Newsletter - 2023-05-06

Saturday, 29th April 2023

The first clue this week should have led you to one of the teams pictured, Italy, because Valentino was born in that country on the 6th of May 1895, at a place called Castellanata.  His birthname was Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella. His father was also Italian, a military man and a keen horseman, in fact he was a Captain in the Italian Cavalry, but sadly he died when Rodolfo was just eleven. 

Once Rodolfo left school he went to agricultural college, and then he seems to have spit his time between Italy and France where his mother had been born. He found it hard to get employment, so he decided to move to America. Strangely there was either a mix up with his papers or he just forgot to send them in, and he never became an American citizen, though it is possible he might have decided to do that later on.

Now we have fun finding out about these cards - and, after some digging, and a lot of help from a Maltese Collector, the truth can be revealed.

The first puzzle concerns the date, because as they are undated, and seem to follow the reverse designs of the 1930s European cards, you will often see them listed in dealer`s catalogues as having been issued in the late 1930s. But the date of issue was actually 1957, and they were taken from original photographs of the late 1930s. Apparently this was indeed planned to be series A  and to cover the time from the 1930s until the start of the Second World War. Then Series B was intended to cover the 1950s and so on. However for some reason only series A was ever produced. 

As to our next poser, the identity of the Tip Top Sales Company, well they were based in Valletta, Malta. The proprietor was Joseph Xuereb, and he was born there in 1931, however he emigrated to Canada in his early twenties. Nobody seems to know what he did in Canada, but in the mid 1950s he decided that he did not want to stay and came home. He opened a shop called Tip Top in his home town in 1956, after seeing the start of the tourism and holiday industry and knowing that there would be a market for small inexpensive souvenirs. We do not know what happened then, either the business started to slump, or he got tired of the souvenir industry, but what we do know is that he wrote to Japan and started to import radios. This led to the end of the souvenirs, and to the start of what would become his electronics empire, for he rose to become the number one electrical store on the entire island of Malta, and even cleverer than that, when he started to import these items he had inserted a clause in the contract that he was to be the sole agent for each product. 

And they are still in business today. 

Our card is captioned "Jacob retrieves a serious situation" but only tells us it was Germany v Italy, in Berlin, and the score was 2 - 2.  I have scoured the internet and have discovered that on the 15th of November 1936 Italy played Germany for an International Friendly, in Berlin, at the Olympia Stadion. The final score was also 2-2. However this ruins the date of 1932 that is usually given for this set.  The goalkeeper in this match was Hans Jakob (not Jacob as it says on the  card). I actually found him long before I found the match and discounted him because though he was a very successful player all his stats were too late for 1932, which is when this card is usually listed as having been issued. He played almost forty matches for the German National Squad, and was in the 1934 and 1938 World Cup teams, as well as in the 1936 Olympics.

Sunday, 30th April 2023

So onwards to clue two. And this second clue was the picture, which shows an Arab Sheik. And moving swiftly on, past several changes of name, two wives, and several other films that increased his fan base, in 1921 Valentino was cast as Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan in a film called The Sheik. This was based on a book by a British writer called Edith Maud Henderson, who wrote under her married name of Edith Maud (or E.M.) Hull. In reality she was a pig farmer`s wife. 

The Sheik was pure escapism. A young lady went off into the desert and was captured by a Sheik, who at first treated her badly, which she secretly liked, and eventually they became lovers. It was the sort of film that would have failed dismally had the star not been so handsome and magnetic, but suddenly everyone wanted to run off to the desert and be captured by him, and so his fan base increased. It was the perfect film at the perfect time. And it also created a side industry of film tie ins, much as today, with all manner of memorabilia being sold. There was even a hit song, "The Sheik of Araby", created in 1921 by  Harry Smith, Francis Wheeler, and Ted Snyder. 

Both our original and our updated World Tobacco Issues Indexes describe this as 

section 2, General European Issues, inscribed "M. Melachrino & Co. Ltd, London and Geneva. Series titles in German and French, text in German only. Issued in Malta and elsewhere about the 1920s. 

