Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1918, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “October 10th, I was knocked down by a boy on a bicycle in Oak Park. It was dark and I did not see the wheel. It was thought by the doctor that I had fractured my skull. It was a couple of months before I recovered. Only a few days after this I was forced to go to Cleveland to look after a big Masonic order and I hope we will be able to get the contract.” He was referring to the new Masonic Temple and massive 2500-seat auditorium being planned for Cleveland.
This should have been an easy sale for Sosman & Landis, as the Cleveland Masons were a previous client. Sosman & Landis already delivered Masonic scenery to Cleveland in 1909. That temple theater was located on Superior Avenue and Sixth Street. Unfortunately, the contract for the new Cleveland Masonic Temple Theatre was awarded to Toomey & Volland. In 1918 Toomey & Volland also delivered scenery to Scottish Rite theaters in Watertown, New York and Peoria, Illinois.
Scottish Rite prospects were diminishing for Sosman & Landis by 1918. That year, they only delivered scenery to the El Paso Scottish Rite. It would be another five years before Moses listed another Scottish Rite scenery project on his resume. 1915 was the last fruitful year for Masonic scenery projects at Sosman & Landis. This was also the last year that Joseph S. Sosman was alive. Upon Sosman’s death, there was no longer that essential Masonic connection for the Sosman & Landis studio.
There were major Masonic players at both Toomey & Volland Studio in St. Louis and John C. Becker & Bro. Chicago. Moses would not complete his Scottish Rite degrees until February 1925. He then joined the Ancient and Accepted Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in March 1925. Not being a Mason until the mid-1920s cost Moses potential work at a time when the demand for other painted scenery was declining. Whether he was working at Sosman & Landis or New York Studios, there needed to be someone intimately connected with the Fraternity to secure the work.
In regard to Cleveland in 1919, however, Moses received a contract for a Shrine scene. In January he wrote about completing a “big Mecca scene for Cleveland.” Of the project, he commented, “I painted the top of the wall in strong sun-light and the bottom in shadow with a number of awnings and tables of fruit and water jars, which gave a touch of the true Oriental atmosphere.”
This one scene was not enough to get Moses back into Masonic scenery game. Scottish Rite work would not pick up again for him until 1923, and then it would continue in spits and spurts throughout the decade.
To be continued…
