1939
The card series “FILM FAVOURITES 3rd Series,” printed in 1939 by A. & M. WIX, is a treasure for cinema enthusiasts and collectors. Each card, measuring approximately 3.65 cm x 6.67 cm, features a pair of actors, often co-stars in a film, with the back offering a brief biography of the depicted artists. More accessible than its predecessors from 1937 and 1938, this series remains a rare gem, consisting of 100 cards that include both Hollywood stars and British actor pairs, such as Marie Wilson and Johnny Davis, Virginia Field and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., among others. These cards not only pay homage to the legends of the silver screen but also serve as a window into the history and popular culture of the era. Each card enriches the collection with the title of the film in which the pair of actors starred together, providing additional historical value and broader context. These titles act as reminders of the cinematic productions of the time, offering a cultural reference point for enthusiasts and collectors. Each card thus becomes a keepsake that celebrates not only the icons of cinema but also the films in which they made their mark. The “FILM FAVOURITES 3rd Series” stands out as a fascinating tribute to Hollywood’s golden age and its lasting impact on popular culture, a true bridge between past and present that continues to enchant and inform. With its wealth of details and nostalgic charm, this card series is a splendid example of how such small objects can transform into precious witnesses of history.
1940
In 1940, during a period of technological and cultural transition, the company A. & M. Wix launched one of the most fascinating collections in the history of memorabilia: Cinema Cavalcade. Distributed in South Africa and England, hidden inside packs of MAX cigarettes, this inaugural album contained 250 cards that told the story of cinema from its very origins to the triumphs of Technicolor in the 1930s. The first album unfolds as a true journey: from the pioneering images of The Arrival of a Train at a Country Station (1896), which capture the wonder of the earliest films, to the great Hollywood classics featuring immortal faces such as Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Mary Pickford, and Rudolph Valentino. Most of the cards are in black and white, but some shine with vivid colors, highlighting milestone titles such as King of Jazz, Becky Sharp (the first full-length film entirely in Technicolor), A Star is Born, The Garden of Allah, and Dodge City. These color images were not mere aesthetic variations: they represented the prestige of the chosen films and testified to the revolution of cinema as it moved away from monochrome to embrace the light and saturation of Technicolor. The first album of Cinema Cavalcade is not just a collection of cards: it is a narrative archive that intertwines memory and imagination. Each card becomes a fragment of history, a bridge between the everyday act of opening a cigarette pack and the enchantment of the silver screen. The choice of three formats—small, medium, and large—was no accident: it was designed to build an orderly album, a visual mosaic that allowed collectors to leaf through cinema as if it were an illustrated book. This first album is special because it inaugurated a project that would leave a mark on cinematic collecting, gathering titles that range from silent films to sound, from epic to comedy, and preserving color cards that testify to the modernity and prestige of the films selected. To leaf through it today means to cross half a century of cultural history, to relive the thrill of the earliest screenings, and to witness the triumph of color. For collectors and enthusiasts, it remains a narrative treasure, an album of dreams that preserves the very soul of the silver screen.
1940
After the success of the first album, in 1940 the company A. & M. Wix continued its editorial project with the second volume of Cinema Cavalcade, distributed in South Africa and England inside packs of MAX cigarettes. Once again, the collection comprised 250 cards, printed in three different formats—small, medium, and large—and in both black-and-white and color. The album was not merely a sequel, but a true expansion of the cinematic narrative, weaving together the great names of Hollywood with directors, producers, and European icons. Leafing through the second album, one encounters figures such as Charlie Chaplin, captured in new poses, Greta Garbo in Anna Karenina and Ninotchka, James Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and once again Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind. Alongside the actors appear the great producers and directors—from Ernst Lubitsch to Frank Capra, from Alfred Hitchcock to Carol Reed—transforming the collection into a true atlas of cinema. The color cards, dedicated to titles such as The Thief of Bagdad, Sweethearts, Jesse James, The Wizard of Oz, Gulliver’s Travels, and The Adventures of Robin Hood, mark turning points in the history of cinema, when Technicolor brought to the screen fantastical worlds and epic adventures. These vivid images, set among the pages of the album, become milestones that reflect the modernity and prestige of the films selected. The second album of Cinema Cavalcade is special because it broadens the perspective: not only actors and famous scenes, but also producers, directors, and behind-the-scenes figures, giving shape to a more complete account of the cinematic machine. Each card becomes a piece of a mosaic that intertwines Hollywood and European cinema, epic and comedy, black-and-white and color. To leaf through it today means to relive the enchantment of an era when cinema was both spectacle and myth, and when collecting transformed cigarette cards into an archive of cultural memory. For enthusiasts and collectors, the second album remains a narrative treasure: an atlas of faces and stories that preserves the very soul of the silver screen.