T206 American Beauty Printing Process

[usernamealreadytaken]

As I understand it, in the printing/cutting process for T206 cards, the cards were printed on a big sheet, and cut vertically/horizontally to produce the cards we know today. There was no waste -- the entire sheet was sliced up (this results in see some cards with the front (name/team, player image) or back (advertisement) displaying portions of neighboring cards if the sheets were "miscut.")

So far, so good.

My question concerns American Beauty 350 with frame cards. It is very uncommon that this back advertisement (inc. frame and scroll on either side) fits entirely on the card -- in fact, on some, it is impossible due to the narrowness. However, it is rare to see the "spillover" discussed above (portions of another cards' back) on AB350s w/ frame. Could it be that these were cut in such a way that there were scrap borders (thin strips between each card)?

[rp12367]

I thought they were cut regular size at first, then at some point they where re-cut/trimmed a 2nd time, making them narrow. So there would be very little "spill-over" due to original cutting. They started out as regular T206. Maybe someone else can shed more light.

[atx840]

Originally Posted by rp12367

I thought they were cut regular size at first, then at some point they where re-cut/trimmed a 2nd time, making them narrow. So there would be very little "spill-over" due to original cutting

I think its been concluded that a second round of cutting happened and likely would remove any spill over from a neighbouring card.

[tedzan]

There is such variability in the cuts of the AB frame cards that it's very difficult to figure out exactly why American Litho. sliced them narrower than all the other T206 brands.

For example....my Davy Jones is approx. the same width as a normal T206. While my Matty is narrower.


..





TED Z

[Ronnie73]

I believe they were cut to normal size but because the cigarette packs were more narrow than the other brands, they were then trimmed on the sides. Because the frame did not fit the needed smaller size, they removed it in the 1910 and 1911 printings.

There are some cards that seem to have missed the second trimming.

[tedzan]

Ron

Here is a circa 1910 AMERICAN BEAUTY (10-cigarette) pack; and, it is the same size as any PIEDMONT, SOVEREIGN, etc. packs.




TED Z