Bing Crosby Memorabilia, Advertising, and Promotional Items




 Photograph signed by Bing, circa 1929. 






Lobby card, Star Spangled Rhythm, 1942.






Left to right: Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Bing, and Bob Hope clowning around before taping a Hope TV special. Wire photo, 1975.






The top box office movie stars of 1948, featured on a magazine page from 1949.






Photograph of The Rhythm Boys: Al Rinker (left), Bing (waving to camera), and Harry Barris (seated on the right), 1928.






Advertisement promoting the Rhythm Boys with bandleader Gus Arnheim at the Cocoanut Grove, circa 1930.






Sheet music, 1931.






Photo signed by Bing, early 1930s.






We're Not Dressing promotional still, 1934.






Sheet music, 1932.






Print ad, 1942.







Press photos, 1945. Bing and his costar Barry Fitzgerald had just won Oscars for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, in Going My Way (which also won for Best Picture), while Ingrid Bergman won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Gaslight. Bing and Ingrid were set to costar in the sequel to Going My Way, The Bells of St. Mary's, which would premiere that December.









 Multi-page trade ad, 1945.






Unpublished photos of Bing with U.S. troops in Europe during WWII.






Pamphlet given to GIs returning from WWII, 1945.






1966 ad.






Pre-"White Christmas" Decca Records promotional flyer.






Whitman's Chocolates ad with Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, promoting Road to Bali, 1952-53.






With Eddie Lang in a publicity still for The Big Broadcast, 1932.






Sheet music, 1934.






Press photo with Fred Astaire in France, 1944.







With Barry Fitzgerald, Leo McCarey, and radio scriptwriter Bill Morrow on the March 28, 1945 Armed Forces Radio Service Mail Call program, which honored the multiple-Oscar winning film, Going My Way.






78 rpm album, Blue Skies, 1946. 






Ad for the film Blue Skies, Life magazine, September 1946.






With Frank Sinatra and Frankie Laine on the set of High Society, 1956.






Bing records with Frank Sinatra, 1963 press photo.






1966 ABC-TV press photo promoting Bing with Leslie Uggams on The Hollywood Palace.






Press photo of Bing on the NYC subway, 1976.






Two-page magazine ad, 1949.






Wheaties ad with Bob Hope, circa 1950.






A 1955 10" promotional record of Bing answering questions provided on accompanying interview sheet, for radio DJs. In answer to question #3, Bing mentions "My Isle of Golden Dreams," modestly adding, "I think I sounded fairly tolerable [on] that record."






Bing preaches to the choir, plugging Sports Illustrated in Sports Illustrated, 1957. 






Bing records the 1960 installment of A Christmas Sing With Bing with Rosemary Clooney.






Lobby card, Going My Way, 1944.






Movie still, Going My Way, 1944.






Going My Way at the Paramount Theater, New York, 1944.






Novelization of The Bells of St. Mary's, 1946. 
Below: 1947 paperback edition. 







Still from The Bells of St. Mary's, with Ingrid Bergman 1945.






Frank Sinatra, Bing, pro golfer Harold "Jug" McSpaden, unidentified serviceman, Kay Kyser, Bob Crosby, and Bob Hope at a Crosby-Hope pro-am benefit at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank, CA. The tournament took place on January 29-30, 1944, with a war bond auction following its conclusion on the second day. Kay Kyser bid $20,000 to hear Bing and Frank sing together--they responded with a duet of "People Will Say We're in Love."
Info source: Bing Crosby, Day by Day, by Malcolm Macfarlane.






Snapshot, likely taken by an audience member, of Bing with Roy Rogers on The Kraft Music Hall radio program, June 29, 1944.






Pamphlet (top: closed, bottom: open) promoting the MGM film Going Hollywood, 1933.






Signed photo, early 1930s.






Publicity photo for the Mack Sennett short, Billboard Girl, 1932.






Sheet music for "Moonstruck," 1933.






Sheet music for Rodgers and Hart's "Soon," 1935.






Publicity still from Rhythm on the Range (1936).






Ad for gas appliances, 1957.






Bing with Anthony Quinn (left) and Bob Hope, Road to Morocco movie still, 1942.






