Background & Research

About T222 Fatima

Notable Base-Ball Subjects is a modern homage to the 1914 T222 Fatima cigarette card series — not a reprint, not a claim of missing originals.

The T222 Fatima Cards

The T222 series was a set of photographic trading cards issued around 1913–1914 by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company, included with packages of Fatima Turkish Blend cigarettes. The cards featured large, high-quality photographs of baseball players, and are considered among the finest photographic issues of the tobacco-card era.

T222 cards are larger than the standard tobacco card (approximately 2⅝ × 4⅛ inches) and are known for their sharp portrait photography and clean layout. The set is well-regarded by collectors and researchers of the pre-war era.

The Grouping Research

Research into the T222 Fatima checklist suggests the original issue was organized in four-card groups, numbered through at least No. 15. Each group appears to have been released together, possibly corresponding to a specific distribution or print run.

This project began with that research and extends the grouping logic forward: Notable Base-Ball Subjects begins at No. 16, continuing the four-card structure with three new groups focused on Cleveland.

Important Note The cards in this set are newly printed modern homage cards. They are not original T222 Fatima cards, not reproductions of specific originals, and not a claim that the subjects below were originally part of the T222 series. The T222 grouping structure is the inspiration, not the source.

Further Reading

A longer article on the T222 Fatima grouping research is in preparation and may be linked here or published through SABR Baseball Cards. If you have research to contribute or corrections to offer, see the Contribute page.

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