Month: November 2018

Part 560: Ansel Cook and Venice for the White City

Ansel Cook was once an employee of Sosman & Landis who worked with Thomas G. Moses between 1904 and 1907. Cook managed the 20th street studio, also called the Annex, during Moses absences in 1906 and 1907. Around that same time Cook created scenery for a “special feature” attraction at Chicago’s White City Amusement Park. Cook’s “Venice” was advertised as “a romantic gondola ride through the moonlit water streets of Venice; viewing correct reproductions of her famous buildings and statuary groups.”

There is a promotional book, White City Magazine, for the amusement park published in 1905. It describes Cook’s project in an article titled, “Scenery for Beautiful Venice.”

“SCENERY FOR BEAUTIFUL VENICE.

AN ENORMOUS QUANTITY OF IMPORTED CANVAS REQUIRED FOR MAKING THE PERSPECTIVE VIEWS

Ansel Cook, one of the most famous scenic artists in the United States and whose work is to be found in every first-class theatre, states that more canvas was required for constructing the perspective views which adorn the interior of Beautiful Venice, than was ever before used for any scenic work under one roof. Almost 10,000 yards of Russia sheeting, about 90,000 square feet, was imported direct from Russia because no dealer in this country could supply this enormous quantity. The canvas was used for the reproducing of scenes in Venice through which appear at a distance from the passenger in the gondola. That part of Venice through which the half mile of canals pass is actually built so that real palaces, groups of statuary, etc., are brought to view at every turn of the winding waterways, but the interior walls are hung with enormous panoramic paintings which carry out the effect for a distance of several miles.

In painting these panoramic views, Ansel Cook required the services of six associate artists and a small army of assistants. Their work lasted for a period of four months, during which time the entire force was kept busy practically day and night. The utmost care was exercised in order to give a perfect reproduction of Venice architecturally and in the color scheme. During a recent visit to the city of Venice, Mr. Cook carefully studied the details of ornaments, cornices and mouldings used on the buildings which have been reproduced for White City and he has correctly carried out the original designs in his work.

The wonderful perspective view of the Grand Canal, one of the most magnificent paintings ever produced on canvas, is about 30 feet high by almost 200 feet long. The size of this for an individual painting has rarely been exceeded. Particular care was taken to reproduce the animation and spirit of the busy scene presented to the sight-seer along the Grand Canal, with its host of gondolas, fishing boats with their bright colored sails, fruit barges, etc. Visitors to White City who experience the delights of a gondola ride through Beautiful Venice, will marvel at the life-like reproductions of these historic scenes, while those who are familiar with artistic efforts, will not hesitate to make frank acknowledgment of the excellence of the reproduction.”

Ansel placed two ads in the same 1905 issue of the White City Magazine. The advertisement noted that Ansel Cook, “Scenic Artist, Designer, Originator and Constructor.” He was credited with Venice and the scenic railway projects in White City. The ad includes that Cook was, “now engaged in preparing the $60,000 reproduction of the CITY OF VENICE. Also the $50,000 scenery for the SCENIC RAILWAY at WHITE CITY, Chicago.” Other projects included Cooking being credited as “Designer and Constructor of the famous COAL MINE IN MINIATURE for the Fairmount Coal Co. of West Virginia (Highest Award), and the -wonderful exhibit of the Davis Colliery Co. of West Virginia (Gold Medal), at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition; the two principal features and most popular exhibits in the Mines and Metallurgy Building.” The article concludes that Cook was also the “Designer and Constructor of the Mural Decorations for the Dome of the State Capitol Building at Topeka, Kansas.” The White City Magazine advertisement notes, “Estimates Furnished on Entire Productions or Separate Scenes. When writing to advertisers please mention The White City Magazine.”

Part 559: Thomas G. Moses and Ansel Cook

In 1907, Thomas G. Moses wrote, ““We opened our annex studio at 19 W. 20^th Street in July, and Ansel Cook went there as a manager.” Moses commented on Cook as a scenic artist, “He did some very good work but was a long time doing it, which, of course, didn’t pay us.” Moses divided his time between Sosman & Landis’ main and annex studios that year, in addition to being on the road a lot. After one extended absence from the annex studio, he wrote, “Took charge of the 20^th Street Studio on my return weeks. Cook did $750.00 of work in three weeks. My first three amounted to $3,500.00, some difference. I hustled while he talked art and what the firm ought to do to get business.” This is a pretty interesting observation made by Moses about Cook, as Moses was known for his speed. Anyone that dawdled or didn’t pull his weight was criticized by Moses.

