(23) Silent Film Star Strip Cards w/ Near Set Similar to W516 (2) Chaplin

Description

Bridging the gap between the glory days of the fine lithography of the tobacco card era and the first gum cards of the 1930s were the strip cards. First appearing around the time World War I was ending and lasting for ten years or so, perhaps it was the economic uncertainty of the times (until the Roaring '20s really got roaring) that led producers of entertainment-themed trading cards to start 'doing it on the cheap'.
Low-quality card stock, in some cases, low-quality line drawings of the subjects in the sets.  Sold in strips or as individual cards cut (or torn) from the strips, for maybe a few pennies a strip or one penny for a single, and sometimes, given away free by the store merchants these were distributed to.
In spite of the lower grades in this group, there is some superior star power here.
For most, the Keys are Charlie Chaplin, of course, along with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  But other important names exist as well.
Foremost in my mind is Mabel Normand, who first saw success with Mack Sennett and his slapstick comedies but soon became a major comedic star in her own right, as well as a writer, director and producer and one of the pioneers in advancing opportunities for women.  Vintage collectibles featuring Normand are very desirable in today's market. She is also accredited with being the first actress to 'take a pie in the face', something that became a staple of comedies.  One of the nicest of the lot, grades a strong VG with no creases and cut fairly evenly,
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - early comedy superstar, working often with Mabel Normand (sometimes as the thrower of pies) until his career was derailed by scandal. He was essentially railroaded by a district attorney bent on a political career who intimidated witnesses into giving false testimony.  Arbuckle was acquitted of rape and murder of a young women who died of a medical condition, but during the trial, the public boycotted his many films and Hollywood blacklisted him for a time. Though acquitted, he never really recovered, but time has been kinder to his memory.  Card technically grades Poor due to partial tear in the top border.
Theda Bara - considered the first 'sex symbol', earning herself the nickname 'The Vamp'.  Hollywood created a fake persona for her to feed to the public, having them believe she was of a mysterious Egyptian origin, no doubt springing from her famous portrayal of Cleopatra in the 1917 feature. Sadly, only six complete prints of the more than 40 films she made survive, after most were lost in a 1937 fire. Grades  G/VG, cut a bit unevenly but crease-free.
William S Hart - the first big 'Cowboy star' of Hollywood who was the first to inject authenticity into the making of westerns, with realistic sets and props as well as gritty storytelling. Knew Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson as friends.  His style of cowboy eventually gave way to flashier outfits and more action sequences in the form of Tom Mix. Grades Good.
Elaine Hammerstein - a huge star of the silents and also the stage. She retired at 29 after her marriage and is not well known today, but her cousin Oscar Hammerstein certainly is. Her father Arthur was an opera producer who remarried in 1924 to actress Dorothy Dalton, who appears in this lot (grades Good), making Elaine Hammerstein her stepdaughter. Two cards, #11 Fair, #20 Poor.
The big stars:
#5 Charlie Chaplin - pencil on the blank back, otherwise VG; #5 Chaplin reverse image, Poor.
#1 Douglas Fairbanks - pencil on back, otherwise Good.
#10 Mary Pickford - Good.
The balance range from P to VG.
Identifying these cards has never been easy because the companies that printed them are largely unknown. Some research has revealed the a company named Decalco was the producer of some of the reverse-image strips.
While not officially being designated as W516 as is the case with the 30-subject baseball sets (of which there are five sub-types, depending on whether images are flipped or not, the type of font used and the numbering), the majority in this lot bear such a resemblance to the W516-1 baseball cards that it is easy to see how they have come to be known as W516s in some circles. There are probably sub-types among the actors as well. Just like with the baseball cards, some subjects appeared on cards labeled 'Universal Matching Cards'.  There are three here, numbered 15-17. You will note that the same image of #17, Mae Murray, though reversed, is #14 in the main group.
And in that main group of 16 different out of the set of 20, is the near-set.  It may actually be less, because #15 Moore and #20 Hammerstein  (yes, related to THOSE Hammersteins) have the numbering to the left. And Hammerstein's is the same image as on #11, just reversed. So these two cards may be a separate sub-type. In addition, #2 Theda Bara,  one of #5 Chaplin and #17 Murray have the copyright symbol turned backwards, indicative of image reversal (which is clearly obvious with Chaplin).  So these cards, perhaps, might belong to a W516-2 set, if you want to call the 'normal' images W516-1. In that case, would would have 12 different of the 20 in that set.
Then there are a few odd strip cards. Edith Johnson is clearly from a different unknown set, as is the card of Owen Moore. #11 Walter Reid probably belongs somewhere in one of the W516 subtypes.
23 cards total, all in Card Saver I holders.
Insured shipping is .50
Also will be listing (separately) a near-complete set of 8 of 10 W538 Actors including. Chaplin, Pickford, Fairbanks, Harold Lloyd and Rudolph Valentino.