The two different size seal material was received at Fram in 1969 in 1000 foot rolls from the original vendor in Virginia.
Initally they were all cut by hand and glued with 3M glue and installed.
Going from memory what a Fram employee told me in 82 when I was there was that in the beginning they knew the learning process would result in a lot of sloppy joints thereby the idea of using the tape was to cover a poor joint or one that was coming apart.
The tape use is shown on the adapter/base blueprint.
As time went on and the process became more refined, the use of the tape was discarded.
All the NOS seals I have ever received in boxes had no tape and the joint was near perfect, but then again that is NOS and not assembly line. As for the A12's, I dont know whether they received tape or not.
As the hood pushed them down, most came apart a bit at the seam which should have constituted use of tape but of all the A12's I have seen, few if any had the tape on the seal.

Scott...that 71 Hemicuda is great a reference, obviously never touched.
My 71 Hemicuda Dec 22 SPD 30,000 mile purchased from original owner had no tape and no washer so there is not a lot of rhyme or reason for some of these procedures.
I plan on talking to or going to see my retired friend from Fram in October, will see if I can jog his memory on some of these things.