Card of the Day - 2022-12-30

American Tobacco Company "Sights & Scenes of the World"
American Tobacco Co. `Group Issues` [tobacco : O/S ; U.S.A.] "Sights & Scenes of the World" (1911) Un/50 - A565-142 : A54-70 : ABC/T99 : USA/T99

This card is the Constantine Arch, and St Sylvester reputedly cured Constantine the Great of leprosy, an act which also appears in a stained glass window at Chartres Cathedral. It is written that because of this Constantine gave Rome to the Pope, but there seems to be no authenticated proof of this, just a few later writings which claim it to be so, but were not always seen as the complete truth even then.

This set is quite a pertinent one for this week as it includes cards of Pompeii, which was in Campania, one of the possible home towns of St. Sylvester, and St Peter`s Cathedral in Rome which was "built upon the site of a Church erected in the time of Constantine"

The cards measure 85 x 60 m/m and are un-numbered but a checklist, in alphabetical order, is at the TradingCardDatabase/Sights&Scenes  The date is variously recorded as 1910-1912 but based on the text on the reverse, especially of Pennsylvania Terminal "opened Nov 26 1910" I would doubt 1910 unless it was a very quick printing.  The TCDB says 1911, which seems better. 

There are three possible back printings. and perhaps that is the real reason for the date confusion. These are

  • A) Pan Handle - actually Pan Handle Scrap, and described by them saying "We honestly believe we have produced in Pan Handle Scrap the finest chew that has ever been offered". Scrap sounds a bit ominous for something to put in your mouth, but it was simply just a name for loose leaf tobacco.

  • B) Pan Handle and Royal Bengals - using the text from above and going on to tell us that Royal Bengals were "Little Cigars 10 for 15 c."

  • C) Royal Bengals - a different text saying "Their quality, Convenience, Size and Price Satisfy Cigar Smokers."

 

The mention of `Group Issues` means that at this time The American Tobacco Company was part of a group of manufacturers, namely American Cigar Co of Key West Florida - S. Anargyros of New York - Butler & Butler Inc of Richmond Virginia - Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co of St. Louis Missouri - P. Lorillard Co of Greensboro North Carolina - and - P. H. Mayo of Richmond Virginia, who was actually the first cigarette maker in Richmond.