About the 1930s R96 Aquatoned in USA Large 5x7 Trading Cards
Thanks to recent contributions from Doug Larson the current count for this gallery and checklist now totals 105 different cards (as of March 2015). I will add more as I come across them or as you tell me about them.
A set of large 5" X 7" cards with blank backs featuring stars of all types from all studios. Western stars are well-represented.
Each card names the star, their current film, and the studio in the bottom border on front. Each card also carries the text "Aquatoned in U.S.A." in that same bottom border area. As the Aquatone note makes clear these were issued in the U.S.
Backs are blank*.
With a few exceptions the majority of films were released between August 1938-January 1939. Glaring exceptions include A Family Affair on Cecilia Parker's card and Magnificent Obsession on Charles Butterworth's card. The former released in 1937, the latter at the very end of 1935. Perhaps these titles were in re-release at the time? The choice for Cecilia Parker stands out even more since Judy Garland's card names Love Finds Andy Hardy, which also featured Parker.
You Can't Take It with You is named on five of the cards in the batch I acquired. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture in the ceremony held February 23, 1939. I suspect it is so heavily represented in this set because it was likely issued after the Academy Award ceremony that year. On the Lionel Barrymore card Barrymore's home studio, MGM, is attributed rather than the studio which released the film, Columbia.
Several poses are familiar having seen some in the R95 set of 8x10 linen textured photos which were issued beginning 1936 and others in the 1936-1938 M23 Philadelphia Record Supplement photos which probably more than coincidentally note the "Aquatone Process" in the bottom border area.
*A contributor to the Movie Card Website has donated a fascinating image of the reverse side of an R96 card crediting the issue to Gum, Inc. of Philadelphia. Gum Inc. issued the popular Play Ball baseball card sets in 1939-1941 as well as the iconic Horrors of War non-sport set in 1938 then several other sets a little later on under the name of Bowman.
1930s R96 Aquatoned in USA Large 5x7 Trading Cards Gallery
The following gallery includes images of the 75-plus R96 cards I have seen. Text checklist follows below.
Just click on any image to open to full size and from there you can scroll through each card in the gallery.
1930s R96 Aquatoned in USA Large 5x7 Trading Cards Checklist
Edward Arnold in "You Can't Take It With You" - A Columbia Picture
Henry Arthur - Free Lance Player
Jean Arthur in "You Can't Take It With You" - A Columbia Picture
Fred Astaire in "Carefree" - An RKO Radio Picture
Gene Autry in "Western Jamboree" - A Republic Picture
Lew Ayres in "Dr. Kildare" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Lionel Barrymore in "You Can't Take It With You" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Freddie Bartholomew in "Listen, Darling" - An M-G-M Picture
Wallace Beery in "Stablemates" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Joan Bennett in "Artists and Models Abroad" - A Paramount Picture
Jack Benny in "Artists and Models Abroad" - A Paramount Picture
Tommy Bond in "City Streets" - A Columbia Picture
William Boyd in "Hop Along Cassidy Series" - A Paramount Picture
Charles Boyer in "Algiers" - A United Artists Picture
Fannie Brice in "Everybody Sing" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Tom Brown in "The Duke of West Point" - A United Artists Picture
Virginia Bruce in "There's That Woman Again" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Bob Burns in "Arkansas Traveler" - A Paramount Picture
Charles Butterworth in "A Magnificent Obsession" - A Universal Picture
James Cagney in "Angels with Dirty Faces" - a Warner Brothers Picture
Phyllis Clark - Free Lance Player
Claudette Colbert in "Zaza" - A Paramount Picture
Ronald Colman in "If I Were King" - A Paramount Picture
Gary Cooper in "The Cowboy and the Lady" - A United Artists Picture
Jackie Cooper in "Newsboy Home" - A Universal Picture
Jackie Cooper in "Gangster's Boy" - A Monogram Picture
Bing Crosby in "Sing You Sinners" - A Paramount Picture
Dead End Kids in "Dead End" - A Paramount Picture
Olivia De Havilland in "Four's A Crowd" - A Warner Brothers Picture
Andy Devine in "Men With Wings" - A Paramount Picture
Robert Donat in "The Citadel" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Nelson Eddy in "Sweethearts" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in "The Young in Heart" - A United Artists Picture
Dorothy Fay in "The Stranger From Arizona" - A Columbia Picture
Alice Faye in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" - A 20th Century-Fox Film Picture