I have found no information about Ansel Cook beyond his scenic art. Moses records that he was primarily a drapery painter who began working at Sosman & Landis studio during 1904. Prior to his time at Sosman & Landis, Cook worked as a scenic artist with stage mechanic Ben W. Craig for the Castle Square Theatre Company. Together they designed and built many shows from 1896 to 1902. Some of their projects included “The Ensign,” “Captain Swift,” “Rosedale,” “The Heart of Maryland,” “The New South,” “The Prisoner of Zenda,” “Caste,” “Men and Women,” “Mignon,” “Tannhäuser,” “The Prodigal Daughter,” “Darkest Russia,” “A Social Highwayman,” Cumberland 61,” “Col George of Mt. Vernon,” “Nell Gwyn,” “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “The Little Minister,” “Jim the Penman,” and “Quo Vadis.”

By 1905, Cook was working in Chicago, establishing Ansel Cook studios. In addition to painting under his own name, he was also working in the Sosman & Landis studio. This is similar to what Moses did at Sosman & Landis, taking many projects after hours. It also explains his advertisement in White City Magazine where he includes, “All the scenery in beautiful Canals of Venice at White City painted my me.”

The Ansel Cook studio was mentioned in “Minneapolis Journal” as producing the accompanying painted backings for the first formal American production of Lorenzo Perosi’s La Risurrezione di Cristo, the Resurrection of Christ, at the Minneapolis Auditorium in 1905 (2 Sept. 1905, page 14). Perosi’s oratorio was part of the Banda Rossa program performed at the Auditorium during State Fair week, and included Gina Ciaparelli (soprano), Bessie Bonsall (contralto), Albert Quesnel (tenor) and Salvatore Nunziato (baritone) for the solo parts.

Cook’s compositions included “Mary at the Tomb, the meeting between the Savior and Mary Magdalene, the meeting of the Saviour and the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the Savior in the Multitude and the Ascension Scene” (Minneapolis Journal, 2 Sept. 1905, page 14). The “Minneapolis Journal” article described, “As the music progresses, these views, each 30×40 feet, with the wonderful electric lighting effects, are dissolved one into another. The effect is intensely interesting, and the mind, acted upon alike by the music and the pictures, is almost overwhelmed by the reality, the beauty and the solemnity of the scenes thus depicted by tone and brush.” The “Star Tribune” added, “These are exquisite works of art and when lighted by the different electrical devices used in their presentation are wonderful, beautiful, and fantastic, illuminating the music as it progresses” (Star Tribune, 3 Sept 1905, page 31). In 1905 Cook’s office was in room 60 of the Grand Opera House Building in Chicago. He was listed as a scenic artist, designer, originator and constructor in The White City Magazine. The Banda Rossa had also performed for four weeks at White City Amusement Park where Cook had painted the scenery for the attraction, “Venice.” The water ride included 90,000 square feet of painted panoramas depicting the sites of the city.

There is little mention of Cook again until 1908 when he is working in California. The “Los Angeles Times” reported, “Ansel Cook, late scenic artist for Henry Miller, has just been engaged for the same position at the Belasco Theatre here. ‘The Great Divide’ settings were made by Mr. Cook. He was for six years with the Castle Square company of Boston” (27 July 1908, page 7). Also that summer, Cook was mentioned as providing new scenery for the Weyerson & Clifford’s Southern Thorne and Orange Blossoms Company (Billboard, Vol. 20, 8 August 1908, page 25).

By fall 1908, the “Los Angeles Times” announced, “Belasco Theatre has a new scene painter, Ansel Cook. He has the reputation of being one of the country. His “Exterior of the Black Snake Ranch,” in Acts II and III, is a Texas landscape, beautiful in color, and one of the most effective backgrounds ever seen on the Belasco stage” (Los Angeles Times, 30 Sept. 1908, page 17). By winter, Cook was also credited with also decorating the green room of Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Herald, 13 Dec. 1908, page 32).

