Another T206 Ghost Print Mystery Solved

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Posted By: J Hull

Last spring I bought this T206 scrap card, and since then I’ve been trying like heck to figure out who the ghost image was and what set it was related to.




Well, happily I can report that the mystery’s been solved. The ghost portrait on the reverse of the Ford T206 comes from the T68 Heroes of History set of 50. The image is of The Irish Patriot Robert Emmett. And the epaulet-like ghost image from the card above it is from the card for General George Custer.




A few months back there was a thread here inviting folks to show off their ghost prints, and another collector posted a T206 scrap ghost that was similar to mine. I saved the scan and have been able to match it to the T68 card for Inspector Byrnes.




I thought it was pretty cool to finally figure it out. Haven't seen too many T206s with non-T206 printing on them.

BTW, the T68 set was distributed in 1911 by the American Tobacco Company in the Miners Extra Smoking Tobacco, Natural Leaf Scrap, Pan Handle Scrap, and Royal Bengal Little Cigars brands.

It's hard for me to imagine a more conclusive piece of evidence for proving that the cards inserted in cigarette packs by the ATC were printed in one location (by the American Litho Company) and not printed at the factories where the cigarettes were manufactured/packaged. No T68s list Factory 30 of NY on their back, which is where the Tolstoi cards came from. T68s list Factory 5 of Maryland, Factory 6 of Ohio, and Factories 2, 10, and 17 of NJ.

Jamie