T206 production/printing questions/comments

[rebelsart]

I have always believed that the T206 cards were printed on the fronts first. Then the sheets were divided up and printed with the different back brands. I believe the finished cards were then shipped to the corresponding tobacco/cigarette brand factories and inserted into the packs/polar bear pouches/etc.
Just cannot imagine the American Lithograph Co. dealing with anything other than the printing. Pretty sure they were not involved with inserting cards into packs.
Art

[judsonhamlin]

And, adding to what Ted and Art M. have posted, I could never see a tobacco factory dedicating the floor space and storage space for an entire line with workers to the task of printing and cutting the cards in house. It would be much easier to have a couple of workers inserting the individual pre-cut cards, newly arrived from ALC into the packs as they came off the line.

[canjond]

About the sheet of uncut backs... are we sure this isn't being confused with the sheet of uncut Piedmont boxes that was found? I may be wrong but just cant recall the sheet of uncut backs...

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by rebelsart

I have always believed that the T206 cards were printed on the fronts first. Then the sheets were divided up and printed with the different back brands. I believe the finished cards were then shipped to the corresponding tobacco/cigarette brand factories and inserted into the packs/polar bear pouches/etc.
Just cannot imagine the American Lithograph Co. dealing with anything other than the printing. Pretty sure they were not involved with inserting cards into packs.
Art

Frankly, I think they may have shipped sheets to each factory, not cut cards. Just a hunch but the uncut Piedmont box sheet (found in the Carolina's I believe, not NYC) seems to indicate the factories could cut them.

[tedzan]

In a previous post I speculated that ALC printed the boxes, but shipped them in uncut sheet form to the given Factory,
based on the uncut sheet find in North Carolina.

What I do not understand about this recurring discussion is that we have pretty well arrived at certain facts where the
cards were printed, how they got to the various factories, where these factories were located, and what was done at
these factories.

We settled all this several times over back in 2006, again in 2007, then again in 2008, and as recent as 2009. But, here
we go again, mulling it all over for the umpteenth time. You can check it out by using the SEARCH function....this func-
tion is one of the great features on Net54. Simply type in "American Lithographic" or whatever will get you the info that
you are looking for.

Doesn't any one ever access the Net54 search function, anymore ?


TED Z

[Jantz]

Based on visual evidence alone, I believe neither the fronts nor the backs were printed first. Maybe when the print run began in 1909, yes one side or the other was printed first, but as the print run progressed and more tobacco brands were added, I think they were printed according to what was needed.

I believe this because some printing mishaps are back specific and some are not. Here are two examples:

1. The Lundgren recently found by Jamie (Blunder19) appears to be a back specific printing mishap - Piedmont 150 Fac.25. Three board members posted that their cards all had this same back. So in this case, I guess one could say that the backs were printed first. This also applies to other printing mishaps in this set as well.

2. The Murr'y printing mishap on the other hand, appears to be a non-specific back mishap since it is found with 4 different backs - Lenox, Sweet Caporal 460, Piedmont 460 and Tolstoi. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't the Tolstoi brand appear in 1910 and the Lenox brand didn't appear until 1911. I'm going with what I read in "the Monster", but it looks to me that this printing mishap jumped from one print series to the next, which could make one think that the fronts were printed first and the sheets were stored until later needed and then the back advertisements were added.


I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong in whatever they believe about the printing process of this set, I'm just pointing out some of the small discoveries that I've made since collecting these cards.

Jantz

[bijoem]

Originally Posted by Jantz

Based on visual evidence alone, I believe neither the fronts nor the backs were printed first. Maybe when the print run began in 1909, yes one side or the other was printed first, but as the print run progressed and more tobacco brands were added, I think they were printed according to what was needed.

I agree completely.

I have to believe the cards were produced in the least expensive, most efficient way possible. Which would mean different methods depending on what was best that hour, that day, or at the time.

[sreader3]

Hi Robert,

I recommend that you download the most recent edition of Inside T206 from Old Cardboard (it's free), which states that the factory designation on the back of T206 cards identifies the factory from which the cards were distributed, not the factory at which the cards were produced.

I view all writing as an experiment, and I did my best to correct errors in my initial manuscript as they came to my attention.

Scot

[caramelcard]

Gotcha, Thanks Scot. I'll download the more current version.
Thanks for your hard work on the project. It's very helpful.


And thanks Ted for putting up with the repetition. I know you've hashed a lot of this stuff out before.

Rob