Attention S74 Silk Collectors

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Vintagecatcher

Noticed some "Premium Envelopes" recently on eBay. Although none of the envelopes were stamped "Baseball Series," there was one that had an Actress Series Stamp.

S74 collector's have always speculated on how the S74 silks were packaged and how they reached the consumer. Were they packaged with the product or not?

Perhaps this envelope sheds some light on the topic.

If the silks were sent via these "Premium Envelopes" rather than with the product, that would make a lot of sense, and could explain why many silks still can be found in a prestine state.

Another question that longtime collector's have inquired about is why do many of the silks have a fold up the middle. I noticed that all of the "Premium Envelopes" listed on eBay, have a fold up the middle of the envelopes!

Any thoughts?

Patrick

Thanks for posting. I saw those on ebay at the time and was curious about them, although not $99 apiece curious. The subject of how our collectibles were made available is always worthy of further exploration, IMO.

In addition to the envelope you posted, there was one that carried a stamped notation for state maps/flags. This was not folded in the middle but rather more toward one end, which makes me wonder if these were received by the retailer in folded form at all, or instead were folded by him after the fact. Maybe the fold line was dictated by the size of the packaging that contained the envelope.

All of the envelopes offered by that ebay seller pertained to Pay Car Scrap tobacco, which was packaged differently than the cigarette brands and of course contained a different product. I believe that Pay Car was around for many years, but a quick newspaper search showed no ads before 1912. I will defer to the tobacciana collectors for more accurate info. I see that Liggett & Myers, although part of the American Tobacco Company umbrella, does not identify with the ATC on the envelope, which may give insight as to when this offer first began.

The non-sports guys/gals may have more insight on the contents of this envelope. As we know, there were multiple subjects for these silks or satins over that second decade of the 1900's, and also many non-silk premiums obtained by redeeming coupons. As I understand the info on this envelope, the retailer received an envelope containing five “satins”, which he doled out to customers who presented two "half coupons". This would make it a point of sale collectible, as opposed to a package insert or redemption through mail. I have wondered whether certain baseball collectibles such as the p2 pins or px7 disks were made available in similar fashion. As for the S74 silks, I am unaware of any coupons from those brands that have surfaced for the “satins”, although they do exist for the oversized cabinet cards. It would seem, to date anyway, that those were made available only as pack insertions.