KARLOFF/LUGOSI HOLLYWOOD STAMP BOOK

Up for auction a couple of years ago was a "Screen Stars Stamp Album" from 1947. At one time, stamp albums were very popular as a hobby. So popular, in fact, that even shrewd marketing moguls designed campaigns around stamp collecting with promotional gimmicks like "Blue Chip" and "S&H Green" stamps that were used to trade in for goods at particular supermarkets of the day. The album contains a few stars of interest to monster fans. albeit heavily caricatured as to be almost unrecognizable without the label.

Winning bid: $1,391.50.

 
"10.5x13" with 40 pages ©1947 Harlich Mfg. Co. and approved by the National Poster Stamp Society. Embossed cream cardboard covers with string binding has center illustration designed like a stamp with facsimile signatures around margins including Jimmy Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers, Bob Hope, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Betty Grable, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and more. Inside front cover has text for "Hollywood Starstamp Collectors" along with numbering system. A total of 25 packets were available to complete the series of 474 star stamps. Each of the numbered pages has a print design and text, most with facsimile signature of the appropriate star. Pages are divided into various series and include Starland, Star Quiz, Spotlight,Shootin' Star, Younger Set, Junior Set, Stage & Screen, Poster, Symphony of Stars, Stars of Note, International, and Academy Awards.Everyone and anyone who was involved in the movies or Hollywood appears to be represented here. Some of the myriad of stars include Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln, Spencer Tracy as Thomas Edison, Don Ameche as Alexander Graham Bell, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Henry Fonda, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, Robert Mitchum, Van Johnson, Alan Ladd, Burt Lancaster, Vincent Price, Ronald Reagan, Cesar Romero, Orson Welles, John Wayne, Robert Young, Lucille Ball, Bette Davis, Rosalyn Russell, Greer Garson, Merle Oberon, Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, Joe Kirkwood Jr. as Joe Palooka, The Andrews Sisters, Smiley Burnette, Trigger, Lassie, Gene Autry, William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy), Johnny Mack-Brown, Gabby Hayes, Tim Holt, Allen Lane, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers, Janet Leigh, Audie Murphy, Bobby Blake, Natalie Wood, Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple, Roddy McDowell, Jackie Cooper, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Burgess Merideth, Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Lamour, Ginger Rogers, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jane Russell, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Xavier Cougat, Judy Garland, Jane Powell, Alice Faye and several stamps featuring star illustrations on face cards as if from a deck of cards. Included are: Boris Karloff (illustrated as Frankenstein), Bela Lugosi (as Dracula), Edward G. Robinson, Joe E. Brown, Jimmy Durante, Laurel & Hardy, Phil Silvers, Jack Benny, Harpo, Groucho and Chico Marx, Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor, Abbott & Costello and Harold Lloyd. An international series of stars from all over the world includes: Desi Arnaz, Glenn Ford, Sonja Henie, James Mason, Peter Lawford and Maureen O'Hara. Also included are Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Laurence Olivier, Edgar Bergen, Wallace Beery, Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Hattie McDaniel (Gone With The Wind). Series included American Historical Characters, Star Land Series, World Famous Women, Star Quiz, Movie Quiz, Shootin’ Stars, Spotlight Series, New Faces In The Hollywood Spotlight/Stars Of Tomorrow, Younger Set, Junior Set, Stage & Screen Series, Hollywood Screen Stars, Poster Series, Symphony Of Stars, Maestros of the Movies, Stars of Note, Star Deck Series, International Series, Academy Award Series representing award winners of 1929-1946.

Center of front cover has a few lt. scuffs and faint moisture marks. Light bumps at corner tips. Inside pages are lightly but evenly tanned and upper top edge margin at right is missing a few small bits of paper in 2" area. Album is Fine overall with complete set of Exc. stamps. High quality with nice printing and wonderful images."

And here's something a little extra . . .