It's Showtime! Film And Theater Stocks

I don't specifically collect revenue stamped paper, but I find some of them intriguing. I'm also a member of the stocks and bonds subforum on the sister site Stamp Community Family, but don't post there much these days. They are definitely more focused on the revenue than the paper.

Here's one that doesn't look like much but was a big deal in the film industry. Famous Players-Lasky was the first major studio during the silent era and eventually came to own the biggest chain of movie theatres in the country. It also created the first movie stars (Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford) and made some of the first epics: "The Sheik," the first "The Ten Commandments," and "Wings" which won the first Academy Award. The company eventually became Paramount Pictures.

$25.00 large size war bond issued by the Ward Theatre in Brooklyn. The picture of the theatre is from a later date.

Neat item! I had no idea a theater could issue a bond. Or was that something any business could do?

Three more tonight. I'm pretty sure the first two are live theaters rather than movie houses, but it's hard to know for certain. Keystone definitely looks operatic. The ticket company probably supplied tickets for a variety of events, performing arts and sports.

My typical rule is to collect only engraved certificates, but theaters is one category where I'm willing to pick up lithographed material like these.

Here's one I forgot about among my specimens. This company was only around for three years in the late 1930s.

Very nice!

Excellent!