Country of Issue: USA
Year of Issue: 1939
Color/B&W: B&W
Number of Cards in Set: 120?
Card Size: 5" x 7"
Issued as insert with what product: Bubble Gum
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Issuing Company: Gum, Inc. Country of Issue: USA Year of Issue: 1939 Color/B&W: B&W Number of Cards in Set: 120? Card Size: 5" x 7" Issued as insert with what product: Bubble Gum |
Notes: Checklist probably not complete. Mostly unnumbered. The American Card Catalog number for this set is R96.
These cards are usually seen with a line at the bottom saying "Aquatoned in U.S.A." There is another version of these cards with the "Aquatoned in USA" line omitted. There is a third version of these cards that contain a number as part of the caption. Only 25 of these cards have a version that shows a number, though there are variations among the numbered-version cards. There is also a Canadian version of these cards with "Lithographed in Canada" on the cards instead of "Aquatoned in U.S.A." The Canadian versions have different movies mentioned on the cards in many cases. The Canadian version of these cards were probably issued after the USA version. (The Canadian set is shown on the Moviecard Website under O-Pee-Chee Film Stars.)
The cards without the "Aquatoned in U.S.A." line that I have seen all show captions matching the American versions of these cards. Therefore, it would seem that these were issued in the USA. However, Bobby from Canada has a group of these cards that were all together in Canada with mixed cards saying "Lithographed in Canada" and others with no Aquatoned/Lithographed line. His cards without the Aquatoned/Lithgraphed line all contain captions matching the American versions of these cards, even though they were found in Canada. It looks to me like that particular version of these cards were issued in both the USA and Canada, with no difference in captions.
These cards are almost always found with blank backs. However, Dan Calandriello provided a picture of one of these cards with a printed back. The back printing reveals that these cards were issued by Gum, Inc. of Philadelphia. It mentions that a purchaser would get one card with one piece of gum for 1 cent. It also mentions that there are 300 different cards, though that number seems very unlikely for this set. Collector Greg Galiger provided a picture of card with a different printed back stating there are 113 cards in the series with more to come. The actual number has never been completely determined. There are definitely not 300 of these, that may have been Gum, Inc.'s original plan, but the real number of these is much lower. The checklist below shows 121 cards, including an ad card that does not show a movie star.
Two different cards have been seen with some text at the bottom mentioning Rah! Rah! Rah! bubble gum (a Gum, Inc. brand) as follows: "Do you want "Letters, Numerals or Jitters" on your sweatshirt or Jitter Jacket? You get them FREE inside each piece of RAH! RAH! RAH! Bubble Gum for 1c at your candy store. Simply press on with hot iron." One of these cards shows an unidentified young man, and the other shows actress Kathryn Kane. Both of these cards appear to be scarce.
Date info: Almost all of the movies mentioned on the cards were issued in 1938, though at least one was issued in 1939. RAH! RAH! RAH! bubble gum wrappers have a date of 1939 on them. I am placing a 1939 date on this set.
The checklist below is alphabetical, with cards that can be found with numbers showing the numbers after the title. Movies seem to be mentioned for all cards - this checklist shows the known movies mentioned on the cards.
Thanks to Tom Patrie, Dan Calandriello, Greg Galiger, Todd Riley, and Andy Smith for help with this checklist.
Edward Arnold in "You Can't Take it With You"
Henry Arthur
Jean Arthur in "You Can't Take it With You"
Fred Astaire in "Carefree"
Gene Autry in "Western Jamboree"
Lew Ayres in "Dr. Kildare"
Lionel Barrymore in "You Can't Take it With You"
Freddie Bartholomew in "Listen, Darling" (No. 11)
Joan Bennett in "Artists & Models Abroad"
Jack Benny in "Artists and Models Abroad" (No. 24)
Wallace Beery in "Stablemates"
Tommy Bond in "City Streets"
William Boyd in "Hop Along Cassidy Series"
Charles Boyer in "Algiers"
Olympe Bradna in "Say it in French"
Bobby Breen in "Breaking the Ice"
Fanny Brice in "Everybody Sing"
Tom Brown in "The Duke of West Point"
Virginia Bruce in "There's That Woman Again"
Bob Burns in "Arkansas Traveler"
Charles Butterworth in "Magnificent Obsession"
James Cagney in "Angels with Dirty Faces"
Richard Carlson and Louis Hayward in "The Duke of West Point"
Phyllis Clark
Claudette Colbert in "Zaza"
Ronald Colman in "If I Were King"
Gary Cooper in "The Cowboy and the Lady"
Jackie Cooper in "Newsboys Home" (old car)
Jackie Cooper in "Gangster's Boy" (with drums)
Bing Crosby in "Sing You Sinners"
Frankie Darro in "Juvenile Court"
Dead End Kids in "Dead End"
Olivia DeHavilland in "Four's a Crowd"
