Shirley Temple is arguably the most popular child actress of all time. And while many folks living today have not likely seen her movies, her fame has lived on for nearly a century.

As you might expect, I do have some of her cards. Particularly, some of my favorites are her first cards. Both are from 1934 and part of international sets. One is from a Garbaty series, titled ‘Modern Beauty’ (translated from Moderne Schönheitsgalerie) while the other is part of a Godfrey Phillips movie set. Both are sets that feature actresses.

Of recent interest, though, are some football cards of the famous actress. And these are hard to dislike, even if Temple was never an actual football player.

Temple is pictured in a football uniform posing with a ball on at least four cards. Whether there are more or not, I cannot say. But in the 3-4 years I’ve known about these cards, I have only ever encountered these four.

To most that have seen them, they would appear to depict Temple as a character in a movie. But while that may be the case, I have not yet found any evidence online that the pictures were from a real film.

The first two are from a set issued in Holland. While untitled, they are from the 1935 Klene Gum set, a large series featuring roughly 200 cards, all dedicated to Temple. Both are blank-backed.

Why would Temple be featured so heavily in the Netherlands of all places? Because she had Dutch roots. Her ancestry traced back to Holland and she was a popular figure in that country because of it.

Two football cards are in the set. One, No. 10 is a black and white card, picturing Temple standing, holding a football, along with an unknown dog. The other is a color card, No. 133, picturing her almost in an offensive line stance holding a ball.

From personal experience in chasing these cards, the color one seems to be the more difficult variant. Of the few that have been graded by both PSA and SGC, five of the black and white cards have been graded as opposed to only two of the color.

That is, admittedly, a very small sample size. But that has gone on with my personal experience as well. Both are difficult to find but I have seen fewer of the color cards available. Like many series’, it is possible that the high-numbered cards were printed in fewer quantities.

The Klene cards are often identified as ‘rookies’ or ‘first cards’ by some sellers. But that obviously isn’t the case with the two earlier 1934 issues. Still, these cards are far rarer than either of those.

The third card of Temple in football gear is her Fox Film postcard.

This card features a narrower, cropped version of her black and white Klene card.

With the Fox Film name, many would be inclined to classify this as an American card. But it actually isn’t. We know that this is another Dutch card because of the back, which includes some Dutch language.

So if these cards weren’t scenes as part of a film, where did they originate?

They could have been used for a photo shoot of sorts. And the only reference to the images I’ve seen is from an old book seen here. The pose, of course, is the same one used on the color Klene Gum card.

In it, there’s some commentary that gives a little context. Temple says she’d love to be a football captain and that she plays the sport with her brothers at home. Unfortunately, her parents deem the game too rough and suggest she play golf instead. According to a listing with that book, it is dated to 1936.

The fourth card of Temple is a blank-backed Spanish postcard variant of the Fox Film postcard. It has the same image. The card is part of a Series B and numbered as the first card in the series. This one seems rarest of all.

Two final points. First, I’ve seen another postcard of Temple. But I have not featured it here as it is a post-war card and pictures Temple as an adult with a football helmet. Second is that, Temple was featured on so many cards and postcards as a young child that it would not surprise me if there were other variants of these cards — or even other football cards entirely. These are merely the four that have come up in my searches thus far.

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