T207 Brown Background Set
‘It’s In The Details’
| Title | T207 Brown Background |
| Year | 1912 |
| Size | 1 7/16″ x 2 5/8″ |
| Images | Color |
| Type | Tobacco |
| Number in Set |
200 (207 including error variations) |
T207 Brown Background Overview
While the American Tobacco Company’s (ATC) earlier releases, the T205 set and the T206 set are much more popular with collectors, their final issue is much tougher to find.
The T207 Brown Background set is recognized as one of the more difficult tobacco card issues to assemble. It’s not only somewhat large at 208 cards, but many of the cards are very tough to find in any condition. It is easily much rarer than the T205 or T206 sets.
In all, three of the cards are particularly difficult — those of Ward Miller, Louis Lowdermilk, and Irving Lewis. This trio of unknown players are generally viewed as the toughest ones in the set. That, however, isn’t necessarily true. A deeper dive into the set shows several other cards that could be just as rare — if not rarer.
The set lacks the bright colors from the ATC’s first two sets – the T205 and T206 issues. It also lacks a lot of the big names. While Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and Christy Mathewson, help anchor both of those sets, they’re missing here. Also MIA are greats such as Honus Wagner and Joe Jackson. So are other big names that appeared in both of those other two issues – Hall of Famers like Eddie Collins, Home Run Baker, Mordecai Brown, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Hugh Duffy, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Hughie Jennings, Addie Joss, and Ed Walsh. Here’s a closer look at the missing stars that are not found in the set.
Why all of those players were left out after being included in the first two sets is a mystery. But while there are a lot of big names missing, there were also some players included that were new to the ATC sets, including Max Carey, Buck Weaver, Smoky Joe Wood. In all, there are 13 Hall of Famers in the release. The card of Weaver, in particular, is one of the biggest cards in the set as it’s his major league rookie card.
Additionally, some of the artwork is not as detailed as seen on other sets. Walter Johnson is the biggest name in the set but his card is considered one of the ugliest the set has to offer.
The biggest difference in the set compared to the T205 and T206 sets is arguably the design. While those were colorful, descriptive lithographs of players, this set is much more grim in appearance. It gets its nickname, the Brown Background set, for its chocolate brown backdrops. Some color was used for the imagery but not much. Aside from some color in the skin tones, the images are mostly printed with only brown and black ink. Splotches of color appear in some uniform logos and in uniforms but the cards are mostly dark in appearance.
That, of course, doesn’t appeal to many collectors, who prefer the brighter (and, frankly, better) artwork in the T205 and T206 set. But it is a unique issue and it can even be argued that the contrast is somewhat welcomed since it went against how other card sets of the same era were designed.
Removing the ‘Big Four’ cards from the T206 set, the T207 issue is the most difficult to assemble of the three ATC releases. In addition to the many cards with the tougher Broadleaf/Cycle backs, several tough commons with Recruit backs exist as well. A solid 75 or so cards from the set are just not that easy to find. You will see them for sale, but they are not nearly as plentiful as others in the T205 and T206 sets.
T207 Back Confusion
In addition, the real allure to the set is the number of tough backs. That’s because brands that made only certain cards were very limited. Cards in the set were generally printed with either one of two sets of backs. One set included either Recruit or Napoleon backs while the other included Broadleaf or Cycle backs. The Recruit backs are easily the most common.
Some cards in both sets have anonymous backs with no advertising label and a few have recently been discovered with ultra rare Red Cross backs. But the thing to remember is that aside from the anonymous or Red Cross backs, cards in the two sets of backs (Recruit/Napoleon and Broadleaf/Cycle) don’t mix. For example – you won’t find a card with a Broadleaf back and a Recruit back.
Anonymous backs can be found for players in either of the two aforementioned groups (Recruit/Napoleon and Broadleaf/Cycle) while the Red Cross ones are only known with Broadleaf/Cycle subjects.
The Broadleaf/Cycle cards are much more scarce than the Recruit/Napoleon cards. And the bad news for set collectors is that there are around 50 of the former to find. And several of those, including Irving Lewis, Vic Saier, Ward Miller, and Louis Lowdermilk are very difficult to find. Some money can be saved by purchasing Anonymous backs for those cards as they are generally less expensive. However, finding them with any of the three backs is not an easy task.
