Mayo Cut Plug unopened pack

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Posted By: Jon Canfield

To add to the Drum discussion. Since the photo I have on my website is the only known Drum cigarette pack that exists, I am fairly certain you are referring to that Drum cigarette box.

It has never been my contention that the Drum backed T-206 cards were issued under the Drummond Brand. The American Tobacco Company purchased the Drummond brand in 1898. From that date forward, Drummond products (including Drum cigarettes, Cannon cigarettes, etc) were issued under the American Tobacco Brand. It just so happens that the only survivng Drum cigarette box known to exist comes from 1897, prior to the American Tobacco Company's acquisition of Drummond. Hence, the Drummond's St. Louis info appears on the package. However, the graphics from this 1897 box would be identical or nearly identical to the 1909era pack.

After the 1898 purchase of Drummond, the American Tobacco Company shifted all Drummond cigarette production to Virginia, North Carolina, and NY - where all of the other major cigarette plants were being operated. The manufacturing did not stay in St. Louis and any former Drummond product would have NY, VA, or NC as the state of production from 1898 on. This is actually very easy to verify because most people aren't aware that the ATC's interest in Drummond was to acquire Chesterfield. Chesterfield cigarettes were Drummond's most popular brand. If one was to look at any Chesterfield pack prior to 1898, it would have been produced in St. Louis. After 1898 - the east coast factories. Also, if one was to search the public records on the purchase of Drummond by James Duke, there are documents showing the shift from the St. Louis production to east coast production. Hence, after the Drum brand was acquired in october of 1898, production was shifted to VA.

On my website, I clearly state this in the description: "T206’s bearing a Drum back advertisement were packaged in what is believed to be 10-count slide & shell boxes of Drum Cigarettes. To date, the only Drum cigarette box known to exist belongs to long-time collector Joe Hudgins and is pictured above. As can be seen in the photo, this box pre-dates the T206 issue (and actually pre-dates the American Tobacco Company's acquisition of Drummond Tobacco Company in 1898.) The graphics from the Drum cigarette box pictured above are believed to be identical to that of the 1910-era Drum cigarette box. The configuration of the 1910 box, however, would be a slide & shell."

http://baseballandtobacco.com/t206.htm

So, I am unaware of anyone claiming that Drum backed T206s were packaged in Drummond products out of St. Louis and what was stated above to that regard was a mistake or a misreading of my website. Furthermore, the 1909 American Tobacco Circular (as well as the 1912 Circular) shows Drum Cigarette configurations as being available.

While I choose not to elaborate here, it is strictly wishful thinking to believe that the Drum scrap pouches contained the T206 cards. While the ATC did manufacture Drum pouches, they were not related to the distribution of the cards at all. The American Tobacco Company issued many different types of products for the various brands. For example, there were Sweet Caporal Cigars and Sovereing Cigars. However, these products, while related, did not contain baseball cards. This holds true for Drum tobacco pouches as well. While others may believe to the contrary, there is no evidence supporting such a view that Drum pouches held cards.

Lastly, you stated above that the only pack you have never seen unopened is a Lenox. I would be very interested in knowing where you were able to locate and/or see an unopened Broadleaf, Hindu or Uzit. Heck, I'd even love to know where you saw opened examples! To date, I have only been able to locate 1 opened Broadlead pack dating to the correct year of the T-206 set (and six total Broadleaf boxes). To date, I have never located a Hindu box (opened or unopened) and our only images of one come from the Hindu ads. Finally, I have only documented the existence of 2 opened Uzit boxes.