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Issuing Company: Klene Country of Issue: Year of Issue: 1953-1955 Color/B&W: Color Number of Cards in Set: 288 (numbered to 292, but 49-50 and 99-100 not issued); Indian Film Stars - 72 cards; Egyptian Film Stars - 60 cards; German and Austrian Film Stars - 50? Card Size: 2 3/16" x 2 11/16" Issued as insert with what product: Gum |
Notes: These cards were issued with Val Gum. Early numbers are in black and white, while later numbers are in color. These cards were probably issued in different series at different times.
Charles Tedesco sent me scans of all the cards from number 221 to 292. This was probably the number sequence for the last series of these cards.
There are different backs for this set, indicating that these were probably different series issued at different times. Backs are as follows:
Type 1 - VAL Bubble Gum on 3 lines, 2 lines of Klene text below (seen for black and white cards only)
Type 2 - VAL Bubble Gum on 3 lines, "Klene's" written above "VAL" (seen for black and white cards only)
Type 3 - VAL Bubble Gum on 2 lines, "VAL" in outline text (seen for color cards only)
Type 4 - Val Bubble Gum on 2 lines, "VAL" in bold text (seen for color cards only)
Type 5 - Blank Backed (seen for color cards only, these have blue text on fronts)
Type 6 - VAL Bubble Gum on 2 lines, fancy brackets around KLENE info (used for card #s 221-292)
Cards can also be found with Hilco advertising on the backs.
ICA Gum in Egypt issued a subset of these cards with text modifications, a new back design, and different numbering (see separate ICA Artists Gum Film Stars checklist in Misc C-K section).
Swedish collector Uffe Östlund reports that there are also blank backs for some black and white cards. British collector Richard Minns reports that there are additional black and white cards with blank backs with higher numbers than the original black and white group which numbered from 1-48. These additional numbers seen include 51, 57, 66, and 67 with additional cards very likely.
Uffe also reports that there are also 12 cards with blue numbers and name, #101-112. 101-108 all show Doris Day, 109 Roy Rogers, 110 Rex Allen, 111 Roy Rogers and 112 Allan 'Rocky' Lane. (I think these blue numbers with western film stars, are quite hard to find.)
Richard Minns reports that there is an unnumbered, blank-backed color card of Fred Astaire. It is likely there are others like this.
Uffe also reports that there are also about 50 cards with German film stars, #1 -50?
Uffe also points out that there are also a lot of numbers with Egyptian film stars.
There are also color variations for some of the cards. #168 Mary Beth Hughes and #208 Esther Williams can be found with two different colors. There is a good possibility other cards in this set can be found with color variations, too. Thanks to Uffe for providing pictures of the Hughes and Williams variations. Click the small picture above to see these and other pictures for this set.
The Cameric Cigarette Card Club in it's "Notes and News" magazine reported on this set as it was being issued and explains the set pretty well. In the November-December 1953 issue, it was reported that the first group issued consisted of 48 cards numbered 1-48 in black and white. The next group consisted of 48 more cards numbered 51-98 and were in color. Numbers 49 and 50 were not issued. Collector A. E. Pitts even contacted the company about those numbers and was informed that they were not issued. So those first two groups must have been issued in 1953.
The March-April 1954 issue of "Notes and News" contained an updated report on this set. Collector H. E. Wareham reported that the third series was numbered 101-148 in color and the "Printed in Holland" line differs from the 2nd series. In the 2nd series, the "Printed in Holland" is printed vertically on the left hand side of the fronts, while in the 3rd series, the "Printed in Holland" is printed at the bottom of the backs. Wareham confirms that numbers 99 and 100 were not issued.
In the same report in the March-April 1954 issue, Wareham also reported that an Indian Film Stars set was issued and that it consisted of 72 cards. The Indian cards are in color with blue printing at base and "Printed in Holland" in very small print, also in blue, vertically to the left of the picture. Several of the film stars appear many times throughout this series, just as with the other three series.
In the January 1956 issue of "Notes and News," H. E. Wareham reported that three more series of these cards were issued. Wareham reported that the Egyptian Film Stars consist of 60 subjects, which are all different actors, no repeats. Note that an Egyptian card number 76 is known with slightly different back text, so there were evidently more cards issued later. Wareham reported that the Egyptian Film Stars were first issued in North Africa in May 1954, and were later also issued in Malta and Seychelles.
In the same January 1956 report, Wareham says that the 4th series of American Film Stars numbered 149-220 were first issued in Holland in April 1955, while later also being distributed in India and New Zealand.
Wareham further goes on to discuss the German and Austrian Film Stars series, issued in Austria in April 1955. The main difference in this series is that the card number is on the left and the "Printed in Holland" is omitted. Wareham does not report on the total number of cards in this series. He does go on to say that none of the Val Gum sets were issued in England.
