Posted By:
Brian Weisner
Hi Bowlingshoegiverouter,
Best guess:
The brands:
1. Piedmont Standard (10 for 5)
2. Sweet Cap Standard (10 for 5)
3. American Beauty Bargain (20 for 5)
4. Drum Bargain (20 for 5)
5. Sovereign Standard (10 for 5)
NorthEast: Sweet Cap, Sovereign, Piedmont,Cycle, EPDG, American Beauty, AND anything with a Turkish blend was popular with the immigrants in the large cities.
Southeast: Piedmont, Sweet Cap, Old Mill, Hindu, Sovereign, Polarbear, Carolina Brights, American Beauty, Cycle,EPDG.
Midwest: Piedmont, Sweet Cap, Sovereign, Polarbear, Cycle.
West: Polarbear, SweetCap
150 Series: Major cities in the East with Major League teams, Boston, Philly, and New York (Where most of the Honus Wagners have been found). Also in the major southeastern cities of Raleigh, Atlanta, and Richmond.
350 Series: Southeast(Southern Leaguers) Midwest, Northeast, West. Widest distribution.
460 Series: Northeast, Southeast, Major east coast cities.
Most major "finds" have occured in the major east coast cities or the southeastern cities where half of the cigarettes were produced. I've seen 5-6 good size(300 cards+) finds in the South over the last 25 years and most of the cards had Piedmont, Sweet Cap or Old Mill backs. I didn't even know that 16 different backs existed until I bought a copy of the Monster in 1982. Up until that time I had only seen: Piedmont, Sweet Cap,Old Mill, Carolina Brights, Tolstoi, American Beauty, Polar Bear, SOvereign, Cycle, EPDG, AND Hindu. So I don't think Lenox, Drum, Broadleaf, and Uzit were sold in the South. I believe they were probably sold in the Northeast. Keep in mind that most of the population in 1909 was still east of the Miss river, so you wouldn't find alot of cards in the west. Plus most westerners probably rolled there own.
Sorry for the poor organization of this post,I'm fighting the Flu and my memory is a little fuzzy.
Be well Brian