Brian-
Thanks for the note.
I don't have good information on how the Felin's were introduced to the hobby. I think Rob Lifson might have some information there -- I believe they were found in the early-to-mid 1980s, and I was too young then to be well integrated into the hobby scene. I simply don't know. Very few examples seem to trade, with most secured in long-term collections.
With regards to the Lummis Peanut Butter cards, I don't know there, either. I haven't heard any valid theories. There was a bit find of the Sealtest sticker cards in the 1980s as well. However, the Lummis have always been scarce, with my knowledge of even veteran dealers at most having handled a dozen or two over the past three decades. I've heard a story that they were affixed by glue or otherwise to the outside of the jars, but I believe that was more of a working theory than anything. Suffice it to say, I think the Peanut Butter was popular at the time, and I do not think many of the cards survived, which suggests perhaps it was not a broadly distributed set.
At least with the Felin's, there are some contemporaneous advertising in period publications that suggest the cards were intended to be issued.
m
|