ASTOS Volume 2, Number 5.  January 31, 2004
All-Star things-and-other-stuff
Brought to you by things-and-other-stuff

WARM-UPS: 
Sorry again for the delay, everyone, but as promised here is the January 31 edition of All-Star things-and-other-stuff, or ASTOS.  Welcome to our new subscribers, I hope you enjoy!

All the items I promised in the late notice are here: the now familiar Ken's Comedy Corner features Laurel & Hardy by Ken Lashway; newcomer Lisa Smith takes a look at the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry; there is a complete photo essay featuring the extremely rare 1939 Film Fantasy Playing Card set from the UK; Hollywood Stories by Stephen Schochet also takes on a collectibles theme this month with Can I Have Your Autograph?; and finally we wrap up with The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone featuring Colleen Moore. 

Please feel free to take a look at our eBay auctions which if you visit soon feature some original 1920's Studio Publicity Portraits as well as circa 1915 Felt Pennants featuring the likes of early stars such as Henry B. Walthall, Jack Kerrigan, Clara Kimball Young and others--these pennants are in phenomenal shape.  (The photo and pennant auctions are ending late in the evening of February 5). 

Just arrived (I opened the package today!) and soon to be listed are individual items from a collection of 40+ movie theater programs/handbills from the 1929-30 period.  These are great historical items, just about every film featured boasting that it's an "All Talking Picture."  Had a good time looking these over tonight and seeing a nice mix of names, some associated with Silents, others with Talkies.  (Coming immediately to mind are Buster Keaton, Marx Brothers, Claudette Colbert, Carol Lombard, Bob Steele, William Boyd, Harold Lloyd, a few featuring Alice White, and many others!)

The Catalog  carries many additions, again please take a look sometime soon.

Please also take a look at our home page for ways you can contribute to this newsletter and our site even if you are not a collector.  Just scroll down about halfway and have a look on the left.  We thank you for your assistance. 

To the time tunnel we go!
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Ken's Comedy Corner by Ken Lashway
LAUREL & HARDY
They were as close in real life as they appeared on screen, and perhaps it was this genuine symbiotic relationship which came through so well on film to make Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy the most beloved comedy team of the early twentieth century. Their screen characters were bumbling and innocent, and there always seemed to be ‘another fine mess’ waiting just around the corner to entangle them, but whether they managed to elude these troubles or not, they always found a way to make them funny.

This is just a teaser--check out Ken's entire column with pictures!
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Ken Lashway is a freelance writer from New York. Watch for his regular column on the greats of early Screen Comedy in each issue of ASTOS. 
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GENE AUTRY
By Lisa Smith
Hollywood’s singing cowboy was born Orvon Gene Autry on September 29, 1907 to Delbert and Elnora Ozmont Autry.  His love for music was inherited from his grandfather, who taught Autry to sing when he was five years old. His singing was encouraged by his mother who sang hymns and folk songs to him and bought him his first guitar at the age of 12. At 15 he had already played his music in school plays and at a local café in his small home town of Tioga, Texas. 

This is just a teaser--check out Lisa's entire column with pictures!
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Lisa Smith is a freelance writer from the state of Indiana.  This is Lisa's first submission to ASTOS.
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1939 Film Fantasy Playing Cards
Please be sure to scroll down this page for eleven separate links to scans of each and every card in this set, each film featured on its own page!
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Hollywood Stories: Can I Have Your Autograph?
By Stephen Schochet
Being a celebrity means dealing with fan demands for autographs, ranging from polite and appropriate to rude and overbearing. One time Katherine Hepburn was performing on Broadway and tried to exit backstage through a crowd of jostling autograph hounds. Bodyguards helped her to her limo and once safely inside the very private star rolled down the window and shouted,” Run em down! We’ll clean up the blood later!”
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This is just a teaser--check out Stephen's entire column with pictures!
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Stephen Schochet is the author and narrator of the audiobooks Fascinating Walt Disney and Tales Of Hollywood. The Saint Louis Post Dispatch says,” these two elaborate productions are exceptionally entertaining.” Hear RealAudio samples of these great, unique gifts at http://www.hollywoodstories.com.
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The Silent Collection by Tammy Stone
Colleen Moore
There isn’t too much information about Colleen Moore out there today, and it doesn’t help matters that most of her films, once so popular, are either irretrievably lost to history or not deemed (as of yet) worthy of reissue. In her heyday, Colleen – not the most beautiful, perhaps not even the most distinctive – was nevertheless a force to be reckoned with, both at the box office and in terms of her comedic talent. Touted as one of the three defining flappers of the twenties – alongside Clara Bow and Louise Brooks, both better-remembered today –

This is just a teaser--check out Tammy's entire column with pictures!
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Tammy Stone is a freelance writer and journalist based in Toronto. Watch for her regular column on the greats of the Silent Screen here in each and every issue of ASTOS.  Tammy invites you to write her at stonetamar@hotmail.com with any questions or comments on her column.
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We'll be back on February 15 (and I mean it!) with another packed issue of ASTOS!  Ken Lashway, Stephen Schochet, and Tammy Stone will each be back with their regular features (though I do know that Tammy is working on something special for us to come at a future date!).  Suprina Frazier is also back, this time to profile Olivia de Havilland, and of course we'll feature another vintage collectible for you as well.  'Til then, take care!

As always feel free to e-mail any thoughts or ideas to us at things@things-and-other-stuff.com, we're always willing to listen. 
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