REA Lot 319 (Piedmont Cigarette Pack)

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Posted By: Jeff S.

From past examples, I seem to remember T206's being issued inside the foil wrapper - acting as a stiffener resting against the cigarettes. In the photos provided by Jerry Spillman and Dave Kelly, the card is on the outside of the foil. I realize one was shot minutes afterwards, so it may have been placed on top - just an observation. (Tobacco stains?)

Second, although nearly half a century later, Topps was known to issue cards past their intended year of issue. I've heard of 1952 cards issued in '53 packs - I believe. There's also been a rash of Topps Christmas rack packs on the market in recent years that appear to have been issued at the same time based on packaging similarities, yet feature cards from 1952 up through the early 1960's (although each pack contains cards from only one year of issue). Dave Hornish would know more about this. In any case, perhaps it is a possibility that there was an abundance of T206's manufactured and released past the known dates of issue. I assume the multi-color lithographic process wasn't the cheapest.

On a side note - if one were to purchase a pack of smokes in 1911, was there any indication as to what series of cards your pack contained? If my son collected fish, and I ended up with a Ty Cobb, you can imagine the disappointment.