| Alphabetical Index | Foreign Market Cards |
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The first series of Mäppchenbilder (photos in small folders) was published in Spring 1933, a short time after Ross Verlag ceased the production of its Luxusklass and Splendid cards. Mäppchenbilder were roughly the size of cigarette cards, which had been produced since the 1920s with Ross Verlag supplying most of the many factories issuing them. From Spring 1933 Ross Verlag published series of Mäppchen every season. Each Mäppchen contained ten photos measuring 4,5 x 7,0 cm of a film actress or actor. The name of the filmstar and the number of the Mäppchen were printed (or sometimes stamped) on the Mäppchen. A 1934 magazine advertissement shows that the Mäppchen were promoted as Filmstar-Kleinphotos – the size was also mentioned, as was the fact that the photos were black and white, and glossy (“Schwarz Hochglanz”). A Mäppchen of 10 photos cost 35 Pfennig. Three types of Mäppchen were produced. The original had a green cover (grüne Packung), and an oval cut-out allowing a portrait of the filmstar (one of the enclosed photos) to be shown. There was also one series of 10 Mäppchen (numbers 431 to 440) with a red cover (rote Packung), consisting of ten hand-coloured photos. There were also slightly larger size photos (5,5 x 8,5 cm) published, in a similar but orange colored (orange Packung) Mäppchen. These Mäppchen, however, had a circular cut-out instead of an oval one, and contained six photos instead of ten, and were in black and white. Twenty such Mäppchen were published, spread over three series (numbers 301 – 310, 336 – 340 and 366 – 370). Another type was an early series of Mäppchen, numbered 21 – 30. Each of these contained photos of ten different people, mostly actresses and actors, but also singers and sportspeople. Production of the Mäppchen series continued regularly until Winter 1939-1940, when for the first time no new series were published. By 1941, as war progressed, it obviously became more difficult to produce the small photos, and only three series were published. In 1942 only one series of Mäppchen appeared. In 1943, the production of Mäppchen in their original form was discontinued altogether, and in the last series (numbers 856 – 879) each Mäppchen consisted of just one single sheet of photo paper with 10 photos, printed below a bar featuring the name of the actress or actor, the series number, and the name of the publisher, Film.Foto.Verlag (18 x 24 cm.), which had by then replaced the original Ross Verlag. The Mäppchen series was produced for both the German and French (Belgium/The Netherlands) markets. On the French market cards, the words 'Imprimée en Allemagne' appear on each photo and even in a very small typeface on the front of the packet itself. Mäppchen 733, featuring Fredric March, provides an example of this. With the first packings a small sheet of paper was included with a list of the relevant series. This practice, however, was later discarded. Not all Mäppchen were identical – as mentioned above, the series number wasn’t always printed, but sometimes stamped, and not always in the same place. Early Mäppchen featured the word “Filmsterne”, in capital letters, under which the name was usually printed in capital letters. Although the quality of the photos was of the usual excellent Ross standard, this was not the case with the Mäppchen themselves. Consequently, many Mäppchen have not survived. Additionally, first generation collectors discarded Mäppchen in large numbers. And as only the Mäppchen were numbered, and not the photos inside, the photos often became separated from their original Mäppchen number. Today when purchasing a set of Mäppchenbilder with a Mäppchen, there's no certainty that the photos in it were originally issued in the particular Mäppchen. However, where the Mäppchen listing in this catalog is marked 'Confirmed,' there is some likelihood the set is as originally issued as collectors have collaborated to reconstruct the series. It's interesting to note that when discussing hand coloured photos, the webmaster of a site devoted to Greta Garbo (www.garboforever.com) tells us that "collectors who didn’t like that manual color, could get rid of it by putting the miniatures in cold water. After a while the light color was rinsed off and the result was a black and white card." | ||||
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This catalog was produced jointly by Werner Mohr (Germany), Hans Schnepper (The Netherlands), and Jean Ritsema (United States). Over the years, Werner has worked with collectors to rebuild the Mäppchen catalog, and just over 10 years ago, Hans received from a German collector a number of photocopies with a typed list of Mäppchenbilder. As Ross itself published no lists of its output, those that now exist, including this one, are due to the ceaseless enthusiasm of and cooperation between the previous generation of mainly German collectors.
