When Thomas G. Moses was unsuccessful at securing work at the P. M. Almini Company he headed to a nearby scenic studio. Joseph Sands Sosman was familiar with Moses’ work and offered $18.00 per week to work at Sosman & Landis. This was six dollars a week less than he could make at Almini’s, but the work was steady. Having no alternative, Moses started painting for Sosman & Landis and was sent to Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Sosman joined him immediately on the job and they completed a plain interior, kitchen and some set pieces that April, returning to the studio afterward.
In Chicago, Moses boarded with his friend, Will Tuller at O. W. Young’s on 438 West Van Buren Street.
He did not return to Sterling until the end of May. It was then that he decided to resettle his family in the big city. They moved to 744 West Van Buren Street, a four-bedroom rental for $11.00. The current equivalent for this housing would be approximately $256.00 USD for monthly rental. Moses noted, “My career as a scenic artist starts from here. I was full of ambition and hustle. If I had been endowed with a like amount of ability I would have set the world on fire.”
It was all hard work, but his limited knowledge of scene painting techniques proved to be a wonderful help. He studied the painting techniques at various theaters, attempting to rapidly improve both his skills and his speed.
They saved money from his salary and paid all outstanding bills from their life in Sterling. Moses wrote, “We set our table on $3.00 per week and lived well. We were soon out of debt and started to lay a few dollars for a rainy day.”
Sosman and Moses traveled a great deal in the beginning. Landis was always away, traveling to secure orders. It would take six months before Moses even meet Landis as he was constantly traveling across the country to drum up work. As the business increased, Sosman & Landis added a paint boy to their studio. Although fellow scenic artists told Moses to leave the studio, he stayed employed full-time. Understanding that he could make between $35.00 to $45.00 per week in the theaters, there was stability at the Sosman & Landis studio and a dependable income for his little family. However, their comments made Moses realize that he was worth far more than $18.00 per week, especially as he had proven himself a “hustler” on each job.
His painting was also rapidly improving. Moses wrote, “My work might not have been as artistic as some I saw in the theaters, but it pleased the people who paid for it.”
On one painting trip to Braidwood, Illinois, Moses brought Ella and the baby along. It was a coal mining town. On April 22, 1879, Braidwood experienced tragedy as a terrible fire raged through the town. More than a dozen buildings were destroyed by the inferno, including the railroad depot, a hotel, two saloons, a blacksmith shop, the grain elevator and several homes. Then town was soon rebuilt and drew many newcomers to the area, including Peter Rossi who began manufacturing macaroni there.
In Braidwood, Moses, Ella and baby Pitt visited local parks every Sunday, seeking all the enjoyment they could on their limited means. The couple even went down in a coalmine to examine the process that brought coal to the surface. Slag hills were scattered across farmland after the creation of numerous “coal wells.”
Their simple life put everything into perspective during these early years and proved a driving force for Moses’ strive for success. In 1880 he wrote, “ I was determined to make something of myself. I found an old friend, A. J. Rupert, with whom I had worked at Almini’s. He was now an instructor at the Art Institute, in the life class. He studied abroad and was very clever.” Moses joined the art class, two nights a week for a very small tuition, noted that it gave him enough courage to attempt some figure painting on curtains. Moses commented that many of the artists “were very clever and gave me a lot of valuable pointers, so I improved rapidly.”
To be continued…
