e90-1 packaging

[tedzan]

In the late 19th century there were three major Caramel Company's. Milton Hershey founded the Lancaster Caramel Co. in Pennsylvania
in 1886. The Breisch-Hine Co. of Philadelphia and the P. C. Wiest Co. of York, PA merged together to form the American Caramel Co. in
1889. Its founder, Daniel LaFean, acquired the Lancaster Caramel Co. from Hershey in 1900 for $1 Million. This expansion resulted in the
American Caramel Company controlling 90% of the caramel candy market in the country at the beginning of the 20th Century.

LaFean was an avid Philadelphia A's fan and a close friend to Connie Mack. LaFean was a shrewd businessman and in 1908, he started to
include BB card premiums with his Caramel products. The 1st set of cards in 1908 were the E91's (33-card series). Followed up by the 1st
series of E90 cards in late 1908 (and early 1909).

In what form these early E-cards were packaged with caramels, I'm not certain of. There was a great thread on Croft's candies on Net54
by Scott Mosley a few years back that illustrated how candies in the Philadelphia area were packaged.



TED Z

[Irwin Fletcher]

Did Erik Vardon's "Sweet Recollections" book on the Philadelphia Caramel Company discuss packaging for the E95 and E96 series? (I haven't read his book, but I am planning to soon)

[phlflyer1]

Originally Posted by tedzan

There was a great thread on Croft's candies on Net54 by Scott Mosley a few years back that illustrated how candies in the Philadelphia area were packaged.

TED Z

Hi Ted,

I think I know the thread that you are referring to but I am sad to say that I know a lot less than you give my credit for.

I remember chiming in on a thread a couple of years back which speculated about whether or not Crofts Cocoa E92s might have been distributed with actual bottles of Crofts Cocoa and I am 100% confident that this was not the case.

I do have my theories on how the Crofts cards were distributed based upon research that I've done when I can find free time (hard to do with 13 and 11 year olds) but I cannot say with 100% certainty how they were made available.

Thanks to Lew Lipset and a relative of Jimmy Sheckards, at least we know definitively how another set that I am interested in was distributed...