This 1 3/8" x 2 3/4" Movie Player Picture card is one of a series of 32 from the Western Printing and Litho Company that were distributed in Mystery Boxes of Cracker Jack beginning in May 1934. This card, one of 22,689,122 purchased for the promotion according to one report, has an unidentified movie star's picture on the front and a biographical sketch of the actor on the back.

The Cracker Jack Company began its Cracker Jack Mystery Club promotion in May 1933 with the distribution of "Silverine" President Medals in Mystery Boxes of Cracker Jack and Checkers. These boxes had a cardboard "slug" divider separating prizes and the confection. Following the rules printed on one side of the slug, children could use the form printed on the other side of the divider to join the Mystery Club by sending it in with a varying number of different coins from the series of 31 found in the boxes. The number of coins required for membership varied from 10 to 3 to 5 over time.

Canceled versions of the coins were returned along with a membership certificate and a little gift. The gifts included necklaces, magic tricks, puzzles, toy airplanes, games, pinball games, shell flowers, and so forth. Two unusual gifts mentioned in company records were "Musical Buns" and "Yogi Head Cutters," whatever those are.

In May 1934, the President Medal promotion was replaced with the Movie Player Picture offer. To join the Mystery Club with Movie Player Picture cards, children were challenged to identify the actors pictured on the cards, with the aid of clues printed on the back. They were instructed to "Write Movie Star's Name Here" on a line under the picture. As shown below on the Movie Player offer slug, three cards were required for membership. (There is another version of the slug with blue print on one side and red print on the other and slightly different wording.)

In addition to Clark Gable pictured above, other popular actors and actresses featured on the cards included John Barrymore, Mickey Rooney, Delores Del Rio, Jimmy Durante, W. C. Fields, Katherine Hepburn, and Carole Lombard, and some who today are less familiar: Tom Brown, Clive Brook, Ann Harding, Jack Holt, Alissa Landi, Charles Ruggles, and Alison Skipworth.

The new member received a letter on Cracker Jack Mystery Club stationery, a gift, and a certificate. The Movie Player Picture membership certificate differed from the one received with the President Medal deal, with text referring specifically to the movie star cards:

This is to certify that the bearer has collected the necessary number of Movie Player Pictures and guessed the names of the Players found in Mystery Cracker Jack or Mystery Checkers packages, and therefore, is now a member of the Cracker Jack Mystery Club.

This entitles the bearer to receive this membership certificate and the courtesies of Jack the Sailor Boy, Grand Magician.

Image from Alex Jaramillo's Cracker Jack Prizes p. 42
Used by permission of author

The accompanying letter mentioned the gift. Notice in the postscript the extra effort of the company to make sure kids did not get duplicate gifts if they rejoined:

Dear Member:

I received your cards of motion picture players and have carefully checked the names thereon. Your guesses now entitle you to a Membership Certificate in the CRACKER JACK MYSTERY CLUB, which you will find enclosed.

For complying with all details I am enclosing a complimentary gift, which I hope you and your friends will enjoy.

Join the club again--it's lots of fun--just as often as you wish. Save three pictures found in Cracker Jack or Checkers packages, guess the names and send them in.

Yours very truly,

CRACKER JACK MYSTERY CLUB
Jack - The Sailor Boy
Grand Magician

P. S. If you send for another membership, please mention what gift or gifts you received before.

Cracker Jack Exhibit, COSI Museum, Columbus, Ohio, 1995

The percentage of girls joining the Mystery Club significantly increased during the Movie Player Picture promotion. The number of girls requesting membership with Movie Player Pictures exceeded the number of requests from boys. With the President Medal promotion, approximately 60% of the requests were from boys; with the Movie Player Picture promotions, the percentages were approximately reversed: 60% girls, 40% boys.

In general, this Mystery Club promotion was discontinued "about December 1, 1934." However, it was still offered in the packages sold on the Pacific coast in 1935. The Cracker Jack Company received membership requests with both Movie Player Pictures and President Medals submissions as late as 1935. In all, from 1933 through 1937, there were 229,106 Mystery Club requests received: 139,966 through the President Medals campaign and 89,140 through the Movie Player Picture promotion.

 

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© Jim Davis 3/22/03
Revised 7/5/03