De Reszke Cigarettes

We continue our Saturday posts on British film postcard series with De Reszke postcards. De Reske was a, now forgotten, British cigarette brand. It was named after Jean de Reszke (1850-1925), a famous Polish opera star of the late 19th century, and advertised as 'the Aristocrat of Cigarettes'. Ads suggested the cigarettes were 'mild and harmless' so that they would not damage De Reszke's voice. The brand was originally produced by J. Millhoff, a Russian living in London. In 1927, Millhoff sold out to Godrey Phillips, an international company which was a fellow competitor.  In the early 1930s, Godfrey Phillips Associated brands published this series of hand-coloured film star postcards. The postcards appeared in larger packings of De Reszke Cigarettes and other brands of Godfrey Phillips. Smaller pictures of film stars appeared in the other packings.


Diana Wynyard. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 3.


Jessie Matthews. British collectors card by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 9. Photo: Gaumont-British.


Heather Angel. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 12. Photo: possibly a publicity still for The Hound of the Baskervilles (Gareth Gundrey, 1931).


Gordon Harker. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 14. Photo: Gaumont.


Evelyn Laye. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 21. Photo: Gaumont-British.


George Arliss. British postcard with Polish imprint by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 22. Photo: publicity still for The House of Rothschild (Alfred L. Werker, 1934).


Jack Hulbert. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 30. Photo: Gaumont-British.


Madeleine Carroll. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 32. Photo: Gaumont-British. Publicity still for The Dictator/Loves of a Dictator (Victor Saville, 1935).


Conrad Veidt. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 33. Photo: Gaumont-British. Publicity still for Jew Süss (Lothar Mendes, 1934).


Nova Pilbeam. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 39. Photo: Gaumont-British.


Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 44. Photo: London Films. Publicity still for The Scarlet Pimpernel (Harold Young, 1934).


Janet Gaynor. British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 45.

Sources: Godfrey Dykes.

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