Austrian Road to Rio program, 1947.








Broadcasting to GIs with Bette Davis, 1945 press photo.






The Emperor Waltz Lobby Card, 1948.






Special Road to Zanzibar script for overseas release, with instructions for writing subtitles, 1941.









Road to Zanzibar still, 1941.






Bearded Bing, 1943 Associated Press wire photo.






June 1948 Metronome, reviewing a Crosby biography by Barry Ulanov.








Drive-in move theater poster for Going My Way, 1950 re-release.






Cardboard record promoting the use of gas appliances, 1957.






Sheet music, 1943. 






September 2, 1944 edition of Melody Maker, covering the first leg of Bing's trip to Europe to entertain troops during WWII.








With Frank Sinatra, 1943.







Circa 1952 ad for Bing Crosby Ice Cream.






1934 ad for Woodbury's Soap, one of Bing's earliest radio sponsors.






Pennant, circa 1930s.






Here Is My Heart window card, 1934. 






Waikiki Wedding movie still, 1937.






Trade ad for I Surrender, Dear on the back cover of the 10-6-31 issue of Motion Picture Digest.






Trade ad for Wurlitzer juke boxes, 1936.






Bing with Frances Farmer, Rhythm on the Range movie still, 1936.






Sheet music, 1938.






With Fred MacMurray, Ellen Drew, and Donald O'Connor in a Sing You Sinners movie still, 1938.






Paramount publicity photo, circa 1940.






Dodge ad, 1936. 






A still from The Big Broadcast of 1936.






Autobiography, 1953.






Bing and the Andrews Sisters pose with songwriter Irving Berlin to promote their recording of Berlin's "The Freedom Train," 1947.






 Bing Crosby Paint color samples, circa 1950.






Promotional photo for a wartime rodeo featuring Bing and Bob Hope.






Promotional photo for United Cerebral Palsy Fund, with Bob Hope, 1952.







AC spark plug ad, 1959.






 Bing pitches Minute Maid on an in-store poster, early 1950s. 






Blotter promoting Road to Bali.






RC Cola ad, 1946. 






Sheet music, 1944.






Sheet music, 1949.






With Bob Hope, Olympic Telethon, 1952. 






With Louis Armstrong on The Hollywood Palace, 1967 promo photo.






Ticket to the premiere of Going My Way, 1944.






 Ticket to Bing's radio show for Chesterfield, 1951. 






Lobby card, The Country Girl, 1954. 






Production still, The Country Girl, 1954






Print ad for High Society, 1956.






With World Heavyweight Champion boxer Ezzard Charles, 1950.






Bing and Dean Martin on The Dean Martin Show, 1967.






Bing with Dorothy Lamour in a Road to Utopia still, 1944.






With Bob Hope (and Jim Thorpe) in another Road to Utopia still.






In-store poster promoting Bing Crosby Ice Cream, 1953. 






Spreekt U/spreek je Flemish? Souvenir program for the Belgian release of Holiday Inn.






Sheet music, 1936.






Pennies from Heaven promotional photo, 1936.






Signed, inscribed photo of Bing with his first family, 1938.






 Decal, circa 1950. 






Matchbooks promoting Holiday Inn (1942) and Double or Nothing (1937).






Theater flyer featuring Bing's The Star Maker, 1939






With Mary Carlisle in a College Humor still, 1933.






Sheet music (on which Bing receives a rare songwriting credit), 1932.






Bing poses with fans, late 1920s or early 1930s.






Circa early 1930s.






With Joan Blondell in a promotional photo from East Side of Heaven, 1939.






Sheet music, 1939.






Lobby card, Road to Zanzibar, 1941.






Going My Way window card, 1944.






Welcome Stranger movie poster insert, 1947.






1966 color movie still, Stagecoach.






Concert tour poster, 1970s. 






With Fred Astaire, 1975 press photo. 






With Pearl Bailey, Bob Hope, and Carol Burnett, promotional photo for "Bing Crosby and His Friends" TV special, 1972.






With William Frawley, John Scott Trotter, and Mary Martin in a still from Rhythm On the River, 1940.






