This vintage real photo postcard features Vera Tschechowa (1940- ), German film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. The IMDb lists her as having 94 acting credits between 1957 and 1996. She has directed many film stars, including Anthony Quinn and Robert Redford. Vera’s mother was an actress. She is the grandaughter of Russian-American actor Michael Chekhov. She was raised by her grandmother, silent film star Olga Tschechowa (1897-1980). A photograph of Olga Tschechowa can be found elsewhere in the Cabinet Card Gallery collection. Vera Tschechowa certainly has had a very impressive career in films. This postcard was published by Kolibri. This postcard has album residue on it’s reverse. The card is in overall good condition (see scans).
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) 3601
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
$18.39
Buy this Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes International shipping outside the US) 3601
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
This risque vintage real photo postcard features Russian-German actress, Olga Tschechowa (1897-1980). Her father was a railway engineer who became Russia’s Minister of Railways. She was the niece of Anton Chekov’s wife. She went to school and studied art and literature at an art school in St. Petersburg. . After watching famed actress Eleonora Duse, Olga joined the Moscow Art Theare’s studio. In 1914, while at the school, she met Russian-Jewish actor Mikhail Chekov. He was the nephew of Anton Chekov. She married him the same year and they had a daughter in 1916. In 1917, during the October Revolution, she divorced her husband. It is reported that he had an affair while Olga was pregnant. Olga would marry three more times. She joined a cabaret group and was offered a part in a silent movie. She travelled to Vienna and moved to Berlin in 1920, She continued to perform in films. She was one of the fortunate actresses who successfully made the transition from silent to sound movies. In the 1930’s she became one of the leading actresses of the Third Reich and was admired by Adolf Hitler. Olga was courted by Hermann Goring and Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels introduced her to Hitler in 1933 and she and Hitler became friends. In 1936, she was named “State Actress” of the Third Reich and she was made a German citizen. Olga’s brother was sent from Russia to Germany on a secret mission to assassinate Hitler. Stalin got cold feet and called off the “hit”.The brother ended up in a Nazi concentration camp, but survived the war. At one point, Olga was accused of being a Russian agent in Nazi Germany. Himmler ordered an investigation of Olga by the SS. She was often kept under surveillance by both Nazi and Soviet agents. In 1945, Himmler planned to arrest her but Hitler intervened. Olga survived the war through lying, acting, and disguise. She protected her daughter from the concentration camps by hiding the fact that she had a Jewish father. At the war’s end, Olga was arrested by the Red Army and brought to Moscow for a debriefing. She was interrogated for two months and then taken to Berlin to assist the Soviet Army. She established herself in East Berlin. She played in dramas but preferred comedies. Olga was very successful in the film business,. Her filmography reveals that she has 138 credits as an actor, director, and producer between the years of 1917 and 1974. After the World War II, she lived in Soviet occupied Berlin and in 1949 she moved to Munich, Bavaria. In Munich she started a cosmetics company. Simultaneously she continued to act in more than 20 films. She published a book of memoirs and retired from acting in the 1970’s. In 1966, her daughter died in a plane crash. Olga suffered from depression and alcohol abuse. She died in Munich and just before she died, she had her granddaughter bring her a glass of champagne, Her last words were purported to be “Life is beautiful”. This postcard was published by Ross Verlag and is part of a series (no. 3040/1). The front of the card has the logo for UFA, a German film company. This vintage portrait postcard is uncommon. (SOLD)
The top vintage real photo postcard features Dutch actress, Truus van Aalten (1910-1999). She appeared in many German films in the 1920’s and 1930’s. She is flashing a wonderful smile as she holds a cute little dog. Truus worked as a milliner after finishing school and then worked as a salesgirl in a clothing store in Amsterdam. What she really wanted to do, was to become a movie actress. Unfortunately, at the time, the movie industry was not producing many films in the Netherlands. In 1896, Truus entered a beauty contest sponsored by a Dutch magazine. The winner of this contest would be given the opportunity to audition for a film role. Truus was selected and joined about two hundred other women in Berlin to try out for the film part. She excelled on the