The checklist below will list the back types seen, when known.
Thanks to Piet Gooijaers, Charles Tedesco, Amit Benyovits, Uffe Östlund, and Richard Minns for helping with this checklist.
1. Doris Day
2. Howard Keel
3. Ann Blyth
4. Gregory Peck
5. Tyrone Power
6. Jane Russell
7. Patrice Wymore
8. Errol Flynn
9. Doris Day - Gordon MacRae
10. Ava Gardner
11. Jose Iturbi
12. Dorothy Lamour
13. Veronica Lake
14. Ava Gardner
15. Vivien Leigh
16. Lou Costello
17. Lou Costello (Type 1)
18. Laurence Olivier
19. Bing Crosby
20. Peter Lorre
21. Dinah Sheridan
22. David Niven
23. Ann Todd
24. Alida Valli
25. Anthony Dexter
26. Vivien Leigh
27. John Lund
28. Trevor Howard
29. Gregory Peck
29. Virginia Mayo
30. Hedy Lamarr (Type 2)
31. Gary Cooper
32. Doris Day
33. Humphrey Bogart
34. Deanne Durbin
35. Trevor Howard
36. Susan Hayward
37. John Payne
38. Maureen O'Hara
39. John Wayne
40. Doris Day
41. Cary Grant
42. Fred Astaire
43. Ingrid Bergman (Type 2)
44. Gary Cooper
45. Doris Day
46. Ingrid Bergman
47. Shelly Winters
48. Yvonne De Carlo
49. (not issued)
50. (not issued)
51. Dorothy Malone
51. Irene Hervey (black and white blank back)
52. Doris Day
53. Gene Autry
54. Wanda Hendrix
54. Roy Rogers
55. Anthony Dexter
56. Mickey Rooney (Type 3)
57. Mickey Rooney
57. Errol Flynn
57. Edward G. Robinson (black and white blank back)
58. Doris Day
59. Doris Day (Type 3)
60. Elisabeth Taylor (Type 3)
61. Doris Day
62. Trevor Howard
63. Roy Rogers
64. Fred Astaire
65. Doris Day
66. Elisabeth Taylor (Type 3)
66. Claudette Colbert (black and white blank back)
67. Rhonda Fleming (Type 3)
67. Marlene Dietrich (black and white blank back)
68. Vera Ellen
69. James Stewart
70. Doris Day
71. Doris Day
72. Deanna Durbin
73. Joseph Cotten (Type 3)
74. Bing Crosby
75. Danny Kaye
76. Gregory Peck
77. Esther Williams
78. Esther Williams
79. Roy Rogers
80. Jane Wyman (Type 3)
81. Eleanor Parker
82. Virginia Mayo
83. Esther Williams
84. Dorothy Lamour
85. Marlene Dietrich
86. Pier Angeli
87. Doris Day
88. Doris Day
89. Ann Todd
90. Mona Freeman
91. Jane Wyman
92. Loretta Young
93. Betty Hutton
94. Vera Ellen
95. Rex Allen
96. Roy Rogers (Type 3)
97. Roy Rogers
98. Roy Rogers
99. (not issued)
100. (not issued)
101. Rhonda Fleming
101. Doris Day (blue text)
102. Joan Fontaine
102. Doris Day (blue text) (Type 5)
103. Kathyrn Grayson
103. Doris Day (blue text) (Type 5)
104. Wanda Hendrix
104. Doris Day (blue text)
105. Kirk Douglas
105. Doris Day (blue text) (Type 5)
106. Claudette Colbert
106. Doris Day (blue text)
107. Virginia Mayo
107. Doris Day (blue text)
108. Adele Mara
108. Doris Day (blue text)
109. Joan Crawford
109. Roy Rogers (blue text) (Type 5)
110. Dawn Adams
110. Rex Allen (blue text)
111. Debbie Reynolds
111. Roy Rogers (blue text)
112. Rex Allen
112. Allan "Rocky" Lane (blue text)
113. Peggy Dow
113. Ruth Roman
114. Debra Paget
115. Linda Darnell
116. Victor Mature
117. Farley Granger
118. Donald Gray
119. Gregory Peck
120. Marjorie Steel
121. Rosalind Russell
122. Nancy Guild
123. Irene Dunne
124. Jack Palance (Type 3)
125. Joan Crawford
126. Tom D'Andrea
127. Virginia Mayo
128. Errol Flynn
129. Rex Allen
130. Joan Evans
131. Adele Mara
132. Ann Sheridan
133. Eleanor Parker
134. Pier Angeli
135. June Haver
136. Doris Day
137. Joan Fontaine
138. June Allyson
139. Virginia Christine
140. Jane Wyman
141. Joanne De Bergh
142. James Mason (Type 3)
