Printing experts and oddity lovers check out this 1933 Goudey

[NiceDocter]

Im not saying Steve is wrong but wouldnt his theory mean that 2 consecutive prints were from the back and the next the front? Doesnt seem very likely...his theory would result in double printed fronts or double printed backs of the same card, not a faded back on a front.... or am I wrong? Fun to try and analyze what the heck happened 90 years ago!

[Exhibitman]

I have other cards with this. I think they accidentally released a sheet used for clearing the press. There may have been something wrong with the sheet so it was scrapped and used after ink ran down to clear the press before restarting. My cards with a cylinder transfer are much sharper. No matter how you slice it that is a great card.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by NiceDocter

Im not saying Steve is wrong but wouldnt his theory mean that 2 consecutive prints were from the back and the next the front? Doesnt seem very likely...his theory would result in double printed fronts or double printed backs of the same card, not a faded back on a front.... or am I wrong? Fun to try and analyze what the heck happened 90 years ago!

The fronts were probably printed first. *

four passes, one for each color. Drying time in between. Then the backs printed.

Adam has an excellent point that cylinder transfers are usually very sharp. That it's from a sheet used for press adjustment /cleaning** is also a good possibility.

*Based on how many blankbacks there are vs blank fronts, which I've only seen on modern cards.

** The place I worked never cleaned by running anything through. Didn't even have paper on the press. Did other places do it differently? Maybe, but I don't really see a reason to do that.

[Exhibitman]

Here's a fun one

[emmygirl]

I worked in the printing industry for 20+ years and I'm no genius on this matter but these irregularities are most certainly from using Make Ready Sheets to get the press ready for the next run. To " get-up to color, to get registration or to clean a problem" these sheets were always available to help the pressman to get going quickly without "Wasting lots of expensive paper. No doubt some of these sheets got sandwiched into the good sheets and out they went with the product. Same thing happens occasionally with the printing of paper money.

[nebboy]

Originally Posted by emmygirl

I worked in the printing industry for 20+ years and I'm no genius on this matter but these irregularities are most certainly from using Make Ready Sheets to get the press ready for the next run. To " get-up to color, to get registration or to clean a problem" these sheets were always available to help the pressman to get going quickly without "Wasting lots of expensive paper. No doubt some of these sheets got sandwiched into the good sheets and out they went with the product. Same thing happens occasionally with the printing of paper money.

+1

Waste sheet for sure - you can tell the they were dilling problem with light blue - the shadow folds on the shirt does not show proper detailing which is easy to see compared to a nice example.

My best guess is a smash blank so bad sheets were pulled and used as waste - - - 2nd guess is still to much water in cyan ink mix on a start up and used waste until they got up to color.