Anita Dorris ~ This card measures about 1½"x2¼" and features a color-tinted photo of Anita Dorris. This is an original cigarette card issued as part of the Salem Gold Film series in about 1932. Please study my scan! Card #169.

Born Anita Dorothea Schmidt in 1903, in Lübeck, Germany, Anita Dorris peaked in the silent era. Probably her best known role was as the female lead with Hans Albers in Es blasen die Trompeten (1926) or as Trilby O'Farrell in Gennaro Righelli's 1927 version of Svengali. She also starred in Vienna to Berlin (1926), Queen Louise (1927), and others. Before the Weimar era was over, Anita Dorris vanished from film. She married Austrian director Emerich Walter Emo in about 1931 and apparently retired at his request. She died in 1993. Emo died in 1975.

This lot consists of a genuine German cigarette premium issued between about 1930 and 1937. In general, German cigarette cards and premiums make an interesting and inexpensive addition to any collection. The Nazi government of Germany opposed smoking and eventually put an end to cigarette cards. As a result, the native German card collecting hobby never developed to the extent of that in Britain or the United States. As a result, most German premiums and cards cost only a fraction of what might be expected from their American and British cousins.

Large photos are shown smaller than actual size while small ones are generally enlarged to as much as twice their original size. Almost all photos and cards are scanned through protective sleeves or pages which tends to cut the clarity a bit. Enlarged defects tend to look worse than they actually are.