I have been unable to locate any information of Ansel Cook beyond 1908, only brief mention of Mrs. Ansel Cook’s attendance at social gatherings. Interestingly, however, a Vaudeville palace drop sketch by Cook sketch was donated to the Morgan Library & Museum by Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Oenslager in 1982. As with many designs, notes were scribbled all over the back of this painting the Scollay Square Theatre in Boston in 1900. There is a New York Studios stamp on the back: “THE NEW YORK STUDIOS / 1004 TIMES B’LDG, – NEW YORK.” New York Studios was the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis managed by David Hunt. This would have been the initial connection between Cook and Sosman & Landis. Moses was also working in New York from 1900-1904. The design also includes a note in pencil, along top edge: “Palace Drop Ansel Cook, Scollay Squ. Theater. Died aft 1915.”

This notation suggests that Cook passed away by 1915, however, I have been unsuccessful in locating any obituary for him during that year.

To be continued…

Here is the link to the Cook design at the Morgan Library & Museum: https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/187745

Part 558:Thomas G. Moses and Bert C. Whitney

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote that he worked on “Knight for a Day at the Whitney.” Moses was referring to the new musical comedy produced by B. C. Whitney. The Act I setting depicted Fairview Villa at Mme. Woodbury’s Seminary for Ladies in Evanston, Illinois. The Act II depicted an old estate upon the Isle of Corsica. Robt. R. Smith wrote this two-act show with music by Raymond Hubbel.

Bert Cecil Whitney was a well-known producer in New York and Detroit. Known to his friends as “B.C.” He was a second-generation theatre producer, following in his father’s footsteps. It was the elder Whitney, a longtime leader in the merchandising of musical instruments, who erected the Whitney building in Detroit, Michigan. Bert’s childhood was spent around the Whitney Grand Opera House where his father Clark J. Whitney (1832-1903) was the proprietor, ushering, selling tickets, and learning the rudiments of the business.

In 1898, Bert took charge of his father’s affairs, becoming manager of the Detroit Opera House. Whitney operated theatres in Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Owosso and Battle Creek. He also produced musical comedies for the road. His 1929 obituary in the “Detroit Free Press” remembered that Whitney sent forth, “some of the most pretentious organizations of that time. Among them were ‘A Knight for a Day,’ ‘The Isle of Spice,’ ‘The Isle of Bong Bong,’ ‘Piff, Paff, Pouff,’ The Show Girl,’ ‘The Broken Idol,’ The Loved a Lassie,’ ‘Captain Careless,’ ‘The Head Waiters,’ and ‘The Convict’s Stripes,’”(27 Oct. 1929, page 2). The article continues and adds in some interesting side information, “Bert St. John, now manager of the Detroit Consistory [Scottish Rite], was manager for the Whitney during the most active years as a producer, and recalls that in “The Convict’s Stripes” there were four girls destined to win fame in the movies. They were Mary and Lottie Pickford and Lillian and Dorothy Gish. The play, under the title of ‘The Little Rd Schoolhouse,” had been produced in stock in Toronto, where Fred C. Whitney saw it, and purchased the road rights. Later he assigned these to his brother in Detroit. The Pickfords (they went under their true name of Smith at the time) and the Gish sisters had appeared in stock production. Instead of training new children for the parts, Whitney persuaded Mrs. Smith to take the four on tour. St. John was manager of the company, and relates that Jack Pickford, then a baby, slept in bureau drawers over most of the United States during the next two years.”

After a successful run at Wallack’s theatre in 1908,”A Knight for a Day “toured to Shaftsbury Theatre in London, the venue managed by his brother. Whitney’s little brother, Fred C. Whitney (1861-1930), was also a producer. In 1908, Fred became a lessee of the Shaftbury theatre. (Anaconda, Standard, Anaconda, Montana, 13 Jan. 1908).

In 1907, Moses again worked for Whitney in B. C. Detroit, writing, “A big five act show of “Captain Careless” for Bert Whitney. Was produced in Detroit. The first act was laid at the base of the great Rock of Gibraltar and made a very effective scene.”

To be continued…

Part 557: Home for the Holidays, 1906

Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Pitt, Stella and Baby Eleanor arrived home for Christmas.”

During the summer of 1906, “The Oak Park Leaves” reported, “Mr. and Mrs. W. Pitt Moses of Trenton, N.J., are the proud parents of a baby girl, who arrived Sunday, July 29. The father is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Moses of 233 South Euclid avenue” (4 August 1906, page 10).

Tom and Ella had four children: William “Pitt” Moses (1879), Mary “Mamie” Titcomb Moses (1881), Lillian Ella Moses (1886), Thomas “Rupert” Moses (1889). Moses recorded that Pitt and Mamie were the mischievous pair of the four when they were young, keeping his wife Ella on watch every minute.

