That was intentional. Until the early 80's, Reynolds decals were multi-layer transfers delivered between a heavy paper facing and an onionskin back. You got only one chance to apply the decal; try to re-position it after it touched the frame, and it would tear. This made it virtually impossible for a decal to be lifted from a frame and placed on a non-Reynolds frame to bolster its value.



By the early 80s Reynolds' cachet had faded some, and the modern decals were much less fussy.