Henry Moses recent pick-up of an early GQ paper pack helps put a mystery to sleep. I hope you don't mind me re-posting your pick-up here Henry, its a beauty.
This is the ornate 20 count GQ pack, dates to 1886 prior to Goodwin & Co. moving from paper packs to slide and shell boxes. The tambourine strip would have sealed the seam on back of pack. It appears to have long ago been soaked off together with the tax stamp. As I look at the other two images I have of ornate packs they also appear to be paper packs (not slide & shell). My theory is now that the GQs were ornate up until they went to slide & shell. The ornate paper packs wouldn't have cards in them, the plain slide & shell would (in approx. order, likely including N171, N175, N164, N162, N165, and others).
I suspect the cigarette box cases that held these packs were ornate both with the early paper packs and remained so with the later plain packs. I welcome other's thoughts.