As the first child to become an adult, Pitt followed in his uncle Frank Moses’ footsteps. In 1900, he moved to Trenton and worked at the gas plant in New Jersey. Three years later, he married Stella Martin of Trenton. Moses’ youngest son, Rupert, entered the theatre manufacturing business with his father. The girls were married and became homemakers. Lillian married George Salzman in 1910. Mamie married William Hanover in 1911. Last, but not least, Rupert married Ula McNeill of Ames, Iowa in 1914.

By 1917, Moses wrote, “Pitt came out for a short visit and for the first time in twenty years, we had only the four children at home for a dinner. They were not allowed to mention their families. We sat each in their accustomed place. We all enjoyed it immensely. It carried us back many years when we were all much younger. I wish we could do it every year.” That same year, Moses wrote, “Stella and the girls arrived on December 22^nd. Pitt came out on the 24^th. We certainly had some family this Christmas – 17 at the table and two in the kitchen, and we had a fine dinner. I had Eugene Hall come to the house and pose us and he got one good negative. Had to use a flash as the light was very poor. I have wanted this for a good many years, and I am pleased to get it, even if it is not as good as a gallery picture.” I would love to find this picture.

Because Rupert and his father worked together, the two families would occasionally share the same home, sharing everything from food to scarlet fever over the years. Although his eldest son Pitt lived far away in Trenton, New Jersey, Moses passed along fatherly advice across the miles in the form of letters.

In 1931, Moses wrote to his eldest son,

“My dear Pitt.

Many thanks for your letter of congratulations and expression of your love. I am very thankful to know and receive both of them. As the 75 years bear down on me I often wonder if my life has been worthwhile to myself and others. While I have been partly successful in many ways. I have failed to reach the goal I set for myself fifty odd years ago. But the domestic side of my life has been a very happy one in choosing a wonderful mate, and who has not only been a good mother to our four healthy children, but a good help in sifting out many financial difficulties that are bound to come in our lives.”

Fortunately for us, John H. Rothgeb (University of Texas) corresponded with many of Moses’ descendants, by gathering copies of letters written by Moses near the end of his life. At the time, Rothgeb was researching the life of Moses, as well as the history of the Sosman & Landis studio. This was during the 1970s and early 1980s. He left an enormous wealth of information in the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas. Rothgeb was the second generation to identify the significance of Masonic scenery. The first generation was James “Jim” Maronek, a Chicago scenic artist who collected many Sosman & Landis artifacts during the 1960s. He even held the first exhibit placing Masonic scenery within the context of theatre history; this was during the early 1960s.

The third generation of scenic artists to study Moses and Masonic scenery was Lance Brockman at the University of Minnesota, hence how I became the fourth generation. Early in my undergraduate career I created an index for Moses’ typed memoirs and scrapbook for Brockman as a class project. I was also the assistant to the curator (Brockman) for the Theatre of the Fraternity exhibit in 1996. This was when I wrote letters to all known descendants of Thomas G. Moses.

During this same time, I came in contact with another student and friend of Maronek, one who became the paint charge at Chicago’s Lyric Opera. Like me, Brian Traynor became fascinated with Moses and his contemporaries. He actively collected materials and other information pertaining to historical scenic art. I have remained in contact with Traynor over the years and we have become friends. He is an amazing source of information and artifacts relating to the Chicago scenic art scene, while remaining a professional scenic artist. Traynor was also the one who contacted me about the Scottish Rite collection in Peoria, Illinois, when the Valley was getting rid of it. We worked together in search of a new home, but when no university or museum was willing to receive the donation, I rented a truck and took it home.

Without my predecessors, Maronek, Rothgeb, Brockman and Traynor, I would not be able to successfully tell the story of Thomas G. Moses.

To be continued…

Part 556: Julian Greer’s Return to the Studio in 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Julian Greer, one of the old paint boys, now an actor, author and manager, visited us for the first time in many years.”

Julian Greer was born in London, England during 1870 and passed away in 1928 at the age of 58. He was a well-known actor, artist and war correspondent. Greer’s life appears to have been shadowed by a series of scandals. His first marriage was to the leading lady of Dillon’s Company, Ida F. Solee in 1891. At the time, Greer was associated with the Frohman company (Los Angeles Ties, 23 June 1891, page 3). In 1896, newspapers reported on his relationship Mrs. William Frederick Holcomb. Wife of an aged physician, she was served papers in a suit for absolute divorce, naming the co-respondent “Julian Greer, an artist” (Washington Republican, Washington, Kansas, 24 June 1896, page 7).

