T206 Wagner and Plank - They both didn't want their image on Tobacco cards

[G1911]

Originally Posted by JustinD

Again, going off an impossible to prove thought due to time and that I was not in existence prior to the very early Seventies (lol). However, I would place media and journals much more on the "morally damaging" stance and say much like prohibition it was far less accepted by the public and a signification of wealth and status wished to be imitated.

I would change my wording to "morally" or "Christian" elite stance.

It was prevalent in athletic, sport and exercise journals of the time - the exact group of people that Wagner and Plank were members of. Numerous athletes wrote editorials and statements about the dangers of tobacco use (one of the ATC’s short-printed boxing subjects among them). It would hardly be out of tune with the times for Wagner and or Plank to be anti tobacco as much of the sporting world was for reasons of health and morals (the athletic focused health and wellness journals tend to include the former in their anti-tobacco articles and op-eds). It would not be assigning the base ballers to a class that they were not a part of, many people in the athletic world at this time were against tobacco. It was not an idea restricted to Christian preachers and elitists.

There is no evidence that has been produced that Plank was anti tobacco or wanted his card pulled, or wanted his card pulled for an anti tobacco reason. There is the article from the time stating this happened with Wagner, which may ir may not be really true but is at least primary source evidence. While I do not buy, on evidentiary grounds, that this theory can reasonably be said to be true or even probably true, it also cannot be dismissed as being modern in its logic or out of step with the realities of 1909.