1921 E123-1 American Caramel "Movie Actors and Actresses" (Series 120) Complete Set Minus One (139/140) Plus 21 Blank Backed Duplicates

Sold For:

$1,200

Year:

1921

Auction:

2017 Fall

Lot #:

2694

Category:

Non-Sports Cards/Sheets/Card Artwork

Rarely offered near-complete set of 139 different cards (plus 21 blank-backed duplicates, for a total of 160 cards) dating from the “golden age” of silent film, featuring many of the era’s greatest actors, actresses, and comedians, including Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, and Gloria Swanson. Missing only #129 Jane Sanderson for completion. Each card in the set, issued in 1922 by the American Caramel Company, features a portrait image of a single actor or actress. The design is very similar to the E120 American Caramel baseball-players series. Each of the performers is identified in print along the base along with the respective movie studio to which he or she is under contract. Two different backs exist for this series: printed with text advertising for American Caramel or blank-backs. In this collection, 139 cards have advertising reverses, and twenty-one duplicates have blank backs. 35% of the cards grade Ex or slightly better, 58% range from Vg to Vg-Ex, and 7% grade lesser. Condition of the twenty-one blank backed duplicates is Pr to Fr, with a couple better. This is a scarce and fascinating set that has appeal to both Hollywood and nonsport-card collectors alike, dating from the early 1920s, an era with few card issues of such exceptional high quality. Total: 160 cards (near-set of 139 plus 21 duplicates with blank-backs. Reserve $200. Estimate $400+.