Greer and Mrs. Humphreys ran away to Europe together. However, by that fall, he was advertising in the London “Era” – “Wanted, juvenile Lady, to look Sixteen; Juvenile light comedian, two young Lady dancers, for minuet. Address, with photo and exact age and height, Julian Greer, 264, Vauxhall-bridge-road” (London, England, 10 Oct. 1896, page 25)

Less than a decade later, Greer was back in America and playing in the production, “The Tie That Binds” by Hal Reid. Advertisements promised, “unlike most melo-dramas, does not depend entirely upon its sensational effects, there being a beautiful story of heart interest running throughout the entire four acts. In addition to many other sterling qualities embodied in the play, Mr. Julian Greer has added a number of high class specialties and gotten together and exceptional strong company of players, making the attraction particularly enticing” (The Morning Call, 8, Feb. 1906, page 4).

Greer was also in the touring production of “Man’s Enemy.” The “Omaha Daily Bee” reported, “For three nights, starting Thursday, Mr. Julian Greer will offer ‘Man’s Enemy,” a big melodramatic production to the patrons of the Krug theater. The play deals with the evils of drink, but contains a very pretty heart story running throughout” (Omaha Daily Bee, 18 March 1906, page 27). The show was billed as “a combination of romantic comedy and tragedy.”

He was also planning another project, one that likely bought him to the Sosman & Landis studio looking for a scenic artist. The “Albuquerque Citizen” reported, “New York Productions for Casino -Summer Theatre to open May 15 with company of sixteen people in cast – on Way from New York now.”

Greer was visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit his brother, Col W. H. Greer, who was president of the Albuquerque Traction Company. Greer was considering the Traction Park Casino as a venue for his show. The newspaper commented that Greer was an actor and painter from New York City Greer (Albuquerque, New Mexico, 7 March 1906, page 5). The remainder of the article is quite interesting.

“Julian Greer is here for the purpose of getting the colonel to accompany him to Omaha, Neb. Where he expected to show his performance of the theatrical company that will open the Traction Park Casino on May 15. The company was organized in New York, of excellent talent, and is now working west, playing at the most important cities en route. The troupe is expected to reach Omaha by the time the colonel and Mr. Julian Greer reach that place by leaving here tonight, which will probably be on Saturday. In speaking of the company and the people who compose it, Mr. Julian Greer said: ‘Nestor Lennon, one of the best known actors of the American stage, and the man who succeeded Nat Goodwin successfully in ‘When We Were Twenty-one;’ Virginia Anderson, only 17, but a woman of charming personality, Maud Adams’ beauty and art, a coming star, is our leading lady. And she is certainly a wonderful young woman. There are many strong characters and specialty people among the sixteen persons, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is one of the strongest troupes on the road. I am taking the colonel back to Omaha to witness the performance of the company.’”

“‘Oh yes,’ continued Mr. Julian Greer, ‘I expect to return with the company, and we will be here all summer. We hope to reach here in time to open by the middle of May. We carry our own scene painter, a very capable man. Who will furnish scenery for any production we may care to make. Our shows will include the best New York productions, with scenic effects.”

Mr. Julian Greer expressed himself as surprised and pleased with the elegance and adequacy of the Traction Park Casino. He said that it would be a compliment to a city of 100,000.”

However, there must have been a change in plans along the way. By April, his brother had turned the entire management of the Traction company over to W. M. Wortman, a manager of amusement parks in Pueblo, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas (Albuquerque Citizen, 7 April, 1906, page 5). That summer, the Casino was be billed as a combination house, playing a diversity of attractions. The Albuquerque Citizen, commented, “the house will probably open May 15, with a large stock company in a repertoire of modern plays, their run will be but a short time, after which they will give way to some other attraction. This plan will be followed out all summer, thus giving a variety of attractions that will relieve the monotony of a stock company for the entire season.” In the end, Wortman proposed to place El Paso, Albuquerque and Las Vegas on a summer vaudeville circuit (Albuquerque Citizen, 2 May 1906, page 8).