In providing these on-line digital catalogs as a resource to collectors worldwide, there is no intention to infringe on any copyright. If there are any objections to any of the images, please let us know so we can correct the problem. The majority of the images were provided by Werner and Hans. | ||||
| The following is a list of the Mäppchen issued by year and season. Clicking on the hyperlinks from within the list will display the folder where available. To see the photos themselves, use the Alphabetical Index. | ||||
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Names featured in set 21 Camilla Horn, Gerda Maurus, Sybille Schmitz, Gustav Diessl, Paul Hörbiger, Oskar Karlweis, Hertha Thiele, Dorothea Wieck, Lucie Englisch, Johannes Riemann |
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Names featured in set 22 Fritz Schulz, Hermann Thimig, Harry Liedtke, Jenny Jugo, Karin Hardt, Gretl Theimer, Else Elster, Karl Ludwig Diehl, Wolf Albach-Retty, Lien Deyers (?) |
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Names featured in set 23 Harold Lloyd, Ramon Novarro, Buster Keaton, Douglas Fairbanks, Charles Rogers, Norma Shearer, Nancy Carroll, Jeanette MacDonald, Joan Crawford, Sylvia Sidney |
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Names featured in set 24 Elisabeth Bergner, Werner Krauss, Grete Mosheim, Rudolf Forster, Conrad Veidt, Paul Hartmann, Maria Bard, Emil Jannings, Paul Wegener, Heinrich George |
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Names featured in set 25 Maria Paudler, Lee Parry, Olga Tschechowa, Heinz Rühmann, Charlotte Susa, Trude Berliner, Theodor Loos, Ursula Grabley, Charlotte Ander, Georg Alexander |
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Names featured in set 26 Janet Gaynor, Albert Préjean, Anna May Wong, Charles Farrell, Henry Garat, Wallace Beery, Billie Dove, Adolphe Menjou, Dorothy Jordan, Suzy Vernon |
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Names featured in set 27 Fritz Kampers, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Elly Beinborn, Max Schmeling, Sepp Rist, Luis Trenker, Harry Piel, Lenie Riefenstahl, Hella Hartwich, Eddy Polo |
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Names featured in set 28 Rosy Barsony, Curt Bois, Harald Paulsen, La Jana, Marianne Winkelstein, Ery Bos, Ernst Verebes, Genia Nikolaiewa, Maria Solveg, Tibor v. Halmay |
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Names featured in set 29 Richard Tauber, Marcel Wittrisch, Hubert Marischka, Irene Essinger, Leo Slezak, Karl Jöken, Jan Kiepura, Willi Domgraf-Faßbaender, Feodor Schaljapin, Jarmila Novotna |
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Names featured in set 30 Adele Sandrock, Amanda Lindner, Szöke Szakall, Otto Wallburg, Felix Bressart, Jakob Tiedtke, Ida Wüst, Max Adalbert, Trude Hesterberg, Siegfried Arno |
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5. Frühjahr (Spring) 1934 91 Lilian Harvey 92 Willy Fritsch 93 Käthe von Nagy 94 John Boles 95 Renate Müller 96 Marlene Dietrich 97 Janet Gaynor 98 Dorothea Wieck 99 Greta Garbo 100 Lil Dagover 101 Nancy Carroll 102 Clark Gable 103 Charles Farrell 104 Magda Schneider 105 Anny Ondra 106 Gary Cooper 107 Camilla Horn 108 Luis Trenker 109 Henny Porten 110 Sylvia Sidney |
