Jon Canfield's Baseball Related Cigarette and Tobacco Packs

Issued in two subsets between 1910 and 1913, the T215’s can be found with either a Red Cross Tobacco or a Pirate Cigarettes advertisement. The main difference between the Type I and the Type II cards is the color of the front lettering. Type I’s have brown lettering similar to that of T206s. Type II’s have blue letter similar to that of T213-IIs.

It is believed that Pirate Cigarettes-backed T215’s were issued by the British-American Tobacco Co. Ltd, of Bristol & London England for distribution to U.S. servicemen stationed in the Far East, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The Red Cross backed cards were packaged in paper pouches of Red Cross Tobacco. Pirate backed cards, on the other hand, were distributed in 10-count paper packs of Pirate Cigarettes. Both Red Cross Tobacco packs and Pirate Cigarette packs are extremely difficult to locate. However, the nod on rarity most definitely goes to Red Cross tobacco packs. Also, as a word of caution, Pirate Cigarettes were extremely popular in Europe and were produced there until at least the 1950’s. There are many Pirate cigarette slide & shell boxes floating around. While some date to the late ‘teens and early 1920’s, many date to the 1940’s and 1950’s.

Approximate value of a Red Cross Tobacco package - $350.00.
Approximate value of a Pirate Cigarettes paper pack - $275.00.

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