expensive, as they are today. Remember, one of the reasons the vintage stuff in excellent condition is so rare is BECAUSE nobody saw a need to keep them in pristine shape.

[Fetamore]

My guess is that more cards are thrown away today. Back then, baseball was extremely popular, and children couldn't go to their neighborhood store and buy packs of cards. In the 1980's I was fortunate to make a number of trades with a man who was an enterprising young boy when t201 - t206 cards were produced. He told me that many men, after a day's work, would stop at their neighborhood store and buy one or two cigarettes before going home. They couldn't afford to buy the pack. The shopkeeper would save the cards for him. I suspect this was common. If the cards were thrown away, it was years later.

[Batjac1]

My Great Grandfather was head janitor of the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company in New York City. At the end of the day he had his staff empty the waste baskets by the employees desks and bring him the cards.

He gave them to my Grandfather who gave them to me in the late 1960's.

There were a lot of them.

Only 198 survived.

That's the provenance of the Doc Crandall Uzit, which I still have.

Doug

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by Batjac1

My Great Grandfather was head janitor of the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company in New York City. At the end of the day he had his staff empty the waste baskets by the employees desks and bring him the cards.

He gave them to my Grandfather who gave them to me in the late 1960's.

There were a lot of them.

Only 198 survived.

That's the provenance of the Doc Crandall Uzit, which I still have.

Doug

The stuff dreams are made of.....

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by Batjac1

My Great Grandfather was head janitor of the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company in New York City. At the end of the day he had his staff empty the waste baskets by the employees desks and bring him the cards.



He gave them to my Grandfather who gave them to me in the late 1960's.



There were a lot of them.



Only 198 survived.



That's the provenance of the Doc Crandall Uzit, which I still have.



Doug

Very cool

[Leon]

I am sure far more cards got thrown away than got saved. Any one want to go trash dump diving?

[brian1961]

I really don't know why I'm doing this, given the silence I've received on my NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN.

Go to:

The Sport Americana Baseball Card Price Guide Number 4 (1982)

You will find on pages 416-418 a marvelous article with photos:
"THE OTHER JOHN WAGNER"
Interview and Article by Christopher Benjamin

The first paragraph contains a Jim Dandy anecdote that NONE of you T-206 collectors will ever forget.

--Brian Powell

[Bob Lemke]

This thread reminds me of this 1900s English postcard.

cigarette card pc.jpg