Sheet music, 1944.






The Billboard juke box chart and an ad promoting the 78 of "Put It There, Pal"/"Road to Morocco," December 1945.






March 12, 1945 Life magazine article: Bing performs "Dick Tracy in B Flat" for Armed Forces Radio's Command Performance with Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and other celebrities.






Remington electric shaver ad, 1948.






1950s Chesterfield Ad. Bing refused to pose using cigarettes, so retouchers were enlisted to airbrush the product in his mouth.






Center spread print ad from a 1949 N.C. State - Villanova college football program. 






 Promotional pamphlet for the Chesterfield radio show. Same photo of Bing as above, different airbrushed cigarette.






Chesterfield in-store Christmas display, early 1950s. 







Chesterfield cigarette box.






Chesterfield ad, 1950.






Pipes were another thing altogether. A pipe smoker until late in his life, Bing allowed Mastercraft Pipes to use his name and image, pipe-in-mouth. Retail store display, circa 1940s.






Bing tips the porters after a trip by rail, publicity photo.






Bing on a hunting trip, possibly in the Ruby Mountains of Elko, Nevada in 1946 or Alberta, Canada in 1947. Photo is from his personal collection, possibly shot by Gene Lester ("GL").







Lobby card, Holiday Inn, 1942.






HI promotional still.






Another HI still.






"White Christmas" UK sheet music.






"White Christmas" U.S. sheet music, 1942.






Sheet music, 1943.






Bing with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams, 1971 press photo. 






The Sporting News, December 6, 1945.







Carbon copy of a typed letter requesting that President Kennedy stay at Bing Crosby’s house in Palm Springs from June 7th through the 9th, 1963, and a handwritten note from Evelyn Lincoln (JFK’s personal secretary) to the President confirming that it is OK to stay at Crosby’s – on Sept. 28th and 29th. This was the second time Kennedy stayed at Crosby’s house, and it’s not the visit that famously triggered the Frank Sinatra temper tantrum that led to Ol’ Blue Eyes shutting Peter Lawford (JFK’s bro-in-law and liaison between Sinatra and the President) out of his life for not persuading Kennedy to stay at his house – which hed recently had tricked out with such Presidential amenities as a heliport and teletype equipment for that very reason.






With Bob Hope and Peter Sellers in a still from The Road to Hong Kong (1962).






Program for the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament, Rancho Santa Fe.






Bing Crosby Pebble Beach Pro-Am stickers.






 Ticket to the Bing Crosby Pro-Am golf tournament, Pebble Beach, 1961. 






Promotional toy cars, Bing Crosby Pro-Am, 1961, '64, and '68.







Above and below: snapshots of Bing and Bob Hope, likely at the Willow Springs golf course in San Antonio, Texas*, where they played to raise funds for the American Red Cross on February 13, 1942. The other two members of their foursome that day were Byron Nelson and Jimmy Demaret. Bing shot a 77.
Source: Bing Crosby, Day by Day, Malcolm Macfarlane.




*The photos were developed at Fox Co. in San Antonio, Texas, and dated 1942.







Road to Morocco stills, 1942.







Two sides of a single page; possibly a trade ad, 1941.






"Rancher Crosby's" Coffee Tap, circa 1950.








Carafe, 1960s or '70s.






Dixie and Bing, circa 1940.






Token, Del Mar Race Track, 1945. Bing and Pat O'Brien were co-owners.






Del Mar pamphlet, 1945.







Del Mar postcard, circa 1940.






With Pat O'Brien and Spencer Tracy, 1938.






Sheet music, 1939.






Movie stills from Paris Holiday, 1939.







Made up as Mark Twain for the John Wayne TV special Swing Out Sweet Land. Promotional photo, 1970.







With Betty Hutton in a Here Come the Waves still, 1944.
 





Ad for Road to Singapore, 1940.






Road to Singapore movie still, 1940.






Sheet music, 1940.






Ad for Road to Morocco, 1942. 






Road to Utopia still, 1944.






Sheet Music, 1947.






Road to Bali still, 1952.






Bing entertaining and mingling with troops during WWII.








Bing (and Hedy Lamarr) in what is likely a war bond parade during WWII.






