JACK DEMPSEY - CURRENCY SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: TOM DRAKE, KAY FRANCIS, REX STUART, GRACE DARBY, HAZEL RANDALL, MARGARET HOLM, BASIL RATHBONE, GOVERNOR ARTHUR CAPPER, BING CROSBY - HFSID 175535

JACK DEMPSEY, BING CROSBY, BASIL RATHBONE, KAY FRANCIS, FRED ROBINSON, ARTHUR CAPPER and TOM DRAKE
Strip of eight notes from the United States and Algeria and from the Japanese occupation forces, signed by many celebrities, including champion boxer Jack Dempsey, singer Bing Crosby, actors Basil Rathbone, Kay Francis and Tom Drake, trombonist Fred Robinson and Kansas Governor Arthur Capper
Currency signed "Jack Dempsey", "Bing Crosby", "Basil Rathbone", "Kay Francis", "Arthur Capper" and "Tom Drake", "Fred Robinson", "Helen M. Nickell" in various inks. Many unidentified signatures merit further research. 49x2½ strip of taped-together currency. This strip of currency includes three $1 bills, two $2 bills, a 100 Algerian new franc note and a 1 Japanese Occupation shilling note. Billed as the "Manassa Mauler" and the "toughest man ever to come out of the West," the 6-foot, 190-pound DEMPSEY (1895-1983) met the 6-foot-6, 250-pound heavyweight champion Jess Willard on July 4, 1919, at Toledo, Ohio. Dempsey won on a 3rd-round knockout. During the next seven years, Dempsey defended his title only six times but made a lot of money in the process. His fight against Frenchman Georges Carpentier on July 2, 1921 produced boxing's first $1 million gate. He lost his title to Gene Tunney on Sept. 23, 1926 in a 10-round decision, after which he retired. Named the greatest fighter of the half-century in a 1950 Associated Press poll, he won 60 professional fights, 49 by knockout; lost 7, 1 by knockout; and fought 7 draws, 5 no-decisions, and 1 no-contest. American signer CROSBY (1904-1977), born Harry Lillis Crosby, won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Actor in Going My Way. He was also nominated for Best Actor for The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) and The Country Girl (1954). Known for his relaxed "crooning" style of singing, Crosby recorded more than 1,600 songs that sold at least 500 million copies. His 1942 single of White Christmas sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and was the best-selling single in any music category for more than 50 years. RATHBONE (1892-1967), who appeared on Broadway 23 times and won the 1948 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (The Heiress), is also known for his film work in period costume dramas. He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and King Louis XVI in If I Were King (1938). Rathbone also appeared as Murdstone in David Copperfield (1934), Evremonde in Tale of Two Cities (1935), Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Pompeii (1936), Karenin in Anna Karenina (1936) and Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). In 1939, he was cast as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the first of 14 screen appearances as Conan Doyle's master detective. Rathbone also played Holmes on radio from 1939 to 1946. Brunette and deep-voiced American actor FRANCIS (1903-1968), born Katherine Edwina Gibbs, had a brief stage career in the late 1920s, including several Broadway appearances, before debuting in films in 1929. She became a leading and glamorous star of the 1930s (despite a slight speech impediment that reportedly led to her nickname "the wavishing Kay Fwancis"). She appeared in a total of 70 movies and TV shows between 1929 and 1951, including The Cocoanuts (1929) and Raffles (1930). But Francis didn't show much care in selecting scripts and often took projects that other leading ladies rejected. Bette Davis gradually took over her place in Hollywood's pantheon, and Francis was relegated to B-movies by the 1940s. She did a lot of USO touring during World War II; her experiences were chronicled by fellow trouper Carole Landis in the book and then 1944 film Four Jills in a Jeep, but even this failed to revive her career. Her career was pretty much over by 1946, with only a few appearances on TV in the early 1950s. CAPPER (1865-1951), a newspaper publisher and owner of two radio stations, was Republican Governor of Kansas (1915-1919) and U. S. Senator (1919-1949). American actor DRAKE (1918-1982)started out with small Broadway parts and stock company assignments. In 1943, he got the lead in Janie. He made his film debut in Two Girls and a Sailor (1944). He returned to the MGM fold in Raintree County (1957). ROBINSON (1901-1984) began his musical journey in high school attending the Dana Musical Institute for trombone. He then went on to join Louis Armstrong's orchestra from 1928-1929. Robinson played for many bands/orchestras after 1929 but never as a solo trombonist. NICKELL was the Vice President for Smith Center, Kansas.  Toned and soiled. Adhesive tape present. Edges worn and lightly torn. Creased. Multiple folds. Signature lightly faded but legible.  Otherwise, fine condition.