Foreign Ross Verlag Cards Ross published a series of cards for England without the Ross Verlag name on the cards.   Instead, they had the word "Foreign" in one corner of the photo on the card.   These were all handtinted color cards with a gloss finish.   Although the Ross Verlag number was still visible on the front of these cards, they also usually had another number on the back in the stamp box.   Non-tinted and tinted versions of these cards with the "Foreign" logo, and with the Ross Verlag name on them were also printed.   Perhaps this was a requirement in certain countries. Lily Damita Foreign card Anna May Wong Foreign card Foreign logo printed on front Back of Foreign Ross Card Number in stamp box Regular Ross and Foreign English Color Card Non-tinted and tinted cards with Ross name and Foreign logo.

Ross Verlag also published postcards for Italy and Sweden.   The name and numbers of Ross Verlag were on the card, but the Italian or Swedish distributor's names were printed on the back.   Ballerini & Fratini in Italy, and Nordisk Konst in Sweden also published their own line of postcards. Front of an Italian distributed Ross card.   No different than German version. Name of Italian distributer printed on back.   "Exclusive sale Publishing House Ballerini & Fratini, Florence" Back side of Myrna Loy postcard with Nordisk Konst name printed on it.

Ross Verlag published a F series of postcards for France, possibly just of French actors.   There were also regular Ross numbered cards published in a larger format, similar to the Luxus cards.   Some of these were Luxus numbers, some were regular card size numbers.   Some of these cards also had a E in front of the number.   The French series had "Edition Ross" printed on the card.   And instead of "Reproduction verboten," it had the French equivalent "Reproduction interdite." Annie Vernay F series by Ross Verlag for France Luxus Size French Version with Regular Card Number French version on left and original German on right. French card with "E" in front of number

There was also another series of cards published for France.   In the early 30's, after the advent of sound in motion pictures, movie musicals were as popular in Germany as they were in America.   Some German films were shot, not only in German versions, but in French and English language versions with different casts (this also occured in America, most famously with a Spanish language version of "Dracula," and a German language version of Greta Garbo's "Anna Christie.")   Since some stars were multi-linqual, they could appear in more than one version.   This was true of Lilian Harvey, who could speak all three languages.   These French cards showed Lilian with her French co-star in the French language versions of a couple of these films.   This series also had cards of just the French actors. Lilian Harvey and Henry Garat on two Ross Verlag postcards published for France Odette Florelle French published Ross card

Perhaps the most unusual link to the Ross Verlag name comes from the Northern European country of Latvia, one of the three Baltic states.   The Ross names shows up on movie star postcards from a company named EmBR.   EmBR stands for "Emilie Benjamin, Riga."   Emilie Benjamin's husband was a wealthy newspaper publisher in Riga, the capital of Latvia.   Apparently Emilie was a big fan of movies, because she decided to start up her own postcard publishing business.   There must have been an agreement worked out with Ross Verlag to republish some of their movie star photos on EmBR's cards.   The cards had their own numbering separate from the Ross numbering, and the EmBR cards were slightly smaller than the Ross postcard.   The cards had "Reproducet aizliegts" printed on the cards, instead of "Reproduction verboten."   EmBR also published postcards with photos that were not found on Ross cards.   These cards did not have the Ross name on them, although it is possible she may have obtained the photos from Ross.   After the Russian invasion of the Baltic States, Mr. Benjamin was killed and Emilie was arrested and sent to a Russian prison camp, where she perished. Special thanks to Hans Schnepper for the above reseach. Carola Höhn Embr Ross card Ross name with EmBR logo Anta Klints Embr non Ross card Joan Crawford EmBR card and original Ross Verlag card Ross number is actually visible in bottom left corner of EmBR card. Ross Number on EmBR card

FORWARD TO "TOBACCO CARDS" BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE