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ERRORS & CURIOSITIES

Nobody's perfect, stuff happens, processes and procedures break down, especially when mass production is involved. The Arbuckle trade cards are certainly no exception.

Besides the normal, intentional variations, such as the two different text colors which can be found on the backs of the Cooking series and the two different styles on the backs of the Satire series, etc., there are varieties that were probably unintentional but nevertheless the result of actual design events, such as the copyright text variations found on many Sports & Pastimes cards, or the incorrect population on the West Viginia cards in the State Maps series.

Then there are the true errors, the "freaks and oddities" if you will, that resulted from some breakdown in the printing process, either mechanical or human. Regardless of the product or the medium, mistakes happen, and part of the fun of collecting, whether it be stamps, coins, trade cards, or whatever, is occasionally running across those mistakes that sneaked by whatever "quality control" measures might've been in place to prevent those slip-ups from ever seeing the light of day.

In the course of my own collecting, I've occasionally run across, or been told about, examples of such printing errors on a number of Arbuckle cards. I intend to use this section of the site to provide a consolidated listing of all those printing errors of which I'm currently aware, for those collectors who might also have an interest in keeping an eye out for such things.

Also to be found here are descriptions for a few other interesting Arbuckle cards and card-related curiosities that, while not exactly errors, were likely items that were never intended for public distribution, such as printer's proofs and the like.

The following table provides links to additional pages which detail the specific errors and/or curiosities of which I'm currently aware in each series. Additional submissions from my fellow collectors are, of course, always welcome.

Series General Decription of Unusual Items
Cooking Unprinted backs, possible poster scrap or printer's proofs.
Miscellany - Numbered Misnumbered card.
National Geographical Missing text, misnumbered card, unprinted back.
Satire - Part 1 Misnumbered cards.
Sports & Pastimes Mismatched front/back.
State Maps Several misnumbered cards, poster scrap "cards", one possible printer's proof, and a card with an unprinted back.
Zoological A misnumbered card, several possible printer's proofs, and a Natural History Album printer's proof.