With the Andrews Sisters in Road to Rio. Movie still, 1948.






With Blythe Danner in the made-for-TV movie Dr. Cook's Garden. Promotional photo, 1971. 






Bing arrives at Heathrow Airport with sons Nathaniel (left) and Harry. Press photo, 1976. 






Bing and Ray Bolger induct Bing's brother Larry into the Bing Crosby Golf Hall of Fame, 1974.






Sheet music, 1961. 






Bing poses amidst video and audio tape machinery, which he funded and pioneered the use of in the U.S. when the technology was in its infancy. 
Press photo, circa 1950.






Souvenir program for the Belgian release of Going My Way.






Bing with Barry Fitzgerald and Rise Stevens, Going My Way movie still (signed by Stevens), 1944. 






Welcome Stranger magazine ad, 1947.






With Nicole Maurey in a still from Little Boy Lost, 1953.






 One of Bing's hats and his favorite pair of shoes, circa 1960s-'70s. Authenticated by Bing's widow, Kathryn Crosby.


Necktie, tie clasp, pipe and tobacco pouch once owned by Bing. Authenticated by Kathryn Crosby.






Commencement program for Kathryn Crosby's nursing school graduation, signed by Bing, 1963.






Frank Sinatra presents Bing with the first Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1963.






Lobby card, Pennies From Heaven, 1936. 






On the Paramount lot with Danny Kaye and Audrey Hepburn in a 1954 press photo promoting Hepburn's current project, Sabrina.






Sheet music, 1942.






Photo taken on the set of Road to Rio (1947), signed and inscribed by Bing and Bob Hope to Dorothy Lamour and her husband, Bill Howard, as follows:

Dear Bill -- 
Some day I may tell you where he had his hand. 
-- Bing

To Dotty & Bill --
This is your good side.
Bob

From the estate of Dorothy Lamour.






 Breath-O-Lator, a product of the Bing Crosby Research Foundation. 






Another Crosby Research Foundation item, the Shavex Shaver Cradle. Likely late 1940s-early 1950s.






 Sister Elizabeth Kenny Foundation "Sock Polio" pamphlet and donation collection canister, 1945.






Ad for "The Crosby Derby" board game, 1940s


 "The Crosby Derby"






Remington electric shaver ad, 1959. 






Brunswick Records catalog, 1934.






Magazine piece on High Time, 1960.






Bing hosts The Hollywood Palace, ABC-TV publicity still, 1969.






 Album for 78 rpm records; record cleaners, 1940s.






Ceramic figurine, approx. 7 inches tall, 1940s or '50s.






1936 General Electric radio ad.






Lobby card, She Loves Me Not, 1934.






Sheet music, 1937.






Bing with Mary Carlisle in a Double or Nothing still, 1937.






Sheet music, 1938.






With Rufe Davis, Beatrice Lille, and Mary Carlisle in a Doctor Rhythm still, 1938.






"Stretch to Health" exercise device, 1940s.






Coloring Book, 1952.






 Coloring book, 1954.







In-store counter display for Stetson hats, also promoting The Emperor Waltz, 1948.






Stetson hat ad, also promoting The Emperor Waltz, 1948. Illustration by Slayton Underhill.






1944 movie still, Road to Utopia






1941 movie still, Road to Zanzibar.






Bing and Bob attract a crowd in England, 1961 press photo.






Sheet music, 1949.






Trade ad promoting Bing's 1964-65 sitcom.






Collector cards/premiums featuring Bing, 1930s-1960s.






A still from The Big Broadcast, 1932. Left to right: Gracie Allen, Leila Hyams, Stuart Erwin, and Bing. A showcase for radio stars of the day, the film also starred Gracie's husband George Burns, Kate Smith, Cab Calloway, and the Mills Brothers.






Pennies from Heaven promotional photo, 1936.






 Circa 1930s bust; Bing-endorsed nylon stockings (1962 flour premium); 1970s logo patch for Bing Crosby International Classic LPGA tournament.






 Pepsodent toothpaste featuring Bing's image, early 1960s.







Novelization of Man on Fire, 1957.