Andy Devine in "Men With Wings"
Robert Donat in "The Citadel"
Nelson Eddy in "Sweethearts"
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in "The Young at Heart"
Dorothy Fay in "The Stranger From Arizona"
Alice Faye in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (No. 18)
Edith Fellows in "City Streets"
Errol Flynn in "Dawn Patrol"
Henry Fonda in "Mad Miss Manton"
Dick Foran in "Heart of the North"
Wallace Ford in "Swing it, Sailor"
Clark Gable in "Too Hot to Handle" (No. 3)
Greta Garbo in "Conquest"
Judy Garland in "Love Finds Andy Hardy" (No. 20)
Janet Gaynor in "The Young in Heart"
Mary Hart
Sonja Heine in "Happy Landing"
Jean Hersholdt in "Five of a Kind"
Samuel S. Hinds in "You Can't Take it With You"
Halliwell Hobbs in "You Can't Take it With You"
Jack Holt in "Making the Headlines" (No. 23)
Rochelle Hudson
Buck Jones in "The Stranger from Arizona" (lt. shirt)
Buck Jones in "The Stranger from Arizona" (dark shirt with zipper)
Buck Jones in "California Frontier" (leather shirt)
Kathryn Kane in "Swing, Sister, Swing" (ad for Rah! Rah! Rah! bubble gum in text below)
Tom Keene in "Where Trails Divide"
Paul Kelly in "Juvenile Court"
Tommy Kelly in "Tom Sawyer"
Hedy Lamarr in "Algiers" (vertical)
Hedy Lamarr in "Algiers" (horizontal)
Dorothy Lamour in "Spawn of the North"
Priscilla Lane in "Four Daughters" (No. 7)
Lew Lehr in "Fox Movietone News"
Roger Livesey in "Drums"
Carole Lombard in "True Confession" (No. 6)
Myrna Loy in "Too Hot to Handle"
Jack Luden in "Phantom Gold"
Jeanette MacDonald in "Sweethearts"
Fred MacMurray in "Men With Wings"
Fredric March and Virginia Bruce in "There Goes My Heart"
Beth Marion in "Phantom Gold"
Joan Marsh in "The Lady Objects"
Herbert Marshall in Zaza"
Groucho Marx in "Room Service"
Tim McCoy in "West of Rainbow's End"
Iris Meredith in "West of Cheyenne"
Raymond Milland in "Men With Wings"
Robert Montgomery in "Three Loves Has Nancy"
Wayne Morris in "Valley of the Giants" (No. 10)
Merle Oberon in "The Cowboy and the Lady"
Pat O'Brien in "Angels With Dirty Faces"
Cecilia Parker in "A Family Affair"
Joe Penner in "I'm From the City"
William Powell in "Double Wedding"
Tyrone Power in "Jesse James"
George Raft in "Spawn of the North"
Luise Rainer in "The Great Waltz"
Jack Randall and Louise Stanley in "Land of Fighting Men"
Martha Raye in "Give me a Sailor" (No. 25)
Ritz Brothers in "Straight, Place and Show"
Ginger Rogers in "Carefree" (No. 5)
Roy Rogers in "Shine On, Harvest Moon"
Mickey Rooney in "Out West with the Hardy's" (wearing coat) (No. 16)
Mickey Rooney in "Out West with the Hardy's" (wearing shirt)
Lanny Ross in "The Lady Objects"
Charlie Ruggles in "Boy Trouble"
Rosalind Russell in "Citadel"
Tommy Ryan
Sabu in "Drums" (portrait)
Sabu in "Drums" (on horse)
Randolph Scott in "The Texans"
Norma Shearer in "Marie Antoinette"
Sylvia Sidney in "One-Third of a Nation"
Charles Starrett in "West of Cheyenne"
Charles Starrett in "The Colorado Trail"
James Stewart in "You Can't Take it With You"
Lewis Stone in "Out West With the Hardy's"
Margaret Sullavan in "The Shining Hour"
Robert Taylor in "Stand Up and Fight" (No. 19)
The Three Mesquiteers in "Red River Range" (John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune)
Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town"
"Tuffy" (dog) in "Phantom Gold"
Lupe Velez
Jane Withers in "Rascals" (No. 17)
Robert Young in "The Shining Hour"
Roland Young in "The Young in Heart"
Unidentified Young Man (ad for Rah! Rah! Rah! bubble gum in text below)
List Showing the Numbered Cards in Number Order (same cards as in list above)
Bobby Breen in "Breaking the Ice" (No. 1)
Bob Burns in "Arkansas Traveler" (No. 1)
Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town" (No. 2)
Clark Gable in "Too Hot to Handle" (No. 3)
Clark Gable in "Test Pilot" (No. 3)
Buck Jones in "The Stranger from Arizona" (No. 4)
Ginger Rogers in "Carefree" (No. 5)
Carole Lombard in "True Confession" (No. 6)
Priscilla Lane in "Four Daughters" (No. 7)
Gene Autry in "Western Jamboree" (No. 8)
Gene Autry in "Prairie Moon" (No. 8)
Edward G. Robinson in "I am the Law" (No. 9)
Wayne Morris in "Valley of the Giants" (No. 10)
Freddie Bartholomew in "Listen, Darling" (No. 11)
Sonja Henie in "Happy Landing" (No. 12)
Joe Penner in "I'm from the City" (No. 13)
Harpo Marx in "Room Service" (No. 14)
Fred Astaire in Carefree (No. 15)
Bing Crosby in "Sing you Sinners" (No. 15)
Mickey Rooney in "Out West with the Hardy's" (wearing coat) (No. 16)
Jane Withers in "Rascals" (No. 17)
Alice Faye in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (No. 18)
Robert Taylor in "Stand Up and Fight" (No. 19)
Judy Garland in "Love Finds Andy Hardy" (No. 20)
Roy Rogers in "Shine On, Harvest Moon" (No. 21)
William Boyd in "Hop Along Cassidy Series" (No. 22)
Jack Holt in "Making the Headlines" (No. 23)
Jack Benny in "Artists and Models Abroad" (No. 24)
Martha Raye in "Give me a Sailor" (No. 25)
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