Ross Verlag Postcards, Part 2: silent Hollywood

This week EFSP brings a tribute to Ross Verlag. The German publishing company produced many, many star postcards from the late 1910s till the early 1940s. Today 20 of our favourite sepia-tinted postcards of Hollywood stars of the silent era.


Baby Peggy. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 550/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Unifilman.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 64/1. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) / Fanamet. Publicity still for Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (Fred Niblo, 1925) with Ramon Novarro. Caption: 'Galeeren-Sträflinge' (convicts).


Jackie Coogan. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 701/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Transocean-Film-Company, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 787/1. Photo: British-American-Films A.G. Balag. Photo: publicity still for Broadway Rose (Robert Z. Leonard, 1922) with Mae Murray and Pauline Dempsey.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 830/1, 1925-1926. Photo: British-American Films A.G. Balag. Publicity still for Camille (Ray C. Smallwood, 1921) featuring Alla Nazimova.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 839/3. Photo: Terra Film A.G., Berlin. Publicity still for Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (Marshall Neilan, 1924), featuring Mary Pickford.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1488/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Paramount / Parafumet. Publicity still for Stage Struck (Allan Dwan, 1925), starring Gloria Swanson.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1885/1. Photo: Parufamet. Lillian Gish in The Scarlet Letter (Victor Sjöström, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 86/6. Photo: National-Film. Publicity still for King of Kings (Cecil B. De Mille, 1927) with Victor Varconi, H.B. Warner and Rudolph Schildkraut. Caption: Caiphas accuses Jesus before Pontius Pilate.


Clara Bow. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2510/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Paramount.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3373/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Son of the Sheik (George Fitzmaurice, 1926), starring Rudolph Valentino.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 105/1. Photo: Universal Pictures Corp. Publicity still for The Man Who Laughs (Paul Leni, 1928) with Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin.


Eddie Polo. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3356/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Mac Walten, Berlin.


Colleen Moore. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3469/2, 1928-1929. Photo: DeFina.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3684/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Defina. Publicity still for The Private Life of Helen of Troy (Alexander Korda, 1927) with Maria Corda and Ricardo Cortez.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3905/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Fox. Publicity still for The Red Dance (Raoul Walsh, 1928). Dolores Del Rio is wearing a kokoshnik (Russian: коко́шник; IPA: [kɐˈkoʂnʲɪk]), a traditional Russian head-dress worn by women and girls.


Louise Brooks. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4252/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4704/1, 1929-1930. Photo: MGM. Publicity still for The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (Charles Reisner, 1929) with Buster Keaton as Princess Raja. This performance must have been inspired by the Egyptian dance in The Cook (Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, 1918).


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, no. 5267/1, 1930-1931. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Taylor, 1930) starring Douglas Fairbanks.


Anna May Wong. German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5477/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Manassé, Wien (Vienna).

To be continued tomorrow.