Variations
A set can be considered complete at 200 cards. There are seven known and accepted variants but they are not new poses or new cards, really. Some collectors may determine they are needed for a ‘complete’ set, but others will not.
All variations, with the exception of a trio of cards for Paddy Livingston, can be seen as print errors of a sort. Even the Livingston cards do not have new poses – only a difference in the jersey emblem to fix a mistake. One of his cards (almost certainly, his first one) has an ‘A’ for the Philadelphia Athletics, his 1911 team. However, his other cards have a ‘C’ for his correct team in 1912, Cleveland.
Some of the variations appear to have been printed in equal quantities, making one card no more or less valuable than the other. Others, however, are significantly rarer. The highest profile variation is that of Irving Lewis, a little-known player. Both of his cards are rare but the version missing an emblem on his sleeve is much tougher to find and is generally worth five figures.
You can read more about the variations in the set here.
T207 Brown Ink Backs
One rarity of the T207 set not known by all collectors is that some cards are found with brown-ink backs.
The text on standard T207 card backs is printed in black ink or, in the case of only Cycle, with red ink. However, similar to the brown-backed Broadleaf cards in the T206 set, some T207s can be found with printing in brown ink.
These cards are extremely rare. Collectors looking to purchase one should be wary that the back is simply not a faded black-ink card that looks brown. True brown ink backs are easy to distinguish between black ones when placed next to each other.
Harry Davis Variation
In addition to the 200 cards in the set, there are some variations for master set collectors. Currently, there are six unquestioned variations, as identified in the checklist at the bottom of this page. However, a few questionable ones exist.
Harry Davis, for example, is sometimes identified as having three variations for the lettering on his cap. Proponents of this variation state that he has cards with the ‘C’ on his cap in blue, brown, and white.
For what it’s worth, PSA has recognized these versions and has labeled its flips accordingly, noting the variation. However, to most collectors, the variation appears to be more of a case of certain ink colors running out or fading than a true variation. The Ray Fisher card, for example, has a very clear variation with him featured in a white cap and also a blue cap. Both colors are distinctive and easy to see the difference. The Davis variation, meanwhile, has only modest differences.
For that reason, I have not recognized this variation in the checklist below.
T207 Carrigan/Wagner Error Nonsense
Collectors should note that while there are 208 cards recognized in most master set checklists, that isn’t really accurate. Carrigan is known with both a correct back with his bio and also with an incorrect back featuring the bio of Heinie Wagner. Similarly, Wagner’s card is known with both a correct back and a Carrigan back.
However, other cards in the set have been found with incorrect backs, too. Despite that, only the Carrigan/Wagner back errors have been recognized in most checklists.
The Carrigan/Wagner cards have long since been listed in checklists but it is more of an anomaly than an actual variation because others can be found with different backs. Thus, the total master set checklist should sit at 206 cards and that is what I’ve listed here.
Jack Barry Horizontal Pose
The set includes 200 cards (minus errors/variations) and all are vertical pictures save for one. Jack Barry’s card is a unique horizontal pose that is different and stands out a little bit.
In the picture, Barry is seen making a play on a ball as part of the Athletics’ legendary $100,000 infield, along with Stuffy McInnis, Home Run Baker, and Eddie Collins. Baker and Collins were both Hall of Famers but not found in this set.
Here’s more on this unique card.
T207 Brown Background Checklist
Below is the full checklist of the 200 cards with variations noted. With all of the error variations, there are a total of 207 cards.
The tougher Broadleaf/Cycle cards are denoted below in italics/bold.
