Collectible Matchbooks of Radio Stars from the 1930’s
A surprise find on a random Google images search brings up these promotional matchbooks distributed by NBC in the late 1930’s. This is the second one (from 1938) I’ve found. A handful of stable stars were selected to appear on these and they probably lit a lot of cigarettes in the day.
The matchbook cover reads:
Sixteen year old singing star who astounded listeners when she appeared as a guest star with Rudy Vallee five years ago. Despite her youth, Mary is quite at home in front of a microphone. Can learn a song in five minutes, and adopts it to her own style. She was born in Baltimore on May 13* and has been singing since she celebrated her fifth birthday.
*Mary’s birthday is listed as May 10th on IMDB and May 13th in a Press Release on her 13th Birthday.
The matchbooks were made by the Diamond Match Company which you can read more about here.