M84-3 
Exotische Volker or Peuples Exotiques (Strange Races). Sm. 59 x 40. 
Three series, each Nd. 1/52.
1. "1 Serie"
2. "2 Serie"
3. "3 Serie"

See RB.21/616.7

RB.21 is our British American Tobacco Reference Book, and 616 is right at the very back, in fact the last entry is 619. It describes the set as : 

Peuples Exotiques or Exotische Volker (Strange Races). Small cards, size 59 x 40 m/m. Front is in colour, thin board. Back in black with text in German, other detail in French and German. Three numbered series. Melachrino issues.  
616.1. Series 1, inscribed at top "1 Serie". Series of 52
616.2. Series 1, inscribed at top "2 Serie". Series of 52
616.3. Series 1, inscribed at top"3 Serie". Series of 52

Some of the pictures recur in the Cia Chilena Series under item 573. 

So off to 573, and this is Compania Chilena de Tabacos, Valparaiso, Chile, and just like Melachrino, they were an associate of British American Tobacco. Item 573 is a set called "Revista del Mundo" (World Review). They are described as "small cards, size 58 x 40 m/m. Front is coloured letterpress, each card inscribed "Cigarillos 43". Back in black with descriptive text . Cia Chilena issue (South America). Numbered series, marked  "Serie 43" to "Serie 104", each series consisting of three cards, inscribed "Estampa 1" to "Estampa 3". Some of the subjects recur in the Melachrino series under item 616"

And now, over to you, should you know if this card is one of those cards that so recur...? 

Monday, 1st May 2023

So this was your final clue, and it was relating to the playing card on the reverse, which was the King of Hearts. And for many female filmgoers of the 1920s that would definitely have applied to Rudolph Valentino - who was also known as The Great Lover, and The Latin Lover. He never set out to be a sex symbol, though he played along with it, and though acting was how he gained his fame, he was equally adept as a cameraman, and loved tinkering with cars.

This set is rather confusing, so I welcome assistance from any Ogden specialists. 

Our original World Tobacco Issues Index splits the cards in to several groups and lists them in columns. I have been informed already that the letters above these columns relate to the suits, so H for Hearts and D for Diamonds etc. I had not worked that out - but I know now. The Index also adds that the cards measure a minimum of 44 x 31 m/m. The subjects shown on the backs, which I would have thought were the fronts, are either beauties or actresses, but some of the beauties have been named as we have gathered more information. The groups, simplified, seem to be 

I - Beauties back, without numeral. 76 backs [pictures] known. 1st to 6th packs, and varieties.

II - Beauties back, inscribed 40 in blue. 26 backs. 7th and 8th packs

III - Actresses back inscribed 46 in blue. 26 backs. 9th and 10th packs. See H.20.A

IV - Actresses back without numeral. 26 backs. 11th and 12th packs. See H.20.B

There is a bit more work on this to be done before the weekend! 

Tuesday, 2nd May 2023

For our card, that date of issue is definitely wrong, though it might refer to T46-10.1, the first series, because that has no card of Rudolph Valentino. I say this because although he started his film career in 1914 he was not in the billing of either of the two films he briefly appeared in during that year, or the years after - and as late as 1917 he still had not seen his name on screen. In fact he was still in the process of choosing it - in 1918, the first time he appeared in the list of players, he was listed as Rudolpho de Valentina, and as late as 1920 he was refining it, using various forenames and surnames on that theme. It was only in April 1921, in a film called "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" that he revealed the final version, Rudolph Valentino.

Also if you look at the list of films on the card, it mentions "Blood and Sand" and that was not released until November 1922. 

In our original World Tobacco Issues Index this set falls under section 2. Issues in Canada. The description is :

T46-10. Movie Stars (A) Lg. 83 x 63. Black and white. Mixed series of named stars and unnamed Mack Sennett girls, each [found] both numbered and unnumbered. For subjects known see X2/T836. Ref USA/C142-3.
1. Back without series number. Address 38 Cathcart Street Montreal. 
2. Back inscribed “Series No.3” with address (a) 240 Craig Street East Montreal (b) 300 Atlantic Avenue Montreal (c) Hamilton Canada. 
3. Back inscribed “Series No.5” and “Hamilton Ontario” (a) without (b) with “Printed in U.S.A.”

