Regarding T206 brown LENOX cards......check-out this theory

[tedzan]

To date, 23 brown LENOX cards are confirmed. If my theory proves true, we can predict that 13 (or 14) more T206 cards will eventually be discovered with brown LENOX backs.
Six subjects of the 23 brown LENOX cards are from the 460-only series, and 17 subjects are from the 350/460 series......
Group B




350/460 series subjects confirmed with brown LENOX backs

Bradley (bat)
Burch (fielding)
Cobb (bat off shoulder)
Conroy (bat)
Jordan (bat)
Lajoie (bat)
Lake (no ball)
Leach (cap)
Leifield (bat)
Manning (pitching)
McQuillan (bat)
Overall (yellow sky)
Pfeister (throwing)
F. Smith (Chicago & Boston)
Wagner (bat on right shoulder)
Willetts
Willis (bat)


The timeline of the printing of these Group B subjects with AMERICAN BEAUTY 460, LENOX, PIEDMONT 460 Factory #42, and UZIT back was Jan-Feb 1911. This exact timeline
coincides with the printing of the T80 (Military Men) cards, which were printed with CAIRO MONOPOL, LENOX, OLD MILL, TOLSTOI. and UZIT backs.

T80 cards




So, here is my hypothesis....the printer at American Lithographic inadvertently forgot to switch from the brown ink after press runs of T80 CAIRO MONOPOL cards to black ink
prior to starting a press run of T206 LENOX cards. Furthermore, my guess is he caught his mistake quickly, which would explain why very few brown LENOX examples exist.
Instead of dis-carding these brown LENOX cards, these mistakes were shipped along with the black LENOX cards to Factory #30. And, were inserted into LENOX packs.




Regarding the 6 subjects from the 460-only series with brown LENOX backs......they appear to be from the same group of 9 subjects which were printed with PIEDMONT 460
Factory #42 backs.

460-only series subjects confirmed with brown LENOX backs

Chase (trophy)
Latham
Marquard (pitching)
Merkle (throwing)
Schlei (portrait)
Wiltse (portrait-cap)

I expect these 3 subjects will be found with brown LENOX backs......

Schlei (batting)
Schaefer (Washington)
Seymour (portrait)


Would love to hear from some of you on this forum with your responses to this theory ?


TED Z
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[Jobu]

Very interesting Ted. Cairo Monopol, like Brown Lenox, are also rare as hens' teeth, right? What if the printer filled such a small Cairo Monopol order that he had ink left and decided to print a few Lenox backs with it instead of letting it go to waste? That way we wouldn't have to chalk it up to being a mistake.

[Rhotchkiss]

Ted, I am a bit confused, is the Tinker bat off a confirmed brown lenox or a suspect brown lenox? Thanks

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Ted, I am a bit confused, is the Tinker bat off a confirmed brown lenox or a suspect brown lenox? Thanks

This Tinker has not yet been found with a brown LENOX back.

He is one of the subjects on display my Group B array; therefore, it's possible that this Tinker may eventually be found with a brown LENOX back.


TED Z
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[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Jobu

Very interesting Ted. Cairo Monopol, like Brown Lenox, are also rare as hens' teeth, right? What if the printer filled such a small Cairo Monopol order that he had ink left and decided to print a few Lenox backs with it instead of letting it go to waste? That way we wouldn't have to chalk it up to being a mistake.

Hi Bryan

Yes, the CAIRO MONOPOL T80's are rare. However, there are many more of these T80's than there are T206 brown LENOX cards.

In my opinion, the brown LENOX cards are simply ink-printing mistakes.


TED Z
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[frohme]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Bryan

Yes, the CAIRO MONOPOL T80's are rare. However, there are many more of these T80's than there are T206 brown LENOX cards.

In my opinion, the brown LENOX cards are simply ink-printing mistakes.


TED Z
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I agree, Ted (not that my opinion holds any water) I'd suspect the T207 Brown-ink backs are of similar nature, though clearly not related to the case in this thread...

[Sean]

Originally Posted by tedzan

In my opinion, the brown LENOX cards are simply ink-printing mistakes.



.

I agree with this, but I want to add something. The Brown Lenox is very different from the Brown Old Mill. The OMs are a light brown color. Since Southern Leaguers were all printed with either Piedmont, Hindu, or Old Mill backs, it is easy to imagine a printer forgetting to switch the ink after printing sheets of Hindus. He uses the same light brown ink for the OMs, but quickly realizes his mistake. The sheet of Brown OMs is scrapped, but some printer takes them home , cuts them by hand, and gives them to his kids. Thus all Brown OMs are hand cut and light in color.

The Brown Lenox are different. They are a much darker brown. Remember that Brown Lenox that I brought to the National two years ago? When I showed it to people, many of them thought that it was black until I told them to look closer. What I think happened was a printer somehow used the same brown ink that was used for the player and team caption at the bottom of the cards. It probably only happened on one sheet, based on the small number that have turned up.

I don't think that the error was caught, since the Brown Lenox are factory cut. Or perhaps the mistake was noticed, but they distributed the cards anyway, figuring that no one would notice. In any case, they seem to have been given out in packs like the regular Black Lenox. But I definitely agree that they were produced in error.

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by Sean

The Brown Lenox are different. They are a much darker brown.

Hi Sean

Your observation is right-on.

And, this is exactly the connection I see with the dark brown ink used to print the Cairo Monopol backs.
I have seen enough of these T80 backs to draw the conclusion I arrived at, as stated in my theory.






Sean
How's about posting your brown LENOX back in order to compare it with the Cairo Monopol back.


TED Z
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[Sean]

Here it is Ted, but the image isn't very sharp:


scan0030.jpg

[David R]

Originally Posted by Sean

I agree with this, but I want to add something. The Brown Lenox is very different from the Brown Old Mill. The OMs are a light brown color. Since Southern Leaguers were all printed with either Piedmont, Hindu, or Old Mill backs, it is easy to imagine a printer forgetting to switch the ink after printing sheets of Hindus. He uses the same light brown ink for the OMs, but quickly realizes his mistake. The sheet of Brown OMs is scrapped, but some printer takes them home , cuts them by hand, and gives them to his kids. Thus all Brown OMs are hand cut and light in color.

The Brown Lenox are different. They are a much darker brown. Remember that Brown Lenox that I brought to the National two years ago? When I showed it to people, many of them thought that it was black until I told them to look closer. What I think happened was a printer somehow used the same brown ink that was used for the player and team caption at the bottom of the cards. It probably only happened on one sheet, based on the small number that have turned up.

I don't think that the error was caught, since the Brown Lenox are factory cut. Or perhaps the mistake was noticed, but they distributed the cards anyway, figuring that no one would notice. In any case, they seem to have been given out in packs like the regular Black Lenox. But I definitely agree that they were produced in error.

I was thinking the same thing - that maybe it was just one sheet of brown Lenox t206s that were a printing error. Do we know of the confirmed cards, whether there are two or more confirmed copies of any card?

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by David R

I was thinking the same thing - that maybe it was just one sheet of brown Lenox t206s that were a printing error. Do we know of the confirmed cards, whether there are two or more confirmed copies of any card?

David

As far as I understand, there is only one example of each brown LENOX card.


TED Z
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