6. Sommer (Summer) 1934 111 Joan Crawford 112 Marlene Dietrich 113 Gustav Diessl 114 Marta Eggerth 115 Gustav Fröhlich 116 Karin Hardt 117 Lilian Harvey 118 Brigitte Helm 119 Camilla Horn 120 Viktor de Kowa 121 Jan Kiepura 122 Greta Garbo 123 Franziska Gaál 124 Käthe von Nagy 125 Ramon Novarro 126 Anny Ondra 127 Hermann Thimig 128 Dolores Del Rio 129 Heinz Rühmann 130 Luise Ullrich |
7. Herbst (Fall) 1934 131 Marlene Dietrich 132 Claudette Colbert 133 Sylvia Sidney 134 Jean Harlow 135 Norma Shearer 136 Lilian Harvey 137 Maurice Chevalier 138 Annabella 139 Gary Cooper 140 Hans Albers 141 Fredric March 142 Renate Müller 143 Liane Haid 144 Willy Fritsch 145 Brigitte Helm 146 Käthe von Nagy 147 Jenny Jugo 148 Greta Garbo 149 Magda Schneider 150 Gustav Fröhlich |
8. Winter 1934 151 Marlene Dietrich 152 Anna May Wong 153 Janet Gaynor 154 Renate Müller 155 Käthe von Nagy 156 Luise Ullrich 157 Karl Ludwig Diehl 158 Lien Deyers 159 Dolly Haas 160 Gustav Fröhlich 161 Brigitte Helm 162 Anny Ondra 163 Viktor de Kowa 164 Camilla Horn 165 Marianne Hoppe 166 Jeanette MacDonald 167 Magda Schneider 168 Lilian Harvey 169 Joan Crawford 170 Ramon Novarro |
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9. Frühjahr (Spring) 1935 171 Greta Garbo 172 Marlene Dietrich 173 Katherine Hepburn 174 Marta Eggerth 175 Sylvia Sidney 176 Annabella 177 Iwan Petrovich 178 Dolly Haas 179 Norma Shearer 180 Wolf Albach-Retty 181 Paula Wessely 182 Adolf Wohlbrück 183 Käthe von Nagy 184 Gitta Alpar 185 Lilian Harvey 186 Liane Haid 187 Shirley Temple 188 Jean Harlow 189 Anny Ondra 190 Magda Schneider |
10. Sommer (Summer) 1935 191 Joan Crawford 192 Claudette Colbert 193 Gary Cooper 194 Willy Fritsch 195 Viktor de Kowa 196 Dolores Del Rio 197 Lupe Velez 198 Elissa Landi 199 Marlene Dietrich 200 Shirley Temple 201 Greta Garbo 202 Paul Hörbiger 203 Annabella 204 Jarmila Novotna 205 Gustav Fröhlich 206 Henry Garat 207 Adolf Wohlbrück 208 Rudolf Forster 209 Renate Müller 210 Angela Salloker 211 Marta Eggerth 212 Ramon Novarro 213 Anny Ondra 214 Hans Albers 215 Lilian Harvey 216 Karl Ludwig Diehl 217 José Mojica 218 Clark Gable 219 Paula Wessely 220 Jan Kiepura |
11. Herbst (Fall) 1935 221 Sylvia Sidney 222 Gustav Fröhlich 223 Lien Deyers 224 Albert Lieven 225 Carola Höhn 226 Shirley Temple 227 Maurice Chevalier 228 Jeanette MacDonald 229 Carole Lombard 230 Claudette Colbert 231 Janet Gaynor 232 Wolf Albach-Retty 233 Franziska Gaál 234 Norma Shearer 235 Brigitte Helm 236 Luise Ullrich 237 Marianne Hoppe 238 Marta Eggerth 239 Camilla Horn 240 Marlene Dietrich 241 Annabella 242 Anny Ondra 243 Jenny Jugo 244 Sybille Schmitz 245 Liane Haid 246 Jean Harlow 247 Magda Schneider 248 Greta Garbo 249 Lilian Harvey 250 Adolf Wohlbrück |
12. Winter 1935 251 Marlene Dietrich 252 Greta Garbo 253 Lida Baarova 254 Maria Andergast 255 Willi Forst 256 Hansi Knoteck 257 Jenny Jugo 258 Shirley Temple 259 Magda Schneider 260 Gary Cooper 261 Marta Eggerth 262 Joan Crawford 263 John Boles 264 Anny Ondra 265 Jan Kiepura 266 Hans Söhnker 267 Harry Piel 268 Clark Gable 269 Luis Trenker 270 Karl Ludwig Diehl 271 Renate Müller 272 Käthe von Nagy 273 Gustav Fröhlich 274 José Mojica 275 Ramon Novarro 276 Paula Wessely 277 Adolf Wohlbrück 278 Lil Dagover 279 Viktor de Kowa 280 Lilian Harvey |
