Why did 1920s cards regress back to black and white?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

+1, but the Exhibits of the '20's on completely trounce the earlier issues in presenting accurate, detailed visual images, except for a few black and white postcards of the 19-oughts and teens, as well as some of the cards shown above. To me, the card should be a two-dimensional slice of a three-dimensional moment in the player's life and career, created nearly contemporaneously with the time, not some drawing or crudely colored photo which might or might not very vaguely resemble the person in question. Which is the main reason I have no interest in T206's, Cracker Jacks, candy and caramel cards.

Just my personal taste,

Larry

The Technology changed a lot in the mid-late teens, better screening became cheaper, along with a switch from flatbed litho presses using stones to rotary presses using photographically processed metal plates. So making a better representation was a lot more affordable (Some of the 1910 era cards were technologically excellent, some not so much. )

Most stuff is a product of the times, both technically and aesthetically. much of the teens stuff represents the players in a very pleasant manner, especially when they're shown on the field. Plenty of light airy days or sunsets in T206 and T212, T205 went with a more formal presentation, Which was a bit of a throwback as the trend in decoration was away from the elaborate stuff of the Victorian era.
The 20's- more people could see movies which were all black and white, but had motion. Things were booming, and seeing stars as they were rather than as we might wish they were was more interesting.
30's, color film got really good in 1932, but it was the depression, and it was better to represent the players a bit more heroically and less accurately. So color, a bit of a return to a more allegorical depiction.

I actually like them all. But that's just me.