1939 Mars Confections Famous Film Stars Set and Checklist

‘It’s In The Details’

Title Mars Confections Famous Film Stars
Year 1939
Size 1 5/16″ x 2 11/16″
Images Color
Type Gum and Candy
Number in Set
50

1939 Mars Confections Famous Film Stars Overview

This 50-card candy set is typically considered a non-sports set, featuring famous actors and actresses. However, the sports tie in it is obvious with several of those subjects shown playing a variety of sports.

The cards are a shade smaller than the early tobacco and candy cards that preceded them. Measuring well under 1 1/2″ wide, they are quite narrow. The fronts feature color depictions of a subject with his/her name while the backs include a biography as well as the Mars Confectionery name at the bottom and the Famous Film Stars title at the top. Backs also included the name of the film studio with which the actor/actress was affiliated. The cards are relatively thin in nature.

This set is usually referred to as a Mars Confectionery issue. But the cards were actually packaged with that company’s Milky Way candy bars.

The ‘most popular’ of the sports depicted is golf. Three subjects, W.C. Fields, Norma Shearer, and Franchot Tone are depicted playing that sport. Other sports shown include cycling, table tennis, badminton, and horseback riding. The other cards are of a non-sports nature, picturing celebrities doing other activities or just sitting/standing or in portrait poses.

Of particular note is that a card for movie star Robert Young is sometimes called a tennis card as he is shown swinging a racket. But the sport shown is badminton instead.

The closest thing to a true sports card is No. 14, which depicts champion swimmer Johnny Weissmuller. Weissmuller, who was also a movie star famous for starring in Tarzan, is shown sitting poolside in plain clothes. For sports fans, Weissmuller’s card is typically the most desirable, usually in the $10-$15 range.

1939 Mars Confections Famous Film Stars Checklist

Any sports cards are identified below.

  1. Will Hay
  2. Bing Crosby
  3. Jack Oakie
  4. Jessie Matthews
  5. Jeannette Macdonald
  6. Lionel Barrymore
  7. Elizabeth Allan
  8. Wallace Berry
  9. Franchot Tone (Golf)
  10. Spencer Tracy
  11. Freddie Bartholomew
  12. Ray Milland
  13. Greta Garbo
  14. Johnny Weissmuller (Swimming)
  15. Robert Taylor
  16. Clark Gable (Cycling)
  17. Joan Crawford (Table Tennis)
  18. Norma Shearer (Golf)
  19. Robert Montgomery
  20. Luise Rainer
  21. Myrna Loy
  22. W.C. Fields (Golf)
  23. Ida Lupino
  24. Sylvia Sidney
  25. William Boyd
  26. Gladys Swarthout
  27. Nova Pilbeam
  28. Gary Cooper
  29. Anita Louise
  30. Pat O’Brien
  31. Fred Macmurray
  32. Claudette Colbert
  33. Lauren and Hardy
  34. Robert Young (Badminton)
  35. William Powell (Horse Riding)
  36. Max Miller
  37. Merle Oberon
  38. Laurence Olivier
  39. Raymond Massey
  40. Vivien Leigh
  41. Errol Flynn
  42. George Raft
  43. Bette Davis
  44. John Blondell
  45. Edward Robinson
  46. Paul Muni
  47. Dick Powell
  48. Tamara Desni
  49. Jean Gillie
  50. Carole Lombard