Part 553: The 1906 Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Yesterday’s post was about the White City Amusement Park near Chicago in 1906. Attractions included “The Last Days of Pompeii” and the “Chicago Fire.” It is important to keep in mind that although these two disasters were not recent, two similar ones had just occurred that year. A devastating fire raged throughout San Francisco after an earthquake, and Mount Vesuvius erupted again. They both occurred during April 1906. Disasters fascinated the public and were quickly incorporated into publications and amusements.
While researching the San Francisco Fire, I was reminded of a gift I received years ago; it was the 1906 book – “The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Horror, the complete Story of the Greatest American Disasters, Horrors of the Vesuvius Eruption.” Written by Charles Eugene Banks and Opie Read, there was a poignant passage in the preface: “Strike one section of the world a terrible blow and all other sections have their deepest sympathies immediately centered in that spot. It is this fact that keep’s alive man’s belief in the universal brotherhood of the race.” At few paragraphs later, the authors continue, “Following close upon the eruption of Vesuvius on the other side of world the San Francisco disaster found the country busy raising funds for the homeless Neapolitans. The Golden Gate City was involved in this work when of a sudden it became the subject of the world’s bounty.”
There were many from the entertainment community who dipped into their personal funds or performed at benefit concerts to send funds to those recovering from a disaster. Buffalo Bill donated $5000 to the Neapolitan relief effort. After all, he had performed in front of a smoldering Vesuvius while on his 1889 European Tour. But there were many theatre manufacturers who directly benefited from staging spectacles that depicted these devastating events.
The theme of erupting volcanoes became a popular staged spectacle at Scottish Rite theaters after 1906. Instead of Mt. Vesuvius erupting, however, it was a volcano on the isle of Patmos. Patmos (Greek: Πάτμος) is an island in the Aegean Sea, the most well-known of the smaller Dodecanese islands. Patmos was known as the location where a vision was given to the disciple John in the Book of Revelation and where the book was written. The degree production relates to the breaking of the seven seals. Cataclysmic events occur and a variety of painted visions are magically revealed in transparent sections of the composition.
This scene had the potential to be one of the most exciting degree productions on a Masonic stage. Lighting flashed, thunder rumbled, the ground trembled, and a volcano exploded. Classical buildings that were painted on a cut drop toppled as a red plume of lava spewed high in the sky. Then red rivulets streamed down the mountainside, soon spilling into a lake and turning it blood red. This scenic illusion was a new popular design option for the seventeenth degree on many Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite stages after 1906.
The first time I staged the action for this setting was in Winona, Minnesota. During the evaluation, volunteers assisted in successfully presenting the collapse of two-dimenional buildings for photographic documentation. The Winona scenery was produced in 1909 by Sosman & Landis. As these drops were sold at auction, it is unlikely that Humpty Dumpty will ever be put back together again. What was really interesting about the Winona Volcano scene was the hardware. Much was formed from cut metal canisters and adapted for a specific task. Very little was pre-manufactured other than the batten holders that secured the bottom of a drop to the stage floor so it would not shift.
Previously, this seventeenth degree composition depicted ancient ruins were a series of visions were revealed to the audience. This remained the case with Northern Masonic Jurisdiction Scottish Rite scenery. It was only degree work in the Southern Jurisdiction that adopted volcanic explosion on Patmos. Sosman & Landis labeled their design either“17th degree Vision” or simply, “Volcano.”
To be continued…
