Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 579 – Lee Lash

Part 579: Lee Lash

Lee Lash (1864-1935) was a friend and colleague of Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934). They worked together when Moses was working in New York City and living in Mount Vernon, New York. Moses & Hamilton Studio operated in the area from 1900 to 1904. There is even a newspaper clipping that shows Moses painting in the Lee Lash studios, possibly next to his partner William F. Hamilton. Moses pasted this clipping in his scrapbook. Lash is quite an interesting artist and studio owner, especially in light of his exploits as told by William Chambliss in 1895 (see post 578).

Lash was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, during 1864. Isador Lash moved his family to San Francisco in the following year. There, Lee and his brother Sam attended public schools before focusing on art. In his early teens Lash was a pupil of artists Juan B. Wandesforde and Domenico Tojetti. He then journeyed to Europe for further artistic instruction. He traveled to Paris where he studied with artists Jules J. Lefebvre(1836-1911) and Gustave Boulanger (1824-1888) at the Académie Julian. Lash received a positive reception at the Paris Salons. After eight years of study from 1881 to 1889 in Europe, he returned to the United States.

An 1889 newspaper article reported, “Lee Lash, a San Franciscan whose work in France and abroad, and whose picture in the last Salon was praised by the French critics, has returned to this city. Eight years Mr. Lash spent in Europe. He brought with him many pictures of great merit, through which the terms of his apprenticeship and mastery may be noted” (San Francisco Chronicle, 27 Oct. 1889, page 12). Upon his return, Lash established a studio in San Francisco and taught at the School of Design from 1891-1893. It was during this time that he had the altercation with William H. Chabliss and “borrowed” Charles D. Smith’s idea for the development of American advertising curtains.

Lee Lash Studios opened in San Francisco during 1892, founded by himself and his brother, Samuel Lash. In 1893, the brothers moved their theatrical curtain company to Philadelphia, and a few years later established a second studio in New York City. By 1895 Lash’s two curtain advertising enterprises were continuing as successful endeavors. There is some debate as to when the New York Studio was establish; some records note 1895 and others 1898. At first their New York studio was located at Thirtieth Street and Broadway, but moved several times over the next decade. By 1910, Lash built a studio in Mount Vernon, N.Y. By now, the firm was doing much more than ad drops and drop curtains. They were also building scenery for shows designed by others, often featuring well-known scenic artists as “staff supervisors” for premiere productions. Lee Lash’s studio became heralded as one of the best in the country, a very large outfit that could produce up to thirty curtains at one time.

Lash was reported as having advertising curtains in 1700 American theatres that brought in more than $250,000 during the hey day of vaudeville (Star-Gazette, 4 March, 1973, page 7). One of Lash’s employees was Paul V. McTighe was tasked with visiting every playhouse on the Subway Circuit twice each month to make sure that the Lee Lash curtains were being displayed according to contract. McTighe also worked as a bell-captain at the Flanders Hotel.

Most of Lash’s curtains carried their own ad block:

“If in this world, you

Hope to rise,

By a balloon, or

advertise.” (Star-Gazette, 4 March, 1973, page 7).

The 1922 publication of American Elite and Sociologist Bluebook reported Lash to be “Business President and Director, of 1476 Broadway, New York City; and a member of various clubs and societies. He is president of the Lee Lash Studio of Mount Vernon, N. Y. He is chairman of the board of directors of the Hugo Gedro Studios; and the president of the Lee Lash Company, and of the Lee Lash Company, Incorporated. He resides at Mount Vernon, N.Y.” (page 319).

Harry J. Kuckuck, who had joined Lee Lash in 1892, eventually purchased the company by 1926. At that point, the studio name was changed to H. J. Kuckkuck’s Lee Lash Studio. It remained in operation for another twenty years, until the time of his death in 1945. A sign with that name was once attached to the Hershey Theatre fire curtain’s controlling mechanism and is now part of the Hershey Story Museum on Chocolate Avenue (Here is the link to the artifact: https://hersheystory.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/06263EA9-4F35-41C2-A565-438659853932).

Lee Lash retired after the stock market crash in 1929, but he continued to do fine art pieces. In 1935 he exhibited his paintings for a one-man show in New York. There are many Lee Lash artifacts, dating from 1912-1941, in the New York Public Library Archives & Manuscripts.http://archives.nypl.org/the/22147

Here is the overview for the NYPL Lee Lash Studio Designs collection: 11 boxes (ca. 381 drawings); 2 boxes (ca. 180 photographs). The collection is held in the Billy Rose Theatre Division and contains original designs for curtains, drops, olio curtains, nightclubs, set designs, parts of set models, and photographs of designs by Lee Lash Studios. Most designs are color on paper or board and are unidentified, although many are numbered. Identified set designs include the play “Bet Your Life” by Fritz Blocki and Willie Howard (John Golden Theatre, 1937), and designs for the motion picture “Everybody’s Girl” (ca. 1918).

To be continued…