I’m hoping Al. C. will chime in on this, as he used to collect them. To answer your question, no specific company has been found to be behind W502s. As you probably know, there are actually two different W502 sets, issued in 1928 and 1931. The former generally mimics the ice cream cards and York Caramels from around 1927-28, which clearly were not issued as strip cards. Both sets have game results but can be found with blank backs also, so there could be multiple issuers for each of the W502s. There is also an Earl Smith found in a greenish tint-- a rare card for sure.
It is unclear to me why Burdick labeled these as “W” sets, although that designation does not mean they had to be strip cards– see for example Exhibits, W600 Sporting Life Cabinets and W554 (Kashin related). It does seem certain that they were not hand-cut, at least as a rule. It is possible they were printed in strips and then cut into individual cards before leaving the factory, but if some strips are found (I know of none myself) that doesn’t settle the issue. I have seen strips of E91s and those of course are not considered strip cards. And then there is the famous T206 Wagner strip. 
Here is one of the few I have left--note that the game description can be oriented in either direction.
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Now watch what you say, or they'll be calling you a radical, a liberal, oh, fanatical, criminal
Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.- Ulysses S. Grant, 18th US President.
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02-26-2025, 02:43 PM
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