Index of 1930s Movie Cards & Collectibles

1930s Movie Cards and Collectibles

The Great Depression takes hold. Talkies improve by leaps and bounds the first few years. New stars are made as Hollywood raids Broadway for more talkie talent. In mid-1934 the Production Code is enforced and while movies are forced to become tamer the talent behind the camera become more creative. The Golden Age flourishes. Many of our most iconic stars take flight. The decade closes with a year many film fans still consider the best of all-time.

The post-war card and collectible boom of the 1920s rolls right into the pre-war 1930s. Like the '20s the 1930s offer a wide variety of tobacco card issues from across Europe. Popularly collected sets of cards were issued picturing all of our favorite 1930s film stars: Garbo, Gable, Harlow, Dietrich highlight many sets. Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Myrna Loy and many others make a strong second rank. Laurel & Hardy provide a key card to many sets in the first half of the decade. Sometimes the Marx Brothers show up to do them one better.

The following pages describe each issue named in the title and include both a gallery and checklist naming and often showing either a complete set or all of the cards from that set that I have handled.