143. Robert Ryan
144. Paul Douglas
145. Robert Mitchum and Ann Blyth
146. Lex Barker
147. Coleen Gray
148. Doris Day
149. Sunny Vickers
150. Ava Gardner (Type 4)
151. Adele Jergens (Type 4)
152. Kathryn Grayson (Type 4)
153. Doris Day
154. Doris Day
155. Doris Day (Type 4)
156. Ann Miller
157. Barbara Payton
158. Pier Angeli
159. Vivien Leigh
160. Tyrone Power
161. Gail Russell
162. Claudette Colbert (Type 4)
163. Roy Rogers
164. Tyrone Power(Type 4)
165. Ava Gardner
166. Deborah Kerr
167. Debbie Reynolds
168. Mary Beth Hughes (Type 4)
169. Jody Lawrence
169. Margaret O'Brien
170. David Niven
171. Errol Flynn (Type 4)
172. Gary Cooper
173. Rod Cameron (Type 4)
174. Johnny Weissmuller
175. John Payne (Type 4)
176. Howard Keel
177. Marlene Dietrich
178. Pier Angeli
179. Pier Angeli
180. Pier Angeli (Type 4)
181. Ann Miller
182. Jeanne Crain
183. Roy Rogers (Type 4)
184. Gene Autry
185. Patricia Neal (Type 4)
186. Esther Williams (Type 4)
187. Dorothy Lamour
188. Ann Sheridan (Type 4)
189. Vera Ellen
190. Joan Taylor
191. Pier Angeli (Type 4)
192. Eleanor Parker
193. Lizabeth Scott
194. Frank Sinatra
195. Johnny Weissmuller
196. Pier Angeli (Type 4)
197. Peggy Lee
198. Kirk Douglas
199. Gene Autry (Type 4)
200. Don Castle
201. Audrey Hepburn
202. Peggy Lee (Type 4)
203. Gene Autry
204. Cary Grant
205. Roy Rogers (Type 4)
206. Ray Milland
207. Rex Allen
208. Esther Williams
209. Trevor Howard
210. Bing Crosby (Type 4)
211. Rex Allen (Type 4)
212. Rod Cameron
213. David Bryan
214. William Elliott (Type 4)
215. Barbara Bates
216. Wanda Hendrix
217. Gene Kelly (Type 4)
218. Pier Angeli
219. Bette Davis
220. Esther Williams
221. Rex Allen
222. Gregory Peck
223. Magda Schneider
224. Elvis Presley
225. Romy Schneider - Karlheinz Bohm
226. Gary Cooper
227. Sal Mineo
228. Cyd Charisse
229. Mario Lanza
230. Olivia DeHavilland
231. Pat Boone
232. Romy Schneider - Karlheinz Bohm
233. Eva Bartok
234. Grace Kelly
235. Elizabeth Taylor
236. Romy Schneider
237. Diana Dors
238. Gary Cooper
239. Elvis Presley
240. Romy Schneider
241. Sir Laurence Olivier
242. Bob Hope
243. Ann Blyth, Maureen Ann McNulty
244. Romy Schneider
245. Doris Day
246. Romy Schneider
247. June Allyson
248. Catharina Hepburn (Katherine)
249. Rita Hayworth
250. Zsa Zsa Gabor
251. Lorette Young (Loretta)
252. Harry Belafonte
253. Pat Boone
254. Audrey Hepburn
255. Allan "Rocky" Lane
256. Margaret O'Brien
257. Marlon Brando
258. Danny Kaye
259. Gene Kelly
260. Cary Grant
261. Errol Flynn
262. William Holden
263. Glenn Ford
264. John Payne
265. Kirk Douglas
266. Gina Lollobrigida
267. Fernandel
268. Alan Ladd
269. Stewart Granger
270. Ingrid Bergman
271. Van Johnson
272. Sophia Loren
273. Spencer Tracy
274. Esther Williams
275. Robert Mitchum
276. Maria Schell
277. Gina Lollobrigida
278. Gregory Peck
279. Sophia Loren
280. Lana Turner
281. Marlon Brando
282. Bill Haley
283. Ava Gardner
284. Sophia Loren
285. Maria Schell
286. Roy Rogers
287. Vivien Leigh
288. Audrey Hepburn
289. Sal Mineo
290. Jeanne Crain
291. Brigitte Bardot
292. Dorothy Hart
Unnumbered Cards
Fred Astaire
Indian Stars
19. Nasir Khan
21. Nargis
23. Asha Mathur
30. Suraita
42. Geeta Bali
44. Madhugala
Egyptian Stars
5. Souhad Emkaoui
17. Nahima Hakif
24. Farid El Atrach - Samia Jamal
60. Leila El Djezairia
76. Leila Mourad
German Stars
42. Maria Andergast
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