[Archive]

Posted By: Hankron

During this period, most of the tobacco card and similarly colorful candy cards (E95, Tango Eggs,etc) were lithographs. The Cracker Jacks, Exhibit Cards and most of the newspaper/magazine cards (Sporting News, Sporting Life, etc) were photoengravings. Lithography and photoengraving were competing commercial printing processes/technolgies-- like Interet Explorer versus Netscape, or Ford versus Chevrolet. Back then, they each had about equal market share and had the corner in different areas (tobacco products = lithography, publishing = photoengraving). Photoengraving died out commercially years ago, but lithography is still used. Almost all of today's trading cards are made with lithography, though in a different form then circa 1910.

So, if you see an old tobacco or candy card that looks similar to a T206, it's safe to call it a lithograph. If you see an old card or premium issued by a newspaper or magazine, it's safe to call it a photoengraving.