Edith Fellows in "City Streets" - A Columbia Picture
Errol Flynn in "Dawn Patrol" - A Warner Brothers Picture
Henry Fonda in "Man Miss Manton" - A Paramount Picture
Dick Foran in "Heart of the North" - a Warner Brothers Picture
Wallace Ford in "Swing It, Sailor" - a Grand National Picture
Clark Gable in "Too Hot to Handle" - A Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Picture
Greta Garbo in "Conquest" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Judy Garland in "Love Finds Andy Hardy" - A Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Picture
Janet Gaynor in "The Young in Heart" - A United Artists Picture
Mary Hart - Republic Pictures
Sonja Henie in "Happy Landing" - A 20th Century-Fox Picture
Jean Hersholt in "Five of a Kind" - A 20th Century-Fox Picture
Samuel S. Hinds in "You Can't Take It With You" - A Columbia Picture
Halliwell Hobbes in "You Can't Take It With You" - A Columbia Picture
Jack Holt in "Making the Headlines" - A Columbia Picture
Rochelle Hudson - Free Lance Player
Buck Jones in "California Frontier" - A Columbia Picture
Buck Jones in "The Stranger from Arizona" - A Columbia Picture
Tom Keene in "Where Trails Divide" - A Monogram Picture
Paul Kelly in "Juvenile Court" - A Columbia Picture
Tommy Kelly in "Tom Sawyer" - A United Artists Picture
Hedy Lamarr in "Algiers" - A United Artists Picture
Dorothy Lamour in "Spawn of the North" - A Paramount Picture
Lew Lehr in "Fox Movietone News" - A 20th Century-Fox Picture
Roger Livesey in "Drums" - a United Artists Picture
Carole Lombard in "True Confession" - A Paramount Picture
Myrna Loy in "Too Hot to Handle" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Jack Luden in "Phantom Gold" - A Columbia Picture
Jeanette MacDonald in "Sweethearts" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Fred MacMurray in "Men With Wings" - A Paramount Picture
Fredric March and Virginia Bruce in "There Goes My Heart" - A United Artists Picture
Beth Marion in "Phantom Gold" - A Columbia Picture
Joan Marsh in "The Lady Objects" - A Columbia Picture
Herbert Marshall in "Zaza" - A Paramount Picture
Groucho Marx in "Room Service" - An RKO Radio Picture
Harpo Marx in "Room Service" - An RKO Radio Picture
Tim McCoy in "West of Rainbow's End" - A Monogram Picture
Iris Meredith in "West of Cheyenne" - A Columbia Picture
Merle Oberon in "The Cowboy and the Lady" - A United Artists Picture
Pat O'Brien in "Angels With Dirty Faces" - A Warner Brothers Picture
Cecilia Parker in "A Family Affair" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Joe Penner in "I'm from the City" - An R.K.O. Picture
George Raft in "Spawn of the North" - A Paramount Picture
Jack Randall and Louise Stanley in "Land of Fighting Men" - A Monogram Picture
Luise Rainer in "The Great Waltz" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Martha Raye in "Give Me a Sailor" - A Paramount Picture
The Ritz Brothers in "Straight, Place and Show" - A 20th Century-Fox Picture
Ginger Rogers in "Carefree" - An R.K.O. Picture
Roy Rogers in "Shine On, Harvest Moon" - A Republic Picture
Mickey Rooney in "Out West with the Hardys" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Lanny Ross in "The Lady Objects" - A Columbia Picture
Charles Ruggles in "Boy Trouble" - A Paramount Picture
Rosalind Russell in "Citadel" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Sabu (on horse) in "Drums" - A United Artists Picture
Sabu (portrait) in "Drums" - A United Artists Picture
Randolph Scott in "The Texans" - A Paramount Picture
Norma Shearer in "Marie Antoinette" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Sylvia Sidney in "One-Third of a Nation" - A Paramount Picture
Charles Starrett in "The Colorado Trail" - A Columbia Picture
Charles Starrett in "West of Cheyenne" - A Columbia Picture
James Stewart in "You Can't Take it With You" - A Columbia Picture
Lewis Stone in "Out West with the Hardys" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Margaret Sullavan in "The Shining Hour" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Robert Taylor in "Stand Up and Fight" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
The Three Mesquiteers in "Red River Range" - A Republic Picture
Spencer Tracy in "Boys Town" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
Tuffy in "Phantom Gold" - A Columbia Picture
Lupe Velez - Free Lance Star
Jane Withers in "Rascals" - A 20th Century-Fox Picture
Robert Young in "The Shining House" - A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture
If you have any cards that I missed and you'd like to add to the checklist please email Cliff with the name, film title and studio cited in the bottom border of card. If you'd like to go above and beyond feel free to include a scanned image as well! Thank you!