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13. Frühjahr (Spring) 1936 281 Shirley Temple 282 Shirley Temple 283 Heli Finkenzeller 284 Marika Rökk 285 Charles Laughton 286 Claudette Colbert 287 Jean Harlow 288 Norma Shearer 289 Sylvia Sidney 290 Willy Eichberger 291 Charles Boyer 292 Hans Stüwe 293 Hans Albers 294 Fredric March 295 Gitta Alpar 296 Anny Ondra 297 Magda Schneider 298 Elisabeth Bergner 299 Clark Gable 300 Jenny Jugo |
14. Frühjahr (Spring) 1936 Orange/Red holder containing 6 large photos 301 Shirley Temple 302 Lilian Harvey 303 Marta Eggerth 304 Adolf Wohlbrück 305 Willy Fritsch 306 Jan Kiepura 307 Marlene Dietrich 308 Joan Crawford 309 Greta Garbo 310 Gustav Fröhlich |
15. Sommer (Summer) 1936 311 Lilian Harvey 312 Norma Shearer 313 Janet Gaynor 314 Gail Patrick 315 George Raft 316 Sylvia Sidney 317 Anna May Wong 318 Gary Cooper 319 Lida Baarova 320 Loretta Young 321 Madeleine Carroll 322 Lucie Englisch 323 Shirley Temple 324 Shirley Temple 325 Jean Harlow 326 Pierre Richard-Willm 327 Jeanette MacDonald 328 Joan Crawford 329 Claudette Colbert 330 Marlene Dietrich 331 Jenny Jugo 332 Willy Fritsch 333 Jan Kiepura 334 Maria Andergast 335 Hansi Knoteck |
16. Sommer (Summer) 1936 Orange holder containing 6 large photos 336 Lilian Harvey 337 Shirley Temple 338 Renate Müller 339 Adolf Wohlbrück 340 Marta Eggerth |
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17. Herbst (Fall) 1936 341 Shirley Temple 342 Magda Schneider 343 Robert Montgomery 344 Galdys Swarthout 345 Cary Grant 346 Simone Simon 347 Rochelle Hudson 348 Carl Brisson 349 Lil Dagover 350 Dorothea Wieck 351 Liane Haid 352 Karin Hardt 353 Norma Shearer 354 Freddie Bartholomew 355 Greta Garbo 356 Carole Lombard 357 Marika Rökk 358 Charles Boyer 359 Sybille Schmitz 360 Shirley Temple 361 Danielle Darrieux 362 Joan Crawford 363 Käthe von Nagy 364 Lilian Harvey 365 Marta Eggerth |
18. Herbst (Fall) 1936 Orange holder containing 6 large photos 366 Marianne Hoppe 367 Sylvia Sidney 368 Claudette Colbert 369 Clark Gable 370 Jean Harlow |
19. Winter 1936 371 Shirley Temple 372 Shirley Temple 373 Paula Wessely 374 Maureen O’Sullivan 375 Myrna Loy 376 Eleanor Powell 377 Loretta Young 378 Franchot Tone 379 Gustav Fröhlich 380 Pola Negri 381 Dolly Haas 382 Henry Garat 383 Annabella 384 Adolf Wohlbrück 385 Jean Harlow 386 Albrecht Schoenhals 387 Claire Trevor 388 Clark Gable 389 Jeanette MacDonald 390 Rolf Wanka |
20. Frühjahr (Spring) 1937 391 Marta Eggerth 392 Marika Rökk 393 Maria von Tasnady 394 Benjamino Gigli 395 Jean Harlow 396 Clark Gable 397 Joan Crawford 398 Robert Taylor 399 Frances Drake 400 Mae West 401 Carole Lombard 402 Simone Simon 403 Olga Tschechowa 404 Brigitte Horney 405 Carola Höhn 406 Greta Garbo 407 Shirley Temple 408 Shirley Temple 409 Willy Birgel 410 Zarah Leander |
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Sommer (Summer) 1937 411 Robert Taylor 412 Hans Jaray 413 Wolf Albach-Retty 414 Joan Crawford 415 Marlene Dietrich 416 Claudette Colbert 417 Sonja Henie 418 Paula Wessely 419 Franziska Gaál 420 John Boles 421 Greta Garbo 422 Gary Cooper 423 Charles Boyer 424 Vera Ferbasová 425 Anny Ondra 426 Jeanette MacDonald 427 Lilian Harvey 428 Annabella 429 Shirley Temple 430 Shirley Temple |
Herbst (Fall) 1937 Pink/Red holder containing 10 hand colored photos 431 Jeanette MacDonald 432 Greta Garbo 433 Tino Rossi 434 Simone Simon 435 Clark Gable 436 Loretta Young 437 Marlene Dietrich 438 Claudette Colbert 439 Robert Taylor 440 Shirley Temple |
