During the 1920s and 1930s, Ross Verlag in Berlin produced some colourful collectors card series for several cigarette factories in Germany. 'Unsere Bunten Filmbilder' (Our Colourful Film Images) is a well-known example, 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' (Modern Beauty Gallery) is another. Ross Verlag produced three series of 300 small cards for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' (precious cigarettes): 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' in 1934, 'Galerie Schöner-Frauen Des Films' (Gallery of Beautiful Women in Film) in 1936, and Film-Lieblinge (Film Favorites) in 1937. These cigarette cards of glamorous female film stars from Hollywood and Germany are wonderful miniatures. Each card is in full colour, is embossed with an individual pattern, and has a varnish coat. We reproduce nine of them, bigger-than-life.
![Brigitte Helm]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie Series by Ross Verlag, no 6 (of 300). Photo: Ufa. The card was a supplement to 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company.
German actress Brigitte Helm (1908-1996) is still famous for her dual role as Maria and her double the evil Maria, the Maschinenmensch, in the silent SF classic Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927). After Metropolis she made a string of over 30 films in which she almost always had the starring role. She easily made the transition to sound films, before she abruptly retired in 1935.
![Dolly Haas]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 55. Photo: Hisa-Film.
German-born, British stage and screen actress Dolly Haas (1910-1994) was popular in the 1930s as a vivacious, red-haired gamine often wearing trousers in German and British films. Although she got a 3-year contract with Columbia and she worked in Hollywood with Alfred Hitchcock, Dolly's American career mainly took place on and Off-Broadway.
![Dolly Haas]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 56. Photo: Dolly Haas in Warum lügt Fräulein Käthe?/Why is Miss Käthe lying? (Georg Jacoby, 1935).
In the 1930s, the Nazi regime in Germany was not happy with Hollywood. One of the reasons was the Jewish background of many of the Hollywood studio moguls, another was the themes of the films.
However, American movies, and their stars, were quite popular with German audiences, and it wasn't until late in the decade that Hollywood studio product was heavily suppressed.
The Garbaty family, which had owned the cigarette firm for nearly half a century, was Jewish. In late 1938, the Nazis staged Kristallnacht, where several hundred Jews were murdered and their property seized.
Owner Moritz Garbaty hid out at the home of his Catholic secretary, and his wife and 8-year-old son Thomas were visited by the Gestapo, which was seeking his father.
Several days later, Moritz was reunited with his family; he sold the company for a fraction of its worth and left for America, securing the family's safety with a million-dollar bribe to authorities. The family survived in the USA.
![Halloween with Ida Lupino]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 142. Photo: Paramount.
Ida Lupino (1918-1995) was an English-American actress and singer, who became a pioneering director and producer — the only woman working within the 1950s Hollywood studio system to do so.
![Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series, no. 149 (out of 300). The series was produced by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M.). Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932).
Myrna Loy (1905-1993) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934). Suddenly she was 'Queen of the Movies' and remained so until the late 1940s.
![Joan Bennett]()
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no. 151 of 300. Photo: Fox.
Joan Bennett (1910–1990) was an American actress who had her breakthrough in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933). Producer Walter Wanger helped to manage her career and eventually married her in 1940. At the beginning of the 1940s, Bennett appeared in four films by Fritz Lang. These turned her into a femme fatale of the Film Noir.
![Norma Shearer]()
German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' series for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no. 289. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
American actress Norma Shearer (1902-1983) was the 'First Lady of MGM'.
![Elissa Landi]()
German collectors card in the 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no 292 (of 300). Photo: Paramount.
Austrian-born actress and writer Elissa Landi(1904–1948) was (falsely) rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. During the 1920s, she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States. In Hollywood, she became a popular star of the 1930s.
![Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Queen Christina (1933)]()
German collectors card in the 'Galerie Schöner-Frauen Des Films' (Gallery of Beautiful Women in Film) in 1936 by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, series 2, no. 47 (of 300). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933).
Souces: Virtual History, Carole & Co, and Garbo Forever.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie Series by Ross Verlag, no 6 (of 300). Photo: Ufa. The card was a supplement to 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company.
German actress Brigitte Helm (1908-1996) is still famous for her dual role as Maria and her double the evil Maria, the Maschinenmensch, in the silent SF classic Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927). After Metropolis she made a string of over 30 films in which she almost always had the starring role. She easily made the transition to sound films, before she abruptly retired in 1935.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 55. Photo: Hisa-Film.
German-born, British stage and screen actress Dolly Haas (1910-1994) was popular in the 1930s as a vivacious, red-haired gamine often wearing trousers in German and British films. Although she got a 3-year contract with Columbia and she worked in Hollywood with Alfred Hitchcock, Dolly's American career mainly took place on and Off-Broadway.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 56. Photo: Dolly Haas in Warum lügt Fräulein Käthe?/Why is Miss Käthe lying? (Georg Jacoby, 1935).
The Jewish Garbaty Family
In the 1930s, the Nazi regime in Germany was not happy with Hollywood. One of the reasons was the Jewish background of many of the Hollywood studio moguls, another was the themes of the films.
However, American movies, and their stars, were quite popular with German audiences, and it wasn't until late in the decade that Hollywood studio product was heavily suppressed.
The Garbaty family, which had owned the cigarette firm for nearly half a century, was Jewish. In late 1938, the Nazis staged Kristallnacht, where several hundred Jews were murdered and their property seized.
Owner Moritz Garbaty hid out at the home of his Catholic secretary, and his wife and 8-year-old son Thomas were visited by the Gestapo, which was seeking his father.
Several days later, Moritz was reunited with his family; he sold the company for a fraction of its worth and left for America, securing the family's safety with a million-dollar bribe to authorities. The family survived in the USA.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series by Ross Verlag for 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark of the Garbaty Cigarette Company, no. 142. Photo: Paramount.
Ida Lupino (1918-1995) was an English-American actress and singer, who became a pioneering director and producer — the only woman working within the 1950s Hollywood studio system to do so.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie series, no. 149 (out of 300). The series was produced by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M.). Myrna Loy in The Mask of Fu Manchu (Charles Brabin, 1932).
Myrna Loy (1905-1993) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in The Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1934). Suddenly she was 'Queen of the Movies' and remained so until the late 1940s.
German collectors card in the Moderne Schönheitsgalerie by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no. 151 of 300. Photo: Fox.
Joan Bennett (1910–1990) was an American actress who had her breakthrough in Little Women (George Cukor, 1933). Producer Walter Wanger helped to manage her career and eventually married her in 1940. At the beginning of the 1940s, Bennett appeared in four films by Fritz Lang. These turned her into a femme fatale of the Film Noir.
German cigarette card by Ross Verlag in the 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' series for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no. 289. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
American actress Norma Shearer (1902-1983) was the 'First Lady of MGM'.
German collectors card in the 'Moderne Schönheitsgalerie' by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, no 292 (of 300). Photo: Paramount.
Austrian-born actress and writer Elissa Landi(1904–1948) was (falsely) rumoured to be a descendant of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. During the 1920s, she appeared in British, French, and German films before travelling to the United States. In Hollywood, she became a popular star of the 1930s.
German collectors card in the 'Galerie Schöner-Frauen Des Films' (Gallery of Beautiful Women in Film) in 1936 by Ross Verlag for the Garbaty Cigarette Company as a supplement for their 'Edelzigarette' Kurmark, series 2, no. 47 (of 300). Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Queen Christina (Rouben Mamoulian, 1933).
Souces: Virtual History, Carole & Co, and Garbo Forever.