Butterfinger envelope?

[oaks1912]

Adding to the mystery of the background of R-310's, this communication (from 1972) between pioneer collectors Buck Barker and Bill Weiss adds some info. Buck remembers them being associated with Baby Ruth Gum and were distributed at the individual stores where he grew up in St Louis, while Bill obtained his from an employee of the printing company in Chicago.

Baby Ruth Gum was produced by Curtiss Candy, which also made Butterfinger and Baby Ruth Candy bars, so maybe a more appropriate issuer would be R-310 Curtiss Candy ?

[nolemmings]

Fantastic info Mark--thank you muchas!!!!! R310 Curtiss Co. seems right.
The General Gum Inc. connection to Curtiss was pretty much laid out in the old threads from a couple of years ago, and the R310 mystery was cemented for me when REA auctioned a display box and 90+ of the premiums around that time, describing the sale of gum "With Large Pictures of Baseball Stars":

"Substantial collection of ninety-three R310 Butterfinger Premiums (35 different), including an impressive thirty-seven Hall of Famers, highlighted by multiple examples of New York Yankees superstars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. This group is accompanied by pieces of the original display box. These items were just recently discovered in a Midwest warehouse. Incredibly, our consignor, who was involved in the purchase of the building, rescued all of the material from a large trash bin. Issued with Butterfinger products and other candies, the R310 series is one of great premium sets produced during the 1930s"

Here is the display box advertising the pics, or remnants of it anyway:


EDITED TO ADD: I find it amusing that Buck didn't care for gum. Do you suppose he bought all those Goudeys, Diamond Stars, Tattoo Orbits, Uncle Jacks etc and just tossed the gum?

[bigfanNY]

I purchased a large collection of T206. They were stored in a Phillies cigar box. So despite the advertising on the back saying polor bear and sweet caporel. Did these in fact come from Phillies?
Finding an old gum box that fits 8x10 premiums really only means you found an old gum box that someone stored their Butterfingers in.
That exact same box has been found complete with the candy inside with no premiums. Because it is a gum box. A very attractive gum box. But just a gum box.
If you read Barkers letter he says he thinks they were issued with Baby Ruth Gum.. but he NEVER BOUGHT ANY because he didn't like gum. So just memories of being in a candy store 40 years before.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by bigfanNY

I purchased a large collection of T206. They were stored in a Phillies cigar box. So despite the advertising on the back saying polor bear and sweet caporel. Did these in fact come from Phillies?
Finding an old gum box that fits 8x10 premiums really only means you found an old gum box that someone stored their Butterfingers in.
That exact same box has been found complete with the candy inside with no premiums. Because it is a gum box. A very attractive gum box. But just a gum box.

Please show us that "exact same box found complete with candy inside". A gum box full of candy. I will wait here as you continue to swing and miss.

The box specifically states it offers large pictures of baseball stars. Yet you would have us believe none have been found-- that this must be something completely different? The R310s fit perfectly into the gum box. Curtiss owned General Gum, Inc, which also sold a parallel Movie Gum product that non-sports hobbyists will tell you have the same thin-paper pics of movie stars--size material and design, including some overprints with Baby Ruth advertising in the same design as R310 Butterfinger. General Gum Inc also distributed magic "cards" with other gum products, and these other sets are fairly plentiful, yet mysteriously no one has ever seen the "large baseball photos" associated with the Baseball gum box. The 90+ baseball photos auctioned by REA and found with this box were just coincidental-- some collector must have wanted to save his Butterfinger pics in a box where they fit, and happened upon this box. Right. You go with that.