Part 554: Black and White Backdrops
In 1906 Thomas G. Moses wrote that he “did some designs for a Park in Pittsburg.” The project was with his old partner Will F. Hamilton. Moses & Hamilton had operated in New York from 1900-1904.
In regard to Moses’ Pittsburg project, he was referring to Luna Park in Pittsburg created by Frederick Ingersoll. Ingersoll of Ingersoll Construction Company constructed Luna Park in Cleveland, Ohio, and then a second park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; no official relation to the famous Luna Park on Coney Island, just the same name. For Pittsburg and Cleveland, Moses created scenery for old mill attractions and scenery for two small stages. The Ingersoll Construction Company got its start by building roller coasters and other amusement park rides. At one time, Ingersoll owned and operated over forty amusement parks in the United States, Berlin and Mexico City.
What is interesting about the Pittsburg Park design, however, is that Moses recorded it being a monochromatic scene. He wrote, “I did them in black and white, rather effective.”
I have encountered only a few mentions of “the black and white art” in the past, stumbling across buts of information while researching scenic artists who worked in early film and photographic backings.
One example was Harley Merry (see past installments #138-142). Merry’s name was actually Ebenezer J. Britton; he used his birth name as an actor. “Harley Merry” was his scenic artist name. Merry was well-known for a variety of skills, including his talent for painting monochromatic backdrops. An article from 1892 noted this skill: “Harley Merry is another master in the same school in perpetuating the English ideas of water-color. Merry is the greatest painter of monochromes and photographic backgrounds in the country” (“Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains,” Dec, 18, 1892, page 41). As an aside, Merry was the first President of the Protective Alliance of Scenic Painters of America, organized in 1895 – he was a major contributor to the industry in New York.
Merry also specialized in spectacles with scenic realism, which made his transition to producing settings for early film a natural shift. He actually partnered with the Edison Manufacturing Company and was involved in creating scenery for many early film productions, including “Parsifal,” a short film was based on the New York Metropolitan’s Opera that ran for approximately one half hour.
An earlier scenic artist known for his black and white art was William Telbin. In 1902, “The Magazine of Art” commented that Telbin was “a master in black and white art.” The article continued, “We desire now to call to attention to a branch of Mr. Telbin’s work which is not generally known to the public, but which, to our mind, is in its way as important and as beautiful as any of his stage productions. With tempera as his medium he has produced a series of black and white drawings which proclaim him a master in black and white art. For brilliancy of execution, for certainty of effect, sparkle of the touch, and beauty of presentation, these drawings are not easily surpassed. Some of them were reproduced in this magazine in two articles on “Scene Painters and their Work,” published in 1889, and others in a paper on “Iceland,” in 1893. Another series of views in the Mediterranean, more of which are to be published later, are admirable representations of the scenes to be witnessed during the season of the “bora” on the Mediterranean shores. They show Mr. Telbin was a careful and accurate student of nature, with an instinctive feeling for the picturesque allied to an inimitable power and facility of presentation and suggestion.” (Magazine of Art, January 1, 1902, page 371-376).
I have only encountered one black and white backdrop; it was at the St. Louis Scottish Rite. A design for the 10th degree of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, it was rendered in ivory black and white dry pigment. The backdrop has the same consistent studio labels and marking as the remainder of the collection. At the time of installation, the 1923 scenery has stencils on both stage right and stage left sides of each drop, noting the degree and the line. For example, the Quarry leg drop shows 10 and 59 for 10th degree on line 59. The backdrop shows 10 and 87 for 10th degree on line 87. It was not added later, but with the other Toomey & Volland scenery. There was other scenery installed by Volland Studios over the years, in 1945, 1949 and 1954.
The original backdrop design is also monochromatic, and is now part of the Volland Studio collection in the St. Louis Scottish Rite library. The collection was gifted to the St. Louis Scottish Rite Valley by Volland Studio some years back. Although I photographically documented the entire Volland collection during my visit, it will take years to fully process and decipher the information that I gathered there.
Charcoal markings on the backside of the Quarry leg drop note that the size is 25 feet high by 51 feet wide. Additional masking likely accompanied the scene technical specifications provided by the Valley comment that the proscenium opening is 98 feet wide. There are 164 lines, placed on 2-inch centers. We cold not lower many of the lines during my visit due to tags with warning for specific lines and jammed cables. Sadly, the current drop inventory that the Masons reference also has missing information for many lines.
This collection will not last for long and is already a threat to those below. Pipe pockets replaced wooden battens and they are all failing, with many pipes tenuously hanging by shreds of fabric; yes, the stage is rented out for many events. If anyone from the St. Louis area can begin a very detailed documentation of the stage scenery and rigging now is the time. It will take days if not weeks to do. For a stage that boasted to be 4 feet bigger than the Hippodrome stage, this is one that definitely needs to be recorded.
To be continued…
