I only have the slightest clue as to the origins of these high quality cards. They measure approximately 1-7/8" X 2-5/8" and have blank backs--except one of them didn't have a blank back, it had this:
Now I don't know if these are all from the same set or not but I do know that I acquired them together and that they're very similar in size, look and feel. They're on a thick stock almost reminding me of a mini-arcade card of sorts. I wish they all had numbering like the Gail Kane card, but unfortunately that's not the case.
Despite the Kane reverse being unique it's the only clue I have to go on, thus Movie Theater Handout in the title of this page.
My best guess at to the date of issue is approximately 1916-1917. Many of the subjects included in this issue are typical inclusions in sets of this period plus the inclusion of stage star Bertha Kalich, whose short film run ended with three 1916 releases, and singer Edna May, whose three IMDb credits are dated 1911, 1916, and 1928, seem to point towards the mid-1910's date as well.
There were a few stars with two different cards. Several have a photographer's studio credit in the image, most often Hartsook. A couple have a color tinting to them. All that I have seen are shown below.
Gallery
The following gallery includes images of all 58 of these cards I have seen. Just click on any image to open to full size and from there you can scroll through them all.
Checklist of All Cards Shown in Gallery
May Allison
Mary Anderson
Roscoe Arbuckle
Theda Bara (2)
George Beban
Alice Brady
Billie Burke
Francis X. Bushman
June Caprice
Charles Chaplin
Ethel Clayton
Grace Cunard
Sidney Drew
Dustin Farnum
William Farnum
Geraldine Farrar
Louise Fazenda
Pauline Frederick (2)
Dorothy Gish
Kitty Gordon
Sessue Hayakawa
Harry S. Hilliard
Louise Huff
Rita Jolivet
Bertha Kalich
Gail Kane #16 with text on reverse
J. Warren Kerrigan
Mollie King
Anna Little
Bessie Love
Mary MacLaren
Cleo Madison
Vivian Martin
Edna May
Thomas Meighan
Anna Q. Nilsson
Mabel Normand
Nance O'Neil
Muriel Ostriche
Ogla Petrova
Mary Pickford (2)
Wallace Reid
Cleo Ridgely
William Russell
Jackie Saunders
Myrtle Stedman
Anita Stewart
Edith Storey
Blanche Sweet
Ethel Teare
Lillian Walker
Henry B. Walthall
Pearl White
Earl Williams
Kathlyn Williams