- Jack Adams
- Eddie Ainsworth
- Rafael Almeida
- Jimmy Austin (no ‘StL on shirt)
- Neal Ball
- Cy Barger
- Jack Barry
- Paddy Bauman
- Beals Becker
- Chief Bender
- Joe Benz
- Bob Bescher
- Joe Birmingham
- Lena Blackburne
- Fred Blanding
- Bruno Block
- Ping Bodie
- Hugh Bradley
- Roger Bresnahan
- Jack Bushelman
- Hank Butcher
- Bobby Byrne
- Nixey Callahan
- Howie Camnitz
- Max Carey
- Bill Carrigan
- Geoge Chalmers
- Frank Chance
- Eddie Cicotte
- Tommy Clarke (no emblem on sleeve)
- King Cole
- John Collins
- Bob Coulson
- Tex Covington
- Doc Crandall
- Bill Cunningham
- Dave Danforth
- Bert Daniels
- Jake Daubert
- Harry Davis
- Jim Delehanty
- Claude Derrick
- Art Devlin
- Josh Devore
- Mike Donlin
- Ed Donnelly
- Red Dooin
- Tom Downey
- Larry Doyle
- Dellos Drake
- Ted Easterley
- Rube Ellis
- Clyde Engle
- Tex Irwin
- Steve Evans
- Jack Ferry
- Ray Fisher (white cap)
- Art Fletcher
- Jack Fournier
- Art Fromme
- Del Gainor
- Larry Gardner
- Lefty George
- Roy Golden
- Hank Gowdy
- Peaches Graham
- Jack Graney
- Vean Gregg
- Casey Hageman
- Sea Lion Hall
- Ed Hallinan
- Earl Hamilton
- Bob Harmon
- Grover Hartley
- Olaf Henriksen
- John Henry
- Buck Herzog
- Bob Higgins
- Red Hoff
- Willie Hogan
- Harry Hooper
- Ben Houser
- Ham Hyatt
- Walter Johnson
- George Kaler
- Billy Kelly
- Jay Kirke
- Johnny Kling
- Otto Knabe
- Elmer Knetzer
- Ed Konetchy
- Harry Krause
- Walt Kuhn
- Joe Kutina
- Frank Lange
- Jack Lapp
- Arlie Latham
- Tommy Leach
- Lefty Leifield
- Ed Lennox
- Duffy Lewis
- Irving Lewis (no patch emblem on sleeve)
- Jack Lively
- Paddy Livingston (‘c’ on shirt)
- Bris Lord
- Harry Lord
- Louis Lowdermilk
- Rube Marquard
- Armando Marsans
- George McBride
- Alex McCarthy
- Ed McDonald
- John McGraw
- Harry McIntyre
- Matty McIntyre
- Bill McKechnie
- Larry McLean
- Clyde Milan
- Dots Miller
- Otto Miller
- Roy Miller
- Ward Miller
- Mike Mitchell
- Mike Mitchell (actually Willie)
- George Mogridge
- Earl Moore
- Pat Moran
- Cy Morgan
- Ray Morgan
- George Moriarty
- George Mullin (‘D’ on cap)
- Tom Needham
- Red Nelson
- Hub Northern
- Les Nunamaker
- Rebel Oakes
- Buck O’Brien
- Rube Oldring
- Ivy Olson
- Marty O’Toole
- Dode Paskert
- Barney Pelty
- Hub Perdue
- Rube Peters
- Art Phelan
- Jack Quinn
- Pat Ragan
- Arthur Rasmussen
- Morrie Rath
- Ed Reulbach
- Nap Rucker
- Bud Ryan
- Vic Saier
- Bill Scanlon
- German Schaefer
- Bill Schardt
- Frank Schulte
- Jim Scott
- Hank Severeid
- Mike Simon
- Frank Smith
- Wally Smith
- Fred Snodgrass
- Tris Speaker
- Harry Spratt
- Eddie Stack
- Oscar Stanage
- Bill Steele
- Harry Steinfeldt
- George Stovall
- Gabby Street
- Amos Strunk
- Billy Sullivan
- Bill Sweeney
- Lee Tannehill
- Claude Thomas
- Joe Tinker
- Bert Tooley
- Terry Turner
- Lefty Tyler
- Hippo Vaughn
- Heinie Wagner
- Tilly Walker
- Bobby Wallace
- Jack Warhop
- Buck Weaver
- Zack Wheat
- Doc White
- Dewey Wilie
- Bob Williams
- Art Wilson
- Owen Wilson
- Hooks Wiltse
- Ivy Wingo
- Harry Wolverton
- Smoky Joe Wood
- Gene Woodburn
- Ralph Works
- Steve Yerkes
- Rollie Zeider
Error/Variation Additions for Master Set
201. Jimmy Austin (with ‘StL’ on shirt)
202. Tom Clarke (with ‘C’ emblem on sleeve)
203. Ray Fisher (with dark cap)
204. Irving Lewis (with patch)
205. Paddy Livingston (“A” on shirt)
206. Paddy Livingston (Large “C” on shirt)
207. George Mullin (no “D” on cap)
Follow Pre-War Cards on Twitter and also be sure to like our page on Facebook.