Getting Started on Deanna Durbin Collectibles
by John Parascandola
There are a wide variety of Deanna Durbin collectibles
on the market, including movie posters, sheet music, record albums, magazines
with stories and/or covers featuring Deanna, dolls, postcards, cigarette
cards, books, photographs and more. I can provide here only a brief
introduction on how to get started for those who are new to the game of
collecting Deanna memorabilia.
Obviously, you will first need to decide what to
collect. You can focus entirely on just one or two categories of
materials, or collect representative items from a wide variety of categories
(perhaps with more emphasis on some than others). Unless you have
an unlimited budget, what you collect will depend to some extent on what
you can afford, or at least what you wish to spend. I have seen Deanna
items ranging from a couple of dollars to a thousand dollars or more.
Fortunately there are very few items that sell at this upper extreme, and
many items can be purchased in the range of ten to a hundred dollars.
Postcards and cigarette cards featuring Deanna are
among the least expensive items, selling mostly in the range of about $5
to $10. Sheet music for some of Deanna's songs, featuring her on
the cover, can often be found for anywhere from a few dollars to $20 or
$25. However, less common or especially in-demand , particularly
if they are in excellent condition, can sell for significantly more.
As with all collectibles, condition is important in determining price,
and prices vary from dealer to dealer. Most (but not all) of the
Deanna sheet music is for songs from her films. A good guide to what
music has been issued from movies and who published it is Donald J. Stubblebine,
"Cinema Sheet Music: A Comprehensive Listing of Published Film Music
from Squaw Man (1914) to Batman (1989)," McFarland & Co., Box 611,
Jefferson, NC 28640 (phone: 910-246-4460). However, Stubblebine
does not provide information on prices, dealers, etc. His book serves
Deanna fans basically as a record of the titles and publishers of the sheet
music for songs from her films.
Magazines featuring Deanna on the cover can vary
in price from about $10 to more than $50. Price may be influenced
by the magazine itself, the attractiveness of the cover, condition, and
age (magazines from the 1930s, e.g., are generally more expensive than
those from the 1940s).
Among the more popular collectibles, but not among
the least expensive, are movie posters from Deanna's films. These
include one sheets (27" x 41"), half sheets (22" x 28"), inserts (14" x
36") and lobby cards (11" x 14" in size, and were generally issued in sets
of eight) as well as several less common sizes. I have purchased
several one sheets in rather good condition for $60 to $75, although these
were good buys and not for her earlier or most popular movies so should
not necessarily be considered to be typical of one sheet prices.
One sheets (and sometimes even half sheets or inserts) for some of her
movies are not infrequently seen for sale at $100 to $250. I paid
$165 for the one sheet for It Started with Eve, although it was
in excellent condition and linen backed (which adds to the value).
I have also seen one sheets for her earlier films, such as Three Smart
Girls and One Hundred Men and a Girl, selling for a thousand
dollars or so. Individual lobby cards may often be found in the $25
to $50 range, but can go for up to about $100 depending upon the film,
condition, and whether or not the card is the title card for the film.
One can often get a better price per card by buying a complete lobby card
set, when you can find them. In general, posters of whatever size
from Deanna's earliest films tend to be harder to find and more expensive.
Good guides to collecting posters are "1996-1997 Movie Poster Price Almanac,"
edited by John Kisch, Separate Cinema Publications, P.O. Box 114, Hyde
Park, NY 12538 (phone: 914-45-1998; fax: 914-454-7131) and
"Collecting Movie Posters: An Illustrated Reference Guide," by Edwin
and Susan Poole, McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640 (phone:
910-246-4460).
Where does one find these collectibles? There
are a wide variety of ways to locate and purchase Deanna memorabilia.
One of the most useful sources is the biweekly publication "Movie Collectors
World." Each issue contains hundreds of ads for movie and related
memorabilia (including posters, sheet music and magazines). You can
subscribe to MCW for a year (26 issues) for $45.00. Call 1-800-273-6883
to subscribe or for further information. In addition to reviewing
the items offered for sale in the ads, you can contact the dealers who
advertise and alert them to your wants. I should note here that the
"Poster Price Almanac" mentioned above also includes a list of names and
addresses of movie poster dealers. You can also place an ad in MCW
or other publications (such as "Classic Images") indicating your wants,
and interested sellers will contact you. MCW also has a home page
on the web which you can visit if you have access to the Internet (http://www2.arenapub.com/mcw).
Speaking of the Internet, it is also a good source
for locating Deanna memorabilia. Two sites which will link you to
a number of movie memorabilia dealer sites are GTN-Hotlinks-Movie
Memorabilia and Movie
Memorabilia Mall. The Advanced
Book Exchange allows you to search the online inventories of a number
of out-of-print book dealers. There are only a few books that are
Deanna Durbin collectibles (such as two 1941 novels for adolescents by
Kathryn Heisenfelt, "Deanna Durbin and the Feather of Flame" and "Deanna
Durbin and the Adventure of Blue Valley," both published by Whitman in
Racine, Wisconsin), but I have found magazines, record albums, books of
music for Deanna's songs, autographed photographs, etc. for sale on ABE.
Other Deanna book items that could potentially be found on the ABE site
include coloring books and books of cut-out paper dolls. Another
website worth mentioning is eBay,
an online searchable auction site where you can bid on a variety of items.
I have seen Deanna sheet music, dolls, and other items listed on eBay.
Another site worth mentioning is the Movie
Card Website which provides information, checklists, and sales lists
of movie star cigarette cards and other trading cards.
There are numerous movie collectible shows held
in various parts of the country. Many, but not all, are listed in
publications such as MCW. Ephemera shows are also potential sources
of Deanna items. If you live in or near a city with stores that sell
movie memorabilia, you are indeed fortunate. But stores that sell
ephemera or used books are also potential sources of Deanna collectibles.
If you become seriously involved in collecting Deanna
memorabilia, you will in time come in contact with other collectors who
may have duplicate items that they wish to trade or sell. You will
also establish ties to dealers who may then contact you when they have
Deanna items to offer. You may even find yourself purchasing items
from dealers in countries other than your own (remember that Deanna was
popular worldwide). For example, I have bought materials from dealers
in Britain, Spain, and Uruguay. I wish you the best of luck in your
collecting. I am sure that it will bring you many hours of enjoyment.
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