BETTY BRONSON: BEAUTIFUL ACTRESS BEST KNOWN FOR PLAYING PETER PAN IN THE 1924 SILENT FILM

POSTCARD 1

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POSTCARD 2   (SOLD)

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Postcard 3  (SOLD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features American actress Betty Bronson (1906-1971).She began her career in silent films and later appeared in sound films and television. This postcard was published by Ross Verlag and is part of a series (1095/1). At the time when this postcard was released, Miss Bronson was working for Paramount Film. She appears to be quite young when she sat for this portrait. She moved to California as a teenager determined to start an film acting career. She landed a bit part at age 16 and a year later she was interviewed by the author of  Peter Pan (J M Barrie) and chosen to play the lead role in the film version which was released in 1924. Gaining this part was quite an accomplishment considering more seasoned actresses including Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford sought the role. She became became lifelong friends with two members of the Peter Pan cast (Mary Brian and Esther Ralson). Miss Bronson had major roles in the silent films Ben Hur (1925) and a Kiss for Cinderella (1925). Betty Bronson made a successful transition into talkies. She co-starred with Al Jolson in the sound film, The Singing Fool (1928). In 1933 she took about a four year break from actingto marry a wealthy North Carolinian named Ludwig Lauerhass. While she was filming Peter Pan, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. developed a crush on her. The IMDb reports that Bronson had 41 film and television appearances during her career (1922-1971). Included in her television career were roles in Run For Your Life and My Three Sons. Overall, it is reported that Betty Bronson never lived up to her original promise. She was expected to be a major competitor to Mary Pickford but it is thought that her roles after Peter Pan were not effective vehicles to showcase her talent and to help her rise to superstardom. The YouTube clip below shows Miss Bronson in her role as Peter Pan.                                                                                                             The second postcard offers another portrait of Betty Bronson. The postcard was published by Ross Verlag and has the logo of Paramount Pictures. This postcard shows her in a movie role but the movie title is unidentified.

    The third postcard is a portrait of Miss Bronson that was published by Iris Verlag as part of a series (#504). Iris Verlag was the most important Austrian publisher of film star postcards. It operated from Vienna during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The film star looks quite beautiful and is wearing a fancy dress, long white gloves, and a tiara. Imbedded in the photo of the actress is a logo for “Fanamet Films”.  Fanamet was an Austrian film distribution company.  (SOLD)

     Postcard 4 features a portrait of Betty Bronson published by Picturegoer as part of Series 88 (no.207b). The company was based in London. Picturegoer was a British fan magazine focussing on contemporary films and the actors and actresses who performed in them. Picturegoer also published postcards. In fact, they produced over 6500 different real photo postcards of 2000 actors and actresses.

                 POSTCARD 1

bronson3 2 Postcard 2

bronson 3 2 POSTCARD 3

Published in: on February 17, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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LOVELY COUPLE IN WINTER CLOTHING AND NICE HATS

A lovely couple poses for their portrait at an unknown studio. This well dressed and attractive couple are flashing wonderful smiles. The woman is dressed for winter. She is wearing boots and a long coat with a fur collar. The “AZO” stamp box indicates that this real photo postcard portrait was taken sometime between 1918 and 1930.  (SOLD)

Published in: on February 7, 2018 at 11:27 am  Comments (2)  

HORSE PULLED TROLLEY AT CAPO’S NORTH BEACH IN ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

This vintage real photo postcard features a horse drawn trolley in St. Augustine, Florida. Printing on the front of the card elaborates with “Rapid Transit at Capo’s North Beach”. Most of us would not think of a single horse pulled trolley as “Rapid Transit”, but compared to walking, the trolley was rapid transit. It wasn’t difficult to find a seat on the trolley when this photograph was taken. It’s only occupants were two passengers and the African American driver. Research revealed the story behind this particular trolley. In 1904, Paul and Ellen Capo built a boat landing on the east shore of the Tolomato (North) River, and used this horse drawn trolley to carry passengers over the dunes, to the beach. Beachgoers could swim in the Atlantic Ocean. The visitors to Capo’s North Beach arrived there via a ferry from downtown St. Augustine. The name of the ferry boat was “Pauline II”. The photographer of this photo postcard was P. A. Wolfe, of St. Augustine. Mr Wolfe was a very talented photographer. Many of his photographs can be seen at the website “Florida Memory” which is operated by the State Library and Archives of Florida. In 1921, he took a series of photographs of President Warren Harding’s visit to St. Augustine. P. A. Wolfe was born in England in 1886. The 1920 US Census reveals that he was married to Ina Wolfe and was working as a photographer in St. Augustine. The “AZO” stamp box on the reverse of this postcard indicates that it was published sometime between 1904 and 1918.   (SOLD)

Published in: on February 5, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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BELGIAN STAGE AND FILM ACTRESS: JANE MARNAC

This vintage real photo postcard features pretty Belgian stage and film actress, Jane Marnac (1892-1976). She appeared in dozens of parts on stage and sang in numerous operettas. She is well known for appearing in “Au temps des valses ” (1930), a play by Noel Coward that played at the Apollo Theater. She is also remembered for her role in “The Darling of Paris” (1931). Wikipedia provides a list of twenty of her play appearances (1912-1938) and notes that it is an incomplete list.  Wikipedia also lists six films (1911-1931) in which Marnac made appearances.  In regard to her personal life, she was born in Brussels, Belgium. She married an English officer in 1927. This postcard was published by K.F. (Kunzli Freres) of Paris, France and is part of a series (no. 2315). The company was one of the largest pioneer postcard publishing houses. The company was established in 1874. It had offices in Zurich and Paris. Beginning 1898, it became known for publishing postcard maps throughout Europe. The photographer who took Miss Marnac’s portrait seen on this postcard, was Leopold Reutlinger.

