Tobacco Card Stories

[John V]

Would love to hear some stories about actually finding a baseball tobacco card in an unopened cig pack. What was found, condition, scans, etc.

[tedzan]

A long time friend of mine, who lives in the Smoky Mountain region of North Carolina, while in College at Davidson (NC)
in 1959, found an unopened Piedmont pack in a small Antique shop.

He pulled a Mathewson (dark cap) from it....lucky guy.

He put the pack and the card in the glove compartment of his Ford truck and forgot about it. Traded in the truck that
year, and left the card and Piedmont pack in it. He regretted this for many years, so when he returned to BB card col-
lecting in 1973, one of the first cards he acquired was a T206 Matty.

He is one of the many "unknown" veteran hobbyists that have huge BB card collections (all ungraded), that prefer to
remain anonymous.


TED Z

[John V]

Nowadays a card would probably be wrapped in cellophane, like a cereal or crackerjack prize. What about tobacco cards, were they tucked in the pack right up against the cigarettes?

[tedzan]

In the late 19th Century, cardboard premiums (BB cards, etc.) were originally inserted into cigarette packs as "stiffeners".
The "slide and shell" cigarette pack contains 10 cigarettes in the "shell" and the card was inserted between the shell and the
inside wall of the pack. Many early 20th Century packs contained 2 cards. In the Spring of 1911, TOLSTOI (or LENOX, UZIT)
packs contained a T206 and a T80 (Military Series) cards.

Perhaps this picture helps to illustrate what I'm saying......





TED Z

[canjond]

This is an Obak pack in my collection with its original card.

[canjond]

John - to answer some of your questions, most cards were tucked against the cigarettes however not all where - it really was dependant upon the brand.

In terms of other stories, one of the more famous stories was the man who pulled an Old Judge card from an unopened pack of Old Judge cigarettes at the east cost national (I think) a few years back. SGC graded the card on the spot as a 98. I believe someone has a scan of the card and the flip makes mention to it being pulled from the pack.

[pow323]

I think I am going to invent a time machine and go back in time and collect all the packs I can get my hands on! Anyone want to go with me?