"The Second Time Around" sheet music, 1960.






Bing with Bob Hope and mayor of New York John Lindsay in 1968. 






With Prince Philip in 1976.






Original NBC stage manager's script, Bing Crosby and the Sounds of Christmas TV special, 1971. 









Bing's season pass to National League baseball games for 1960, the year his Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees in the World Series on Bill Mazeroski's dramatic Game 7 home run.






With Mary Martin in a Rhythm on the River still, 1940.






Men's travel kit with plate bearing Bing's engraved signature. Given as a Christmas gift by Bing. 







Above and below: Photographs which were privately printed for an album commemorating Bing's dedication of a baseball field (which he helped fund) and the world premier of Riding High (directed by Frank Capra) in Front Royal, Virginia, 1950.








With director Frank Capra, circa 1950 promotional photo.






Holiday Inn paper dolls of Fred Astaire and Bing, 1940s.






Theater flier advertising Going Hollywood alongside the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup, 1933.






Sheet music, 1935.






TV Guide ad promoting a 1959 Bing Crosby TV special with Frank Sinatra as his guest.






Still pitching for Minute Maid, 1969.






1967 La-Z-Boy magazine ads.







Charles M. Schulz's Snoopy's Grand Slam, dedicated to Bing, 1972.








With Percy Kilbride in a still from Welcome Stranger, 1947.






In-store display promoting Cat's Paw, one of the sponsors of Bing and Rosemary Clooney's radio program, which aired from 1960-62.






Bing and Bob Hope endorse Munsingwear shirts, mid-1960s. 






Bing & sons (L to R: Lindsay, Dennis, Phil, and Gary), 1971 press photo.






Magazine insert, 33 & 1/3 r.p.m. record - part of a Remington electric shaver ad, 1959.






Oldsmobile ad, also promoting The Star Maker, 1939.






With Judith Allen in a Too Much Harmony movie still, 1933.






Sheet music, 1933.






3M ad, 1960s.






Ad for RCA radio tubes, early 1930s.






Lobby card, Waikiki Wedding, 1937.






The world was already beating a path to Bing's door by the time the Crosby Research Foundation built a better mousetrap, circa 1950.






With Eddie Lang and Stuart Erwin in a still from The Big Broadcast, 1932.






Questionnaire from columnist Hy Gardner, to which Bing has responded in his own hand, 1975. 






Promotional photo of Bing with bandleader Jimmy Grier, 1933. 






With Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, 1936.






With director Frank Tuttle, 1938.






With Frank Sinatra in a still from High Society, 1956.






Quaker Oats promotes Bing's latest Paramount film, Rhythm On the Range, in a 1937 ad. 


A "photo statuette" of Bing, which could be yours for two Quaker Puffed Wheat or Puffed Rice box tops, as shown in the above ad.






Scan from an original transparency of art used for the cover of a TV listings newspaper supplement, 1959.






Souvenir booklet for the Japanese theatrical release of the Paramount film White Christmas, Tokyo, Japan, 1954.






"White Christmas" sheet music, 1954.






Original publicity still transparency for Bing's short-lived ABC-TV sitcom, The Bing Crosby Show (1964-'65), featuring Bing, Beverly Garland, Carol Faylen, and Diane Sherry.







Bing and Bob hit the road once more in 1962, this time to encourage tourists to visit the state of Minnesota.






Bing and Risë Stevens pose with servicemen on the set of Going My Way, 1944. 






Bing poses with men of the 14th U.S. Army Air Force (the Flying Tigers), China Burma India Theater, during the Second World War. The "Ike jackets," worn by two of the men in the photo, became standard issue in November of 1944. 






Bing, Bob, and Dottie in a 1952 holiday ad for Scotch tape, also promoting Road to Bali.
Below: detail.







Dedication of the Crosby Library at Gonzaga University, 1957.






Bing's section of sidewalk outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.






The #1 selling recording of all time.





Some of these images may also be viewed at the Official Bing Crosby website, where they are more or less on permanent loan.


All items are from the collection of Jon Oye, excepting the Rancho Santa Fe program. Original photos and/or copyrighted material remain the property of their respective copyright owners.

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