Published in: on February 4, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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LITTLE GIRL WITH CYMBALS AND LOTS OF PERSONALITY (POSTCARD FROM ANTWERP, BELGIUM)

This vintage postcard features an adorable little girl playing the cymbals. She is wearing a flower wreath in her hair and a wonderful smile. The postcard was published by NPG (“Neue Photographische Gesellschaft”) and is part of a series (no. O 1448). The postcard has a Belgian stamp that was postmarked in 1909.  The postcard is addressed to someone living in Anvers (Antwerp), which is a Flemish city in Belgium.

Published in: on February 2, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A LARGE NUCLEAR FAMILY

This vintage real photo postcard features a large family consisting of a mother, father, and five children. The two boys seen on the flanks, are very cute. The boy all the way on the left appears to be quite proud of his appearance in this image. He is wearing a suit and tie. The suit pants are actually shorts. His socks have a nice unusual pattern. His smiling brother, seen all the way to the right, is wearing a very realistic sailor outfit. The two older sisters are in a affectionate looking pose. One girl is resting her arm on the shoulder of her sister in a demonstration of affection. This real photo portrait is a nice image of parents and their brood. It is a bit unusual and nicer than the usual postcard family portrait due to the clan’s close-up pose. This postcard has an AZO stamp box that indicates the photograph was taken sometime between 1924 and 1949.

Published in: on January 29, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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ELISABETH PINAJEFF: EUROPEAN ACTRESS, ARTIST, AND PART OF THE “BALLETS ROSES SCANDAL”

This vintage real photo postcard features German actress Elisabeth Pinajeff (1900-1995). In the 1920’s and 1930’s she starred in French and German films. Her first sound film was in 1929. The actress was born in Russia. Her father was an architect and her mother was a countess. In the 1910’s Pinajeff studied drama in the Ukraine. When she was 19 years old she married an engineer and his career required the couple to move to Germany. In 1929, Pinajeff met Austrian photographer, Alex Binder. Binder will be a familiar name to those that follow the cabinet card gallery. Many of his beautiful postcard portraits of theater stars can be found in the gallery (you can see his photos by placing his name, “Binder”, in the search box).  Binder had the largest photo studio in Europe during the 1920’s. Pinajeff modeled for Binder and later, married him. The couple lived in Paris. There is some debate about the years that they were together.The IMDb reports that Pinajeff appeared in 35 films between 1922 and 1938. After appearing in a bit part in a 1938 film about Rasputin, she retired from acting and focused on her painting. In 1950, Pinajeff became a friend of Andre Le Troquer, a “very connected” lawyer and politician. The couple surrounded themselves with political, artistic, and intellectual leaders.   In 1959, she was involved in a scandal known as the “Ballets Roses Scandal”. She was one of more than twenty people enmeshed in the scandal. She was accused of organizing erotic ballets with underaged girls for an “elite” audience. Some prospective show biz mother’s had consented to their daughters participation in this ballet with hopes that it would help launch their performance career.  Although Pinajeff was not convicted. Miss Pinajeff had artistic talent. She painted a number of famous personalities including the British Queen. She successfully exhibited a number of her paintings. This postcard is somewhat risque in that the photograph shows Miss Pinajeff’s bare back. The actress was a very pretty woman and had an engaging smile. This postcard was published by Russ Verlag and is part of a series (no. 2060/1). The photographer was the aforementioned Alex Binder and the photo was taken in Berlin. SOLD

Published in: on January 21, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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CUTE DOG SNIFFING THE CORK ON A BOTTLE OF WHISKEY

This vintage real photo postcard features a cute dog sniffing the cork on a bottle of whiskey. Below the photo is the caption “His Master’s Vice”. The dog on this comical postcard appears to be Jack Russell or a Chihuahua. Of course, the dog certainly may be a mixed breed. The postcard was postmarked in Seattle in the year 1946. The recipient of this postcard was Colleen Bolze, a sixteen year old girl in Chanute, Kansas.  Printed on the right bottom of the card is the name “C & D”. This may represent the publisher but initial research was unable to confirm that C & D was a postcard publishing company.  SOLD

Published in: on January 15, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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RISQUE PORTRAIT OF FILM STAR INEZ VAN BREE (PHOTO BY ESTEEMED PHOTOGRAPHER: ERNST SCHNEIDER)

This vintage real photo postcard is one of the more risque Ross Verlag postcards in the Cabinet Card Gallery. The postcard is of German origin and is part of a series (no. 1581/1). It was published between 1927 and 1928. Preliminary research found little information about Inez Van Bree. A defunct University of Toronto website labels Miss Bree as a silent movie siren/star. The photographer of this portrait appears to be Ernst Schneider and the photograph was taken in Berlin, Germany. Research about Mr Schneider yielded a great deal of information. He was considered to be one of the most celebrated studio photographers in Berlin during three decades (1900’s, 1910’s, 1920’s. He photographed many celebrities from the world of theater, opera, circuses, and film. He was also one of the most prominent fashion photographers in Berlin. In addition, he was well known for his nude photography and he published books showcasing his work in this domain. Sometime around 1908 Schneider began working with postcard publishers “Rotophot” and “Neue Photographische Gesellschaft” (NPG). In 1919 he began working with Ross Verlag.   SOLD

 

 

 

 

Published in: on January 13, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A ROWBOAT ROMANCE

This vintage real photo postcard features a couple in a rowboat. This romantic rowboat cruise is likely taking place in the photographer’s studio. Interestingly, the young lady is looking at the photographer while the the rowboat captain is staring at his pretty first mate. The “Cyko” stamp box on this postcard indicates that it was published sometime between 1904 and 1920.

Published in: on January 8, 2018 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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