T220 Silver - Uncut Edition

[G1911]

It's been over a year, but I think I have finally made some very small progress on the mystery of the Donovan/J. Corbett short printing while reviewing the Dingley Tariff and the long-standing theory that the cards are short-printed because there was some kind of prize associated with the set, like some Gum card sets and others did.

The primary import of this tariff act is that it banned tobacco cards entirely in 1897. In 1902 it was amended by Congress to only ban those that were "immoral" - this is why the 19th century tobacco card focus on provocative images of women are about the only topic T cards stayed away from - because it was illegal to insert them.

Because I am an idiot, I only just realized that the verbiage in the act regulating coupons and prizes seems to relate to this SP problem in T220-1. The 1902 amendment also lightens regulations of coupons and prizes, but it stipulates that, in addition to the prize not being "immoral" either, shall not include in tobacco packages "any paper, certificate or instrument purporting to represent a ticket, chance, share, or interest in, or dependent upon, the event of a lottery." A short printed card inserted randomly for a winner to pull and redeem, by itself or with a set, would seem to fall under the meaning of a lottery at that time, a card as an instrument used as a chance to win a lottery. As the ATC was quite careful not to openly violate direct laws and give the government even more opportunities to come after them, I think this explanation can now be dismissed positively.

Perhaps one day a source will appear that gives us the answer as to why these two were short-printed. It looks like we can dismiss the insert/prize explanation, leaving us with the fact that the proofing stage had them printed in equal quantity as the other cards, alongside evidence that Donovan knew the man who produced the set and was anti-tobacco, but really nothing else. Not a lot to work with still. But it's something at least.