Any idea what happened to “Series 2” and “Series 4”? 

Our updated World Tobacco Issues Index adds that section 1 are head and shoulders studies. It also says that section 2 are 31/50 Mack Sennett Girls, which, after much pondering, probably means that 1-30 are movie stars, and this is supported by the fact that our card is number 17. I am not sure if that means this set is of fifty cards, hence the 50? In the top card code line. 

The set was also issued by Schinasi Bros. of New York. I have yet to research them. 

Wednesday, 3rd May 2023

Now I know what you are all thinking, for this set is anonymous of issuer and of set title. However it was issued through British American Tobacco, hence the RB.21 citation, and the set title, well that was added when the same set was discovered to have been issued by Murray, with the title "Stage and Film Stars", though to add to the tangled web, Murray`s name did not appear on these cards. However it was known that "Erinmore" which did appear on those cards, was a Murray brand. 

So lets start with RB.21, which contains all the issues that were known to have been issued through British American Tobacco. This set is listed in there as 

Stage & Film Stars. Cards of the Murray printing of this series bear the above title, and this series has thus been altered. All the printings are listed below.
A) Wills Four Aces issue.
      (1) Numbered  (2) Unnumbered
B) Anonymous issue, with letterpress on the back. Numbered
C) Bear issue. Green back. Unnumbered
D) Murray Home issue. Black back. Numbered, and titled "Stage & Film Stars" inscribed "Erinmore Cigarettes" (Murray`s name does not appear on the cards). The 50 subjects are listed in W/172.

Strangely that link to W/172 is not quoted in the World Indexes. In fact out of the five `Four Aces` sets, only two have W/ codes - "Film Favourites" and "Modes of Conveyance".  

Our original World Tobacco Issues Index tells us a bit more about our issue, except that although the link above has already been made to British American Tobacco, it still inserts it at the back of the book and gives it a Z code for the great unknown. You will find it under Anonymous Issues (1) with letterpress on back, and sub sections 1. English Language issues with references to tobacco, and 1.C issues 1919-1940 (d) overseas issues through British American Tobacco. The description, to save you all that hunting, is "Sm. 63 x 36. Back in green. Nd. (50). See RB.21/417. Issued in South Africa."

Actually parts of this are wrong. The code of RB.21/417 leads not to this set at all. And the index in the front of RB.21 tells us that it was issued in Malta. What is it with Malta this week? In fact just like the Wills `Four Aces` branded version of this same set it was issued in areas where the British Army were garrisoned, so Malta, Gibraltar, Suez, Aden, etc. Not so sure about South Africa. And the Wills `Four Aces` version was also issued in 1926. 

Sadly I have not yet found a month of issue for any of these issues. As for why that is important, tune in tomorrow....

Thursday, 4th May 2023

This card first appears in our original British Trade Index part three, where it is described as measuring 142 x 91 m/m and as being a "coloured postcard, 27-8-1926. Rudolph Valentino". And the text is not much different in our updated version, except it oddly says "postcard back", surely the term more usually used for a divided back, which this does not have. 

Now this is not a great description for this card, for it omits the most important reason for its issue. And that is a very sad story for on August 23rd 1926, four days before it was issued, Rudolph Valentino had died, aged just 31 years old. So surely some wording as to its being a memoriam card is needed?

There had been Hollywood stars die before, but this was caused a mass outpouring of grief, and several female fans committed suicide because they could not live without him, or maybe because they thought that somehow their souls would intermingle in the after life. Worst of all his death was seen to have been avoidable. He was young, and fit and in good health. But on August 15, 1926, he had collapsed whilst in New York and was taken to hospital. He was found to have gastric ulcers and his appendix was slightly inflamed. He had surgery, almost immediately, and he was told three days later that everything would be fine. However the appendix was not really the problem, and the gastric ulcers were worse than believed. Three days later, on August 21, his lungs started failing due to sepsis and the doctors knew he would not survive - however they chose not to tell him. He was able to chat with his doctors for a couple of days, but then he lapsed into a coma from which he never woke. 

