BATCINEMA ARTISTES OR STARS (B&W) SET 1

Issuing Company: British-American Tobacco Co. Country of Issue: England, Switzerland Year of Issue: 1932 Color/B&W: B&W Number of Cards in Set: 50 Card Size: 1 3/8" x 2 5/8" Issued as insert with what product: Cigarettes

Notes: These cards can be found with 3 different back designs as follows:

A. Anonymous - title "Cinema Artistes," no tobacco firm named on the back.
B. Albert - Back design similar to the Anonymous version, but with "Artistes de Cinema" title and an Albert ad at the bottom.
C. Westminster - Untitled and unnumbered. Emblem Turkish Cigarettes ad on back, with Westminster Tobacco Co. ad also.

Date Notes: Frequent contributor Laura McCullough notes that card #50 in this set shows Greta Garbo in a photo from the film "Mata Hari," which was released in late 1931. Spanky first started making films in 1932. I previously had this set dated as 1928, but it is clear that it could not have been issued earlier than 1932. It was probably issued in 1932 or 1933, and I will place a date of 1932 on it.

These cards were issued by the British-American Tobacco Co. (BAT). The cards issued by BAT with generic backs such as "packed with these cigarettes" instead of listing a cigarette brand originated in England but were often sold in foreign markets. I acquired some of these cards in a collection of cards from Switzerland, so it is very likely this set was issued in Switzerland.

1. John Gilbert
2. Clark Gable
3. Jean Hersholt
4. Dorothy Jordan
5. Buster Keaton
6. Stan Laurel - Oliver Hardy
7. Leslie Howard
8. Myrna Loy
9. Wallace Ford
10. Aubrey Smith
11. Joan Crawford
12. Wallace Beery
13. William Haines
14. Leila Hyams
15. Spanky
16. Marie Dressler
17. Madge Evans
18. Jacquie Lyn
19. Joan Marsh
20. Lupe Velez
21. Jean Harlow
22. Greta Garbo
23. Jimmy Durante
24. Charles Chase
25. Jackie Cooper
26. Nils Asther
27. Lionel Barrymore
28. Robert Montgomery
29. Robert Young
30. Johnny Weissmuller
31. Karen Morley
32. Hedda Hopper
33. Norma Shearer
34. Virginia Bruce
35. Marion Davies
36. Stymie
37. Lewis Stone
38. Conrad Nagel
39. Thelma Todd
40. Ruth Selwyn
41. Anita Page
42. Diane Sinclair
43. Colleen Moore
44. Ramon Novarro
45. Neil Hamilton
46. Walter Huston
47. Una Merkel
48. Polly Moran
49. Norma Shearer
50. Greta Garbo

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