1926 SILENT MOVIE BEN HUR MID-WEST TOUR w/ ORCHESTRA (?) PHOTO ALBUM

Item #994

6.75" x 10" photo album with over 60 photos of various sizes, held to the page with corner tabs. Written on the first page is "On the road with the picture "Ben Hur." (Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation). September 1926." There are about 20 photos after this first page, and than a page reads "January, 1926," and there are over 40 photos following that page. Ben Hur was a major silent picture released in 1925 starring Rudolph Valentino.

This tour seemed to travel by train and be centered in the mid-west. Places noted including Zanesville, OH, Cedar Rapids, IA, Rock Island, IL, Anamosa, IA, Des Moines, IA, Hannibal, MO, Kansas City, MO, etc. Of note, one photo shows the Dixon, Illinois Theatre and one is captioned "Rochelle, Ill, Vor der matinee." The last photo is of Brooklyn, NY and says "Back in April, 24, 1927."

Almost every photo is captioned and some are in English and some are in German. One photo in the back of the album is inscribed "To my dear friend Carl Steppi, sincerely, Osbaldo." I believe that this was a tour of this silent movie with a live orchestra. A search of Carl Steppi, finds that at one point, he was a Violinist with the St. Louis orchestra. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.

There is one missing photo, and the first few pages of the album are loose and the page edges sometimes have chips. Both covers have been taped on.

Price: $250.00