He had been married twice, but neither were very successful. And he never had children.

His first wife had been Jean Acker, or more correctly Harriet Acker, though she was also known as Jean Mendoza, She was two years older than him. Her lover, Alla Nazimova, had brought her to Hollywood in 1919, and she met Valentino at a party a few months later. They were instantly friends, and married in November of the same year. However they were only ever friends, there was no romance. He even spent their wedding night locked out of her room. Some even say that the marriage was over from that point on.

Some time later, he met another girl. She had been born Winifred Kimball Shaughnessy but had changed her name when her mother married Edgar de Wolfe, the brother of the famous French designer Elsie de Wolfe. This did not last very long and she married a millionaire perfumier called Richard Hudnut. Strangely Winifred`s mother was also called Winifred, so either to stop any confusion, or because Winifred Hudnut was not a very glamorous name, our Winifred started to call herself Natascha Rambova.  She met Valentino in 1921 and they married in 1923. Unfortunately Hollywood retained this strange law that you had to be divorced for a year before you could remarry. It caught out several stars. But technically that meant that when he got married to Natascha Rambova he was still married to Jean Acker. Then she got involved and sued him, not especially over bigamy, but more for the right to continue to be called "Mrs Rudolph Valentino". So he made out he had separated from his new wife and had a second marriage ceremony in May 1922, once the divorce was made legal.

This was again not a romantic marriage, and she openly said that she did not intend to marry him and turn into a housewife, but they were good friends, at least at the start. They divorced in 1925. However they did become friends again towards the end of his life, and she did request that he be buried where she would eventually lie, but this was refused. She died in 1966 - whilst Jean Acker lived until 1978. 

Valentino had almost a state funeral, and his body was available for viewing beforehand. Millions passed by, but none of them knew that for fear of souvenir hunters, especially of his body parts, the open coffin contained a wax effigy. After the New York funeral his body was taken to California for a second funeral. However there was no place arranged for it to be buried (despite the offer from his second wife). In the end, June Mathis, who had "discovered" him, written several of his films, become a good friend, and was looked on almost as a mother by Rudolph Valentino, said that he was welcome to use the crypt she had bought for her husband because now they were divorced. This was done, with the intention of moving him when she got remarried. Sadly she died within the year and he was never moved. They still remain together, and I like to imagine that she is still looking after him in a motherly way when it seems that nobody else really cared.

Which is a very sad thing, considering what a hearthrob he was.. 

Friday, 5th May 2023

Of course this is Valentino at his most handsome, as the rugged Arabian Sheik, the son of the character he played in the 1921 film. Mind you he also plays the father this time round. Also returning from the original film was Agnes Ayres, but this time she played Valentino`s mother, not the girl he loved - who, this time, was played by Vilma Banky.

Reportedly Valentino liked her very much, and they had also co-starred in The Eagle, released the year prior. In 1927 she married fellow film star Rod LaRocque. And she went on to make several films with Ronald Colman.

The book that suggested our film was again written by E. M. Hull, and it was published in 1925, however there is a slight change as the book is called "The Sons of the Sheik", and the film only has one son. Perhaps it would have been too confusing to have two sons, especially if both sons and the father were to be played by Valentino, as an early report suggests!

He had completed the film but never got to see it released - that happened a fortnight after he died. 

This set first appears in our British Trade Index part 3, as

Brand issue, about 1927. Post Cards. 136 x 90. Brown gravures. Back inscribed “One of these beautiful reproductions of Rudolph Valentino`s Love Scenes is contained in every Butywave Shampoo Packet. 32 Scenes in all…”

At the time this book was issued (1986) they were able to write “About ten seen”. The set does have a bit of an identification problem for some of the cards on "The Son of the Sheik" do look very similar to each other, but fear not, I have a list! Just have to find it on the disc, and then will add it in.

One sad thing is that this set does not appear in the modern version of the British Trade Index, not sure why, but it may have something to do with the fact that it is a postcard set.