screen test and won the role. The movie was being produced by Ufa, a German film company. The cast of the film included Betty Balfour and Willy Fritsch. Three photos of Miss Balfour can be found in the Cabinet Card Gallery by searching for “Balfour”. The name of Truus’s first movie was “A Sister of Six” (1926). Keep in mind, Truus had no training or experience as an actress. Even though Truu’s command of the German language was weak, Ufa offered her a contract and promised to train her and offer her opportunities in other films. The Ufa executives appreciated her sparkly and funny personality as well as her photogenic appearance. Truus’s father signed the contract and she moved to Berlin. The celebrated actress Olga Tschechowa took Truus under her wing and became her unofficial mentor and mother figure in the film industry. Olga nicknamed the young actress “Trulala”. Truus second film appearance was in “His Late Excellency” (1927). This movie included Willy Fritsch and Olga Tschechowa among it’s stars. Truus appeared in five movies that were released in 1928. She was certainly a busy actress. As Truus started to appear in more and more silent films, it became clear that she was talented; pretty, spunky, and funny. Truus’s greatest talent was seen in her comedic roles. She slowly became a fan favorite. She was the subject of interviews and photos in movie magazines. She also got work appearing in advertisements. Truus had “a look” of her own. She was described in one article as having a “mixture of boyish yet feminine energy”. Her bobbed hair and her uninhibited style was similar to actress Colleen Moore. Truus made a successful transition into “talkies”, despite her Dutch accent. By 1930, she was a very well known actress. Her photograph appeared in many postcards and tobacco cards. As Nazism rose in Germany, members of the film industry felt extremely vulnerable. Her film appearances became less frequent, partially because the parts written for females, during the Hitler era, were not particularly desirable to Truus. In 1934, she starred in her only film in Dutch and she was well received. Her next film wasn’t until 1939 and it turned out to be her final film appearance. In 1940, she returned to live in German occupied Netherlands. She was offered movie roles there, but refused them, because they were propaganda films. After the war, there was little activity in film production in Germany or Netherlands. Finding roles in English or American movies was unsuccessful. In 1954, Truus established a successful importing and exporting business in the Netherlands. The IMDb credits Truus with 28 film appearances from 1926 to 1939. The YouTube video below demonstrates just how cute and engaging Truus was as an actress. She was incredibly adorable. Postcard 1 was published by Ross Verlag. The postcard is part of a series (no. 4184/1). Miss van Aalten’s portrait was taken by photographer Alex Binder, who operated a studio in Berlin. He was one of Berlin’s premier photographers and photographed many stars of the stage and film. This postcard is in excellent condition (see scans). Postcard 2 was also published by Ross Verlag. The card is part of a series (no. 3884/1). The portrait was taken by photographer Hanni Schwarz of Berlin. Schwarz was a German female photographer and her work was praised in “American Photography” (1909). She was a well known professional photographer in Germany during the early 1900’s. Before becoming a photographer, she was a teacher at her father’s school in Basel. In 1904 , she and Anna Walter took over the photo studio of Johannes Hulsen in Berlin. In 1908, she and Wilhelm von Gloeden presented nude photographs at an exhibit in Berlin. Sometime around 1909 she ran her studio with photographer Marie Luise Schmidt. During the Brussels World’s Fair in 1910, Schwarz exhibited nudes In 1914, she began working with color photography. In 1919 the studio’s name only included Miss Schwarz, and she was reported to specialize in portrait and dance photography. The last known year of Schwarz’s work was 1930. This vintage postcard is in excellent condition (see scans).
Buy this original Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #2610 (Postcard 1)
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
$31.50
Buy this original Real Photo Postcard (includes international shipping outside the US) #2610 (Postcard 1)
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
$39.50
Buy this original Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes shipping within the US) #2611 (Postcard 2)
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
$28.00
Buy this original Vintage Real Photo Postcard (includes international shipping outside the US) #2611 (Postcard 2)
To purchase this item, click on the Pay with PayPal button below
POSTCARD 1
POSTCARD 1 (CLOSE-UP)
POSTCARD 2
POSTCARD 2 (CLOSE-UP)
Postcard 1 
POSTCARD 2 
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 