Helen Hayes ~ Nice card from the Ramses-Filmfotos series issued in the early 1930s. Card #411 is about 1½" by 2¼". Some edge wear but a very nice card overall, about VF.

Born October 10, 1900, Helen Hayes first stepped onto the professional stage in her native Washington, DC, with the Columbia Players at the age of six. Four seasons later, at the age of nine, she made her Broadway debut in Old Dutch.

Her name first went up in lights at the Park Theater in 1920, where she appeared in Bab, which had been written especially for her. Numerous other plays followed, including Happy Birthday (for which she received the inaugural Tony Award for Best Actress), To the Ladies, Mary of Scotland, Harriet, Coquette, Time Remembered (Tony Award, 1958), Caesar and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, What Every Woman Know, A Touch of the Poet, Harvey (Tony nomination, 1970), and Victoria Regina (Drama League of New York Medal, 1936).

During her remarkable career, Miss Hayes twice undertook extensive overseas tours on behalf of the United States Department of State (with The Glass Menagerie and The Skin of Our Teeth), receiving decorations from many of the 28 countries she visited. She also appeared at the American Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford and toured American colleges and university.

In 1966, Miss Hayes joined the APA Phoenix Repertory Company and remained with it for three seasons. Back on Broadway, she appeared in The School for Scandal and Right You Are If You Think You Are, and was unanimously acclaimed for her portrayal of Mrs. Fisher in a revival of George Kelly's The Show-Off. In 1971, she went on tour for fourteen weeks, breaking theater attendance records. Her last stage appearance occurred later that year in Long Day's Journey Into Night in Washington, DC.

Helen Hayes film career began in 1931 with The Sin of Madelon Claudet, written by her husband Charles MacArthur, for which she won an Oscar. She was, in fact, the first actress to gain both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Awards, winning the latter for her performance in Airport in 1970. Among her many other films are Arrowsmith, A Farewell to Arms, and Anastasia.

Her work in television includes the narration of the documentary based on Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Edge of the Sea. She also played in Arsenic and Old Lace with Lillian Gish and in A Family Upside Down with Fred Astaire. In 1973, she made her first series, The Snoop Sisters, co-starring with Mildred Natwick. In 1980, her documentary, Miles to Go Before We Sleep, won a Peabody Medal. She also appeared as Miss Marple, Agatha Christie's famous detective, in A Caribbean Mystery (1984) and Murder With Mirrors (1985).

Throughout her career Helen Hayes was involved with radio. In 1937 she was named Radio's Favorite Actress. Her shows included The New Penny, Bambi, The Helen Hayes Theater of the Air, The General Electric Theatre and Weekday. She narrated a daily commentary, Mutual of Omaha's Our Best Years, from 1981 until 1986, recording over 1,500 commentaries.

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.