As with other Hollywood and non-Hollywood stars, Louise Brooks’ image could be found on a number of commercial products. In the 1920s and 1930s, these products included printed items such as postcards, trading cards, and what are colloquially known as cigarette cards. The most familiar, of course, are postcards. They require a postage stamp to be sent through the mail, typically had an image on the front and space for a message on the back, and measure approximately 4 x 6 inches (or 10.2 x 15.2 cm). Trading or product cards were, as a rule, smaller in size, and were usually inserted into the packaging of a variety of items such as bread, cookies, candy (chocolate and gum), sugar, flour, and tobacco. The cards known as cigarette cards are considered a subset of trading cards, but differ in that they were inserted into just one type of product, namely packs of cigarettes. Essentially, trading cards were novelty items inserted into product packaging as an inducement to purchase… as in buy our product and “collect them all”. Though such cards were considered disposable and sometimes poorly printed, others were finely printed, attractive, and collected by film buffs or fans of the actor or actress they depicted. Some card publishers, whose series ran into the dozens or hundreds, even issued albums as a further inducement to collectors. Along with cards, albums also survive.
This page on the Louise Brooks Society website gathers a selection of vintage cards from Central and South America, including the Caribbean island nation of Cuba. There are a couple of cards from Central America, namely one from El Salvador and one from Mexico. South America is represented by single cards from Argentina and Chile, as well as a bunch from Uruguay. (Its capital is Montevideo.) Why so many cards came from this smaller South American nation is not known. The Uruguayan cards issued by Jabon de Creolina were packaged along with soap. It’s uncertain as to what form of chocolate the two Nestle cards were issued with — either baking chocolate or candy bars. It is also notable how many Uruguayan cards not only reused the same couple of images, but also regularly misspelled Brooks name.
M. I. Boris’ artistic portraits of Brooks were widely circulated and helped define her image as someone different. The two Uruguayan cards distributed along with Crack cigarettes, #7 and #16, both misspell the actress’s name. On the reverse, she is described as “a cute 22 year old doll” who was born in Brooklyn and danced in the chorus on Broadway before entering the movies with Paramount. (In fact, Brooks was born in Cherryvale, Kansas.) The card also notes her roles in two films, Pura Parada (which translates as “Eyewash,” which may correspond to The American Venus, or perhaps A Social Celebrity) and El Boticario Rural (It’s the Old Army Game).
Seemingly, no Louise Brooks postcards were issued in Latin America. Also curiously lacking from this group of cards are any sort of cards from Brazil or Venezuela. Certainly, some must exist. The details behind some of these cards is also lacking. If you know additional information about any of these cards, or possess other cards and would like to share a scan of your vintage treasure, please CONTACT the Louise Brooks Society. Thanks so much for your interest.
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| cigarette card, El Salvador (front) Fabrica Morazán #72 issued in San Salvador |
cigarette card, El Salvador (back) Fabrica Morazán #72 eaten by worms |
cigarette card, Cuba Aguilitas Cigarros #716 as “Louise Brook” |
cigarette card, Cuba Aguilitas Cigarros #660 issued with cigars |
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| candy card, Mexico Mexican Chocolate Factory |
cigarette card, Argentina? as “Louise Brorks” |
cigarette card, Chile Cia Chilena de Tobaccos #A14 |
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| cigarette card, Uruguay (front) Cigarrillos “Crack” #7 as “Louise Brorks” |
cigarette card, Uruguay (back) Cigarrillos “Crack” #7 as “Louise Brorks” |
cigarette card, Uruguay (front) Cigarrillos “Crack” #16 as “Louise Brorks” |
cigarette card, Uruguay (back) Cigarrillos “Crack” #16 as “Louise Brorks” |
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| cigarette card, Uruguay (front) Super Cigarrillos #10 |
cigarette card, Uruguay (back) Super Cigarrillos #10 |
cigarette card, Uruguay (front) Super Cigarrillos #74 |
cigarette card, Uruguay (back) Super Cigarrillos #74 |
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| cigarette card, Uruguay (front) Super Cigarrillos #53 |
cigarette card, Uruguay (back) Super Cigarrillos #53 |
trading card, Uruguay Super #70 |
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| cigarette card, Uruguay Los Andes #74 as “Louise Brorks” |
cigarette card, Uruguay Los Andes as “Louise Brorks” |
trading card, Uruguay Jabon de Creolina #12 |
trading card, Uruguay Jabon de Creolina #13 |
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| product card, Uruguay (back) Chocolate Nestle #45 |
product card, Uruguay (front) Chocolate Nestle #45 |
product card, Uruguay (front) Chocolate Nestle #46 |