The “Eruption of Mount Pelee” was another one of the models destroyed in the fire in the Harley Merry studio. This Coney Island disaster spectacel opened only two years after the actual event killed 30,000 people in 1902. Architects Essenwein & Johnson designed a structure to hold the “Mont Pelee, the Last Days of St. Pierre” production. Measuring 225 feet by 150 feet, it was the largest amusement structure on Coney Island and employed over fifty individuals to create attraction, many of who were electricians and mechanics.
A hundred and sixty thousand tons of water was used for the production on a stage measuring 160 feet by 90 feet. The audience’s viewpoint was from that of a spectator in a boat off shore. The production opened with an exquisite view of Tampa, Florida, depicting peaceful waters in the bay. Ships and yachts sailed by as daylight gradually transitioned into a glorious sunset. Soon it was dusk and twinkling lights illuminated windows at seaside resorts. Finally the stage was obscured by darkness. Travellers now journeyed all the way across the ocean and were transported to the island of Martinique.
The attraction used a brand new technology with a radium curtain that brought about realistic darkness while the change from open sea to the island of Martinique took place. During their travel they experienced a savage storm at sea with lightning, flying clouds, surging water and rain.
Arriving at Island of Martinque, they were just in time to witness an amazing sunrise and the warm glow spread over the red-tiled roofs in the unsuspecting city. The audience’s “boats” came even closer to the shores of Martinique and the city’s buildings continued to increase in size.
The clouds surrounding Mount Pelee soon begin to darken and ominous rumblings are heard in the distance. Suddenly, fire shoots upward from the mountain and streams of molten lava pour down the mountainside. Masses of rock are hurled through the air, igniting homes as they land. Flames sweep throughout the city and steam rises from the harbor as anchored ships begin to smolder. This horrific scene gradually becomes obscured with black smoke. As the smoke resides, the scene has changed and the audience now witnesses a devastating view of mass destruction. It was said to be an impressive disaster spectacle!
I had to wonder why the models in Merry’s studio that depicted attractions on Coney Island were the work of Harley Merry or the studio renters E. Van Ackerman and J. Katzer. If we consider the models to be the work of Ackerman, it would be a natural extension of their sideline business that produced both photographic backings and stereoscopic cards. It appeared that Ackerman Bros. was the epitome an early twentieth scenic studio’s attempt to diversify, providing all kinds of painted scenery for various venues.
It the models were part of the studio contents left by Merry it would also make sense as he had died only four months before. Merry’s scenic art and designs had already transitioned from simple stage productions to scenic realism spectacle and film by the turn of the twentieth century.
To be continued…
