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Originally Posted by rootsearcher60
I found this ad showing that the B18s were advertised to be used for display, and to make pillow cases. They were referred to as blankets. What I find interesting is that they were given away with Sovereign Cigarettes. This ad is from the Virginia-Pilot and the Norfolk (VA) Landmark, 14 July, 1914. Michael
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Great find! I, too, never bought into the ink blotter theory, thinking why would you make such beautiful things just to wipe your ink off with? But with the picture of the Sovereign packs they came, now I'm wondering about the long-held theory that the staining typically found on them came from being wrapped around chewing tobacco? One would assume they would have been packed outside the wrapping between the box and the cigarettes, according to the picture, and therefore not exposed to any of the tobacco. They were definitely folded in quarters whatever the packing method. As for display, I don't know if anyone connected with the project had this in mind at the time, and it could be just the nine Washington B-18s that lend themselves to it so perfectly, but when I got my collection of the eight beautiful commons in a David Festberg auction several decades ago and laid them out with my mint Wajo, this arrangement, with every player on this special team in D.C. baseball history in their proper position, flashed into my brain almost immediately.