Herbst (Fall) 1937 441 Freddie Bartholomew 442 Maureen O’Sullivan 443 Johnny Weissmüller 444 Eleanor Whithney 445 Magda Schneider 446 Jean Parker 447 Carole Lombard 448 Alice Faye 449 Marsha Hunt 450 Rochelle Hudson 451 Madeleine Carroll 452 Elissa Landi 453 Peter Bosse 454 Gustav Fröhlich 455 Heli Finkenzeller 456 Myrna Loy 457 Pola Negri 458 Annabella 459 Jean Harlow 460 Traudl Stark 461 Zarah Leander 462 William Powell 463 Robert Montgomery 464 Eleanor Powell 465 Katherine Hepburn 466 Shirley Temple 467 Luise Rainer 468 Nelson Eddy 469 Marta Eggerth 470 Lil Dagover |
Winter 1937 471 Shirley Temple 472 Shirley Temple 473 Shirley Temple 474 Dolores Del Rio 475 Simone Simon 476 George Raft 477 Gary Cooper 478 Maurice Chevalier 479 Jean Harlow 480 Ginger Rogers 481 Sylvia Sidney 482 Lilian Harvey 483 Norma Shearer 484 Greta Garbo 485 Fred MacMurray 486 Iwan Petrovich 487 Hans Söhnker 488 Olga Tschechowa 489 Karl Ludwig Diehl 490 Clark Gable 491 Sonja Henie 492 Traudl Stark 493 Rigaud 494 Robert Taylor 495 Hans Albers 496 Rolf Wanka 497 Tyrone Power 498 Willy Fritsch 499 Danielle Darrieux 500 Anny Ondra |
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Frühjahr (Spring) 1938 501 Jean-Pierre Aumont 502 Carole Lombard 503 Isa Miranda 504 Franchot Tone 505 Leslie Howard 506 Gloria Stuart 507 Myrna Loy 508 Anna May Wong 509 Katherine Hepburn 510 Marlene Dietrich 511 Jeanette MacDonald 512 Jean Arthur 513 Irene Dunne 514 Loretta Young 515 Paul Muni 516 June Knight 517 Lil Dagover 518 Robert Montgomery 519 Mary Carlisle 520 Luis Trenker 521 Marta Eggerth 522 Virginia Bruce 523 Zarah Leander 524 Claudette Colbert 525 Robert Taylor 526 Marika Rökk 527 Albrecht Schoenhals 528 Greta Garbo 529 Shirley Temple 530 Shirley Temple |
Sommer (Summer) 1938 531 Annabella 532 Simone Simon 533 Merle Oberon 534 Nelson Eddy 535 Dorothy Lamour 536 Claudette Colbert 537 Traudl Stark 538 Johannes Heesters 539 Willy Birgel 540 Olivia de Havilland 541 Sonja Henie 542 Lilian Harvey 543 Heli Finkenzeller 544 Hansi Knoteck 545 Clark Gable 546 Robert Taylor 547 Hans Richter 548 Magda Schneider 549 Kent Taylor 550 Greta Garbo 551 Fredric March 552 Sylvia Sidney 553 Freddie Bartholomew 554 La Jana 555 Gary Cooper 556 Eleanor Powell 557 Errol Flynn 558 Judy Garland 559 Shirley Temple 560 Shirley Temple |
Herbst (Fall) 1938 561 Greta Garbo 562 Clark Gable 563 Deanna Durbin 564 Benjamino Gigli 464 Traudl Stark 566 Gustav Fröhlich 567 Janet Gaynor 568 Allan Jones 569 Lida Baarova 570 Viktor Staal 571 Danielle Darrieux 572 Robert Taylor 573 Joan Crawford 574 Albert Matterstock 575 Shirley Temple 576 Shirley Temple 577 Frances Dee 578 Claire Trevor 579 Binnie Barnes 580 Constance Bennett 581 Pola Negri 582 Viktor de Kowa 583 Betty Grable 584 Rolf Moebius 585 Olympe Bradna 586 Jutta Freybe 587 Anny Ondra 588 Marlene Dietrich 589 Gary Cooper 590 Frits van Dongen |
Winter 1938 591 Paula Wessely 592 Charles Boyer 593 Claudette Colbert 594 Sonja Henie 595 Franziska Gaál 596 Dorothy Lamour 597 Deanna Durbin 598 Norma Shearer 599 Jeanette MacDonald 600 Myrna Loy 601 Grete Garbo 602 Lilian Harvey 603 Nelson Eddy 604 Joan Bennett 605 Gary Cooper 606 Eleanor Powell 607 Robert Taylor 608 Annabella 609 Clark Gable 610 Shirley Temple 611 Shirley Temple 612 Loretta Young 613 Simone Simon 614 Dorothea Wieck 615 La Jana |
