T206 Factories

[FrankWakefield]

Yes, that's it.

The cards were distributed in packages; packages that went from the factories into the commerce stream, eventually to a point where they were sold to consumers.

The factories didn't "make" the tobacco. The factory didn't "make" or print the cards. The factories did manufacture (or maybe process for Polar Bear) a tobacco product, package it (sometimes with various collector cards), then they would distribute (sell) the product.

American Lithograph Company printed those cards.

Part of what we collectors miss is the context of what that printing was. Before printing, visual media was hand produced. Gutenburg Bible time, ie the beginnings of movable type, was also when an artistic rendering could be cut into a block of wood. These might be small crude maps, portraits of Saints, Kings, Popes, Emperors... Before this time, the only way a visual image could be captured was by an artist rendering a painting or drawing. The woodcut blocks had a short printing life. Copper plates were used at a later point in time. They would last longer. But again, the product was expensive and beyond the means of most people. Most of us have heard of Currier and Ives prints. The significance is lost upon most folks. These were lithography works, great images, color and detail... and they were in the price range of most folks. For the first time ever, everyday folk could afford a visual rendering (art). Today, everything we see has visual art on it. Everywhere... but that is a fairly new phenomenon. 20 years ago I ordered some billboards, and chose 1 color, blue, to save on printing costs. More colors were more money... Today, the manufacturing process for the billboard sheets is such that full color is the same price as one color... Not true yet for newspapers, though. But I digress. These little trade cards that we look at as antiquated were, in their day, a marvel to behold. They represented a confluence of technology and art that resulted in great visual art in an affordable form.