The Circle Game
The mass production of Scottish Rite scenery by Sosman & Landis dwindled after WWI and ceased by 1923. Volland Studios of St. Louis and Becker Bros. of Chicago assumed the lead as mass-producers of Masonic installations. After Sosman & Landis moved from the Clinton Street studios and established their business offices elsewhere, numerous letters were sent out to Scottish Rite Valleys explaining that the company was still operating and that Moses remained their art director. Moses’ work for Perry “Lester” Landis, however, was not full-time employment. The last decade of his life was spent working and living between California and Illinois, freelancing for numerous studios.
As before the rise of the scenic studio system, Moses returned to using available paint frames at different locations. In cases such as Fort Scott, paint frames were constructed on site and later incorporated into the top wooden battens. This was one of my greatest discoveries during November 2015 while onsite in Fort Scott. In addition to the dozens of handwritten notes and drawings on the inside of each wooden sandwich batten, there was the build up of colors used to prime the scenes. The study of these colors would have provided invaluable information to further our understanding of historical painting techniques, identifying aspects often invisible in completed compositions.
The primer used for backdrops was often tinted and seldom left white. This use of color saved a step in the artistic process, speeding up the entire project. Although I took some pictures in Fort Scott of the paint frame boards, I had planned on fully documenting this information during the subsequent restoration. Again, time had been limited in Fort Scott and I primarily gathered information to use in selecting scenes for the restoration order once I returned to Minnesota. If I had any inkling that someone else would be doing the restoration and this would be my last opportunity to handle the scenes, I would have spent the extra time fully documenting every detail onsite.
To be clear, the Fort Scott drops would have been rolled, identified, and packed in a different way if I had understood that someone completely unfamiliar with the contents of this collection and historic scenery would be restoring the scenes. I created a labeling system that was solely intended for my interpretation and no one else’s. The decisions that I made when rolling the scenes in Fort Scott were based on my anticipated restoration process and past experiences. If a crinkle was going to cause damage to the center of a clear blue sky, I altered other areas of the drop to prevent the wrinkle, such a splitting some seams. A split seam is easier to repair than touching up the center of a blue sky. In hindsight, the time and expense that was spent making these onsite decisions was simply a waste by all involved.
This week, I was chatting with a colleague who is the only other individual in the United States specializing in historical scenery; her focus is roll drops. We were discussing a future project and the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center debacle came up in our conversation. She said, “I am always amazed that people will jeopardize their professional reputations for money.” As soon as she said it, I realized that this was what had been bothering me all along.
The owner of Outhouse Exhibit Services had explained to me, on more than one occasion, where and when she was trained to handle historic artifacts, especially fragile ones. She must have known that hot melt glue irreparably damages painted fabric. Hot melt glue is never considered an option in ANY restoration process. Furthermore, I defy anyone to find the recommendation of hot melt glue as an appropriate binder for netting cut drops, whether historical or contemporary.
I understand that many companies do things “on the cheap,” especially when there is a looming deadline. Unfortunately, it often results in mistakes of grand proportions with an expensive price tag to reverse the damage. This is the case for the Fort Scott scenery collection, except that there is no way to fully reverse the damage.
The recent Fort Scott “restoration” makes me think of the “Demotivators” poster that defines “Mistakes.” The definition is “It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” This is very applicable for many botched restoration projects as they now served as warning to others.
To be continued…
Here is the link to the “Demotivators” website if you need a laugh or to purchase some merchandise: https://despair.com/collections/demotivators
