Part 561: Sosman & Landis and Jamestown Flood for the White City
I continue with the amusement park attractions described in White City Magazine. One article included information pertaining to the Johnstown Flood attraction with scenic contributions by Sosman & Landis studio.
The Johnstown Flood show initially appeared at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. An article from “Snap Shots on the Midway” for the Buffalo Exposition advertised the Johnstown Flood attraction as “a scenograph, the logical evolution of the cyclorama, the diorama and the scenic theater, accomplishes the illusion, which is set on an ordinary stage and is in reality a performance in pantomime, where all the actors are what would be called in stage parlance, “properties.” It was transported to Luna Park at Coney Island where it was featured from 1902-1905. When White City was planned, key figures visited Coney Island during the planning phase to identify specific attractions that they would replicate for their own amusement park. One was the Jamestown flood, initially designed by Harley Merry. Other amusements parks also featured the Johnstown, such as White City in Louisville, Kentucky and Electric Park in Baltimore.
Many amusement park attractions were based on staged versions of disasters. On May 31, 1889, a dam near Jamestown, collapsed and flooded the valley with twenty million tons of water. There was virtually no escape as everything was destroyed in the water’s path. Prior to destruction, Jamestown was one of the most prosperous manufacturing towns in Pennsylvania. Including its suburbs, the city had a population of 35,000 persons. Situated at the convergence of the Conemaugh Rover and Stony Creek, the reservoir was approximately fifteen miles northeast from Johnstown. After many days of heavy rain, the dam burst, spilling the entire contents of the reservoir and annihilating the entire town; thousands of lived were lost.
For the White City Amusement Park, Sosman & Moses provided the scenery and effects for the simulated disaster. The White City Magazine included an article on the Johnstown Flood, advertised as “a special feature of the White City, “the most impressive and realistic of all scenic productions and constructed on a gigantic scale. A triumph of scenic art and startling realism.”
Here is the article in its entirety:
“Johnstown Flood. Grandest and Most Spectacular Scenic Production Ever Shown.
The Johnstown Flood, pronounced to be the greatest scenic production ever offered to the public, will be seen at White City.
It was first shown at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, and it proved to the greatest success of many attractions of this great Fair. It is pronounced by experts to be far superior to the Galveston Flood shown at St. Louis.
The Johnstown Flood, which will be located in White City is a new one, with the scenic work by Sosman & Landis, and will be an improvement over the one at Buffalo. The entire city of Johnstown is shown, with the hills and great reservoir in the distance. This is not a painting, but each of the buildings of the city of Johnstown is truthfully reproduced in miniature. The production opens with the peaceful city of Johnstown with its citizens, commerce, and industry. Men and women are seen going about their pursuits, trains pass through the city, and teamsters are seen transferring freight, while pleasures vehicles drive through the streets. Then comes a storm, and the flood.
Small at first is the stream of water which trickles down the mountains in the distance; the alarm is given, and those who are fortunate enough to apprehend their danger are seen rushing for the hilltops. With a rumble that forebodes the death for hundreds of souls, the walls of the great reservoir give way and down into the valley rushes the tremendous volume of water which submerges the city and crushes great buildings like egg shells. Hundreds of persons are caught in the tremendous torrent and within a few minutes the city is devastated.
The production is correct in all details, the buildings being actual reproductions of those which crumbled beneath the great tidal wave.
The scenic effects are excellent and may be said to be a triumph of stage craft.”
To be continued…
