I have visited in many Scottish Rite theatres that had additional sets of painted scenery non-Masonic productions. Usually, they were produced in the 1940s of 1950s. It was an early form of community outreach raising the awareness of Freemasonry. If you are educated about a Masonic group or have entered a Masonic building and met the members, there is less of a tendency to fear and hate them.
I have repeatedly encountered a series of painted winter scenes, many for “Christmas Carol” productions. The first time was when I acquired my own Masonic scenery collection from the Valley of Peoria, Illinois in 2010. The most recent set of winter scenes that I documented were in Quincy, Illinois.
They were painted on the BACK of existing Masonic scenes produced by Toomey and Volland Studios (St. Louis).
Enjoy these particular images as they were VERY difficult to photograph on site. Please remember that they would have been flipped to face the audience during the winter season! We will celebrate the next twelve days of Christmas with “winter scenes” from Masonic theaters!
Author: waszut_barrett@me.com
Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
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