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[G1911]

Originally Posted by butcher354435

Just wondering if that paper lose was an issue the paper stock had pre-production. Have you ever seen a blank back without the Diamond D stamp? Btw, when I did some research many years ago I found Diamond was a large match mnfg at the time these cards would have been produced. I don't believe I ever found the exact stamp on other material but if I recall I found other artifacts with very similar stamps. Unfortunately I lost all of my research when one of my computer hard drives crashed...

It is possible the sheet was affixed to something and then pulled off and cut up, but I think unlikely. The shaping and pulling of the paper loss suggests to me affixture of the card to something else, and a hasty removal.

I have never seen one without the Diamond D stamp. I imagine one will probably be shown eventually where it has faded off or isn't visible, as many of the cards are very poorly stamped with only like 20% of the stamp present (like your Kilrain) or are very light. However the stamp was done, the person or machine doing it was not very consistent or diligent about it.

I have not succeeded in finding any information of what the stamp might refer too. It seems a strange marking on its face to me, usually backstamps are clearly related to production information (like the packer numbers of T107) or are from a retailer/issuer for a set with multiple issuers in lieu of printing the information, or a cancellation mark for a redemption set.

I looked through old papers, the journals, invoice records (there are ton of Spaulding & Merrick invoices and orders on the tobacco market - most of which have purple ink used to record transactions, but then again purple or black were the standard stamp color in the late nineteenth century). I have not found any record of a 'diamond' product brand or line, or any company document bearing this mark, or the use of "D" to designate something. Echo was distributed in 16 oz. tins and in foil packages, neither of which would seem logical to be designated as a "D" in company shorthand.

Spaulding & Merrick operated their own printing press, in the late 1870's at least, on which they made their own packaging materials. It is possible the cards, unlike most N cards, were produced by themselves instead of a contracted lithography firm and were an entirely in house affair. I have not found letters being used to designate the different S&M buildings in Chicago though, if it was some kind of internal routing code for the movement of goods.