Paper Moon

I stumbled upon a picture, and it gave me pause as I stopped to consider the origin of the crescent moon as a photography prop.

I asked Google and it told me that a paper moon is a movie, a diner in Baltimore, a strip club in Richmond (Va.), someone on myspace and a graphics design company.  I’m not surprised as I wasn’t very specific.  I tried paper moon prop, but I wasn't looking for resources to buy a new one.
 

I did learn that It’s only a paper moon is a song published in 1933 (the above version was, much to my surprise, the best I could find considering how many people recorded it); and that the 1973 movie, based on the book Addie Pray by Joe David Brown (which was reprinted as Paper Moon with what looks like cover art straight from the movie stills!), took its' name from the song.

So, paper moons must have been around as early as 1933.

I wonder when the first cameras came out?  Late 18 - Early 1900s?  But I could find no history of the paper moon prop itself.

I tried crescent moon prop history, and realized the moon, in all phases, has been represented in art since the dawn of art itself, and I thought this might be a futile search and I should just share some art representation with you instead, but then I found this photo which was hypothetically dated to 1910.

But still no answer about the history or origin of using the crescent moon as a prop.

But there are these, a consolation prize.