Tobacco Card Question

mudflap02

I've been wondering this for a while. Where do they get numbers before a Tobacco card set, ie T-206, T-205 (which came later than the T-206 - this makes no sense to me), N172 Old Judge, T3 Turkey red? Anybody know?

grilloj39

The tobacco companies did not number (i.e. N28, etc) the cards they issued, nor did they number the card backs. The numbers were cataloged long after the cards were issued...a person by the name of Jefferson Burdick (considered to be the "father of card collecting") is mostly responsible for cataloging and tracking all the vintage tobacco cards.

I hope this helps: (Jefferson's classification method for tobacco cards).

"B" was used for Blankets and cloth-like cards
"D" designations were used for Bakery sets.
"E" deals with Early gums and candy cards; "E" cards fall primarily into two time periods: 1909 - 1915 and 1920 - 1927.
"H" was used in cards made for clothing manufacturers
"M" are for cards from magazines and newspapers
"N" stands for Nineteenth Century Cards
"P" reflects pins
"PC" designates post-cards
"R" was used for cards in 1930's and 1940's
"S" represents stamps and silks
"T" stands for 20th Century Tobacco Cards; a one digit number, such as T3 would indicate an oversized card. The tobacco card era spanned from 1909 to 1915. An additional set from 1919 and the 1950s Redman tobacco cards are also included.
"V" was the Canadian Version of the American "E" card
"W" was the miscellaneous section; whatever didn't fit above, it went here. These would include anonymous issues, cards from games, strip cards, and exhibits.

CandyFactory

Thanks for this info- I have often wondered this myself!

MorrellMan

Grillo's got it - with the addition that non-sports card sets through the 1950's carry the "R" designation. Burdick classified cards to 1960, which is around the time he died, I think. Great link to learn about Burdick and his fascinating collection.

Fuzz

I believe the number part of the set is based strictly on the order in which he cataloged them.
I believe that both non-sport and sports sets are mixed numerically as he made no distinction on subject matter.
Fuzz

pebblyjack

Just a couple notes. The "R" designation extended to all cards distributed with gum. Thus, Topps cards up through 1993 or whenever they stopped including gum with the cards are, technically, "R" cards. Originally, "N" cards designated cards originating from Latin America or Central America. Nineteenth Century cards carried no special designation. However, and I don't know whether it was through popular usage or what, but in any event, "N" later came to be associated with Nineteenth Century cards.

Thanks

Randy

Griffins

And F was used to designate food issues, and any card that came after Burdicks death in '63 was designated as -unc, for uncataloged. For example, '16 Tango Eggs that weren't discovered until the early 90's are called F-unc Tango Eggs.
There was an attempt in the 70's to redo these designations, but it didn't stick. It is interesting how some sets are always referred to by their ACC names, while others aren't. A&G's are always N28's, but T204's seem to be Ramly's.

murcerfan

I too always thought the Tango was F-unc-y

Thegradinator

where did they get the c from for the c55 56 and 57 sets? Was that basically C for Candian Tobacco issue?

calleocho

Morrelman

thanks for the link, that was a very interesting read!

joker73

I'd highly recommend the Forbes & Mitchell book as a solid source of tobacco-era card information, particularly for non-sports or partial-sports issues (they cover everything but pure sports releases like T206 etc). The introduction explains the prefix/numbering system, and then goes set by set through 19th and 20th century issues, usually providing checklists and nice scans of fronts and backs (where appropriate).

I bought it simply as a reference for my T68 set, but after reading it cover-to-cover three times now, I have about a dozen more sets earmarked as new future projects .

Robert

goodriddance189

<< <i>where did they get the c from for the c55 56 and 57 sets? Was that basically C for Candian Tobacco issue? >>



correct.