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The first ever cigarette card set devoted purely to movie stars, that I’ve found so far, is Cinematograph Actors, issued by Major Drapkin in 1913. I’ll be reviewing my collection of cards from that particular set in a future review.
This set, issued about 1916 by The Girl’s Friend periodical, doesn’t have a series title printed on the backs. Fortunately, it has been retrospectively named as Actresses in trading card literature.
As well as featuring actresses known more for their stage appearances, such as Calarice Maye, Daisy Dormer and Gladys Cooper, the very general title given to this set disguises the fact that it features several pioneering movie stars. One card is devoted to one of the first international movie stars, Mary Pickford. The description on the back of the Pickford card reveals that her latest film is “The Eternal Grind”, which, according to Wikipedia, came out in 1916, revealing the age of this card set. Mabel Normand also appears in this set and was a successful silent film comedienne and one of the film industry’s first female screenwriters, producers and directors. She also played an important part in launching Charlie Chaplin’s career.
This set also features Alma Taylor, who was a major British film star from the 1910s and 1920s and appeared in over 150 films. Despite her prolific film career there seems to be less about her online than her American contemporaries. Prior to WW1, Europe played a significant part in the movie industry but was over taken by the US during the war years.
Whilst the Europeans were consumed with killing each other in a mindless war, the US conquered the movie industry. As Winston Churchill once said, History is written by the victors. The USA wouldn’t just write history, it would broadcast it to the world and still does through the ultimate broadcasting medium, the internet.
Perhaps the European Union is a good thing after all. It’s better than all the thousands of European wars we had before it. I guess the choice is either greed and war or peace and compromise.
The card illustrations in this set were printed on material, often termed Silks in cigarette card circles, and backed with paper. The text on the backs of these material cards encourages the collectors to incorporate them into tea cosies, cushions, chair backs and other needlework projects. Well, these were the days before television, although that was soon about to change.
The Girls Friend (Periodical) , Actresses, circa 1916 (6 cards)
Includes:Clarice Mayne, Daisy Dormer, Mabel Normand, Gladys Cooper, Mary Pickford, Alma Taylor
If you would like to find out more about the actresses early movie stars featured in this blog please click here.
Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you found it interesting!
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