[edhans]

Ted,
While I substantially agree with your lists of e90-1s toughest subjects, we simply can't think of the distribution as "series 1, 2, and 3". It's vastly more complicated than that. A simple comparison of the toughest card on your list (pick any one from the first list) and the easiest (Hall?, B. Brown?) must lead to the conclusion that they were not part of the "last series". There's simply too much disparity in the difficulty of Mitchell or Shean vs Brown or Hall to think they were printed on the same sheet in the same quantities. I see E90-1 as at least six distinct printings, with subjects added, deleted and changed as the process went along. One could even make the argument that there was a regional distribution, as most (not all) of the Philadelphia and St. Louis subjects are rather common and most of those from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Boston tend to be much scarcer. There seems to be a relationship between American Caramel's other issues (E91, E90-2 and E90-3) and, as you have previously observed, tobacco issues like T204 and T206. I have even wondered if E90-1s distribution might follow a similar pattern to E95/96. It's a most fascinating set that certainly merits further study.