Collecting Garbo

The last post of EFSP's Greta Garbo week is about a series of small tobacco or cigarette cards we once found on a 'trödelmarkt'. They were produced in the early 1930s by Ross Verlag for forgotten cigarette brands like Mercedes and Manoli Gold by different factories in Germany. The cards (6,5 x 4,5 cm) were made shortly after the introduction of sound film in Germany and were meant to be pasted into special albums called Aus Tönenden Filmen or Tonfilmserie (sound film series). However, the first card in this post was made for a silent Garbo film. The Single Standard (1929).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for the Tonfilmserie, no. 374, by A. Batschari Cigarettenfabrik, Baden-Baden. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for The Single Standard (John S. Robertson, 1929), with Nils Asther.


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for Filmalbum 4, 'Aus Tönenden Filmen', Serie 4, no. 637, by A. Batschari Cigarettenfabrik, Baden-Baden. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930) with Lewis Stone.


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for the Tonfilmserie, no. 360, by Manoli A.G., Berlin. Photo: George Hurrell / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for the Tonfilmserie, no. 369, by A. Batschari Cigarettenfabrik, Baden-Baden. Photo: George Hurrell / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for the Tonfilmserie, no. 371, by A. Batschari Cigarettenfabrik, Baden-Baden. Photo: George Hurrell / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag for the Tonfilmserie, no. 372, by Manoli A.G., Berlin. Photo: George Hurrell / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo in Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930).


Small collectors card. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Publicity still for Romance (Clarence Brown, 1930).

Sources: Mark Goffee (Ross Verlag) and Garbo Forever.