AMERICAN LITHOGRAPHIC Co....the T-Card factory

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Greetings....and, Wishing all of you a HAPPY 2009......

And, this year marks the 100th Anniversary of "The Monster" BB card set. To celebrate this event,
while in New York city for the holidays, my wife and I hiked 40 blocks downtown to 19th Street &
Park Avenue South. Situated at the corner of this intersection stands the 114 year old, 13-story,
building of the original AMERICAN LITHOGRAPHIC CO. (ALC)



Within this very building, the genius of Joseph Palmer Knapp (who founded the ALC in 1892), artists,
and lithographers created the majority of BB T-cards that we now cherish (and such other premiums
as Flags, Militarymen, Movie Stars, etc.) that were inserted in tobacco packs from 1900-1916.

We ventured into this building which now consists of professional offices. I asked a senior security
guard if there were any remaining historical sections pertaining to the original ALC facility ?
Unfortunately, he was not aware of any.



Post script......

As we walked outside the building, I searched around for any remnants of T-cards. Believe it or not,
I found a couple of "printer's scraps" by a cornerstone on the ground....it sure was my lucky day





Thanks to Brian Weisner for the ALC entrance photo.


TED Z