A couple of days ago Robert S. Butler posted that he had set 1202, which he assumed was a c. 1925 set due to its contents and he described it as having a paper set number label that just had the Set No, with no set name. I corrected him on that post, in that his set appeared to be mis-matched due to the paper set number labels being used only in 1927 and that the contents of his set appeared to pre-date 1927. By the way, I happen to have a set 1202 that features rubber-stamped lettering, which would date to 1925 or 1926.
Here is why I believe that the "Set No'" paper labels date to 1927 only.
First of all, the sets prior to 1927 were numbered simply with rubber stampings.
This box is for set 1101, which I can date to early 1925 due to the paperwork that came with the set and of course the unusual color of the engine.
The brown 1095 engines are very late engines and set 1101 last appeared in the 1924 catalog, as it is set 1102 in the 1925 catalog, which was produced late in the year.
Next up is set 1302 (lettering somewhat faint), from 1926.
Set 1302 is comprised of a black 3014 engine and Illini cars and dates to 1926 only.
Prior to 1926, the Illini cars always came with the 3020 engine and were part of set 1305 or 1307. In 1927, the Illini cars came as part of set 1306, which this set number was used in 1927 on the Jeffersonian set and then not used again until 1931 on the Bearcat set (comprised of a red 3110 with 3141 & 3142 cars), which had different box labeling.
Additionally, the paper "Set No." labels also appear on a number of other 1927 only sets, such as The Bluebird (1927 version as 1928 and beyond bluebird sets featured different numbers) and Set 1X (The Wolverine of 1927 only, as earlier and later Wolverine sets were simply labeled Set 1).
Here are some of the 1927 sets with paper set number labels.
Bluebird set
Set 1X (The Woverine)
Boxes for Oriental Limited (set 1820) and Broadway Limited (set 1217)
Guess I did not photograph the box for set 1306, but there is one in the box room.
Hope this helps.