Interestingly, Traction Park Casino also hosted number of free attractions that summer, including balloon ascensions, parachute jumps, and a circle swing. Wortman was planning on working closely with Mr. Houston, manager of the local baseball team, assuring, “The base ball sport for the summer will not be neglected.”

To be continued…

Part 555: Streets of Paris at the Chicago Coliseum, 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I had a big job in getting the Streets of Paris ready to open, December 5^th, for ten days.”

“Streets of Paris” was a charity event in Chicago established to aid the Passavant Memorial Hospital. In 1906, it ran from Dec. 5 – 7, open daily from 2pm to11pm. Admission for adults was $1.00 for children were 50 cents. This was slightly expensive price, as White City Amusement part admittance was only ten cents. This event, however, was produced by high society in Chicago and intended for high society in Chicago. It catered to the tastes of the wealthy.

Advertisements reported, “Spectacular Christmas Bazaar and Reproduction of the Champs Elysees and the Rue de la Paix” (Chicago Tribune 8 Dec. 1906, page 16). The boulevards, cafes and shops of Paris were reproduced, including the famous Moulin Rouge.

Gross receipts after the event were reported as $63,870, with a potential profit of $40,000 going for hospital aid (Chicago Tribune, 10 Dec, 1906, page 9). Of the event, Moses noted that the project brought in $8,750.00 for Sosman & Landis, writing it was “some show” and “a big success in every way.”

Streets of Paris was held at the third coliseum built in Chicago, each stood successively from the 1860s to the 1980s. Built in 1899, the third Chicago Coliseum hosted the “Streets of Paris.“ It was located at 15th Street and Wabash Avenue. The complex was built by Charles F. Gunther 1837-1920), a German-American confectioner and collector. His background is quite interesting. Moving from Württemberg Germany to Pennsylvania in 1842 at the age of six, his family eventually settled in in Peru, Illinois. Gunther was an ice distributor until the Civil War broke out. He pledged supported the Confederacy, helping transfer troops during the Civil War. He was captured by Union troops in 1862. Returning to Chicago after the war, Gunther was a traveling salesman for a candy manufacturer, selling goods to the southern states. By 1868, he had started his own candy company, learning his trade from European candy makers and specializing in caramel. He soon amassed a fortune after catering to a very wealthy clientele.

Gunther was also a collector of historical artifacts, many now owned by the Chicago History Museum purchased the bulk of his collection in 1920 for $150,000. The collection included the table on which Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union at the Appomattox Court House. Gunther had even purchased Abraham Lincoln’s deathbed. As with many museums of the time, not all artifacts were authentic; he claimed to own the “skin of the serpent” from the Garden of Eden.

By 1889, Gunther purchased Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, built during the Civil War as a Confederate prison. The structure was dismantled, shipped to Chicago on 132 railroad cars, and rebuilt as the Libby Prison War Museum. This was where Gunther displayed Civil War memorabilia and other historical artifacts. By 1898, incoming profits form the museum were declining, and Gunther took advantage of another situation; fire destroyed the second coliseum. Gunther dismantled the Libby Prison Museum and used the building materials for part of the new Chicago Coliseum. A section of the Chicago Coliseum still remained identifiable as Libby Prison.

The Chicago Coliseum was an enormous venue. The main hall had a capacity for 12,000 people, with the North Hall seating about 4000. The south section of the building included offices and other smaller exhibition halls. Over the decades, the venue hosted many social, political, and charitable events, as well as trade shows, sport shows and circuses. Staged entertainment included musical concerts and high-class vaudeville. The notorious political fundraiser for the two First Ward alderman, the First Ward Ball, was also held in the coliseum. Other events included several Republican National conventions and Progressive Party National Conventions. From 1901 through 1934, the Coliseum was the continuous home to one of the nation’s earliest and most prestigious auto shows. Sosman & Landis provided scenery for many of these events, especially the annual auto shows.

In 1971, the Chicago Coliseum was primarily a general-admission venue for rock concerts. That spring the city shut the building due to fire code violations, and it fell into disuse until it 1982 when it was demolished. Part of the Libby facade was salvaged and given to the Chicago History Museum. The coliseum site is now occupied by the Soka Gakkai USA Culture Center.

To be continued…

 

Last fall I evaluated the Scottish Rite scenery collection in Deadwood, South Dakota. On site findings suggested that the Deadwood Scottish Rite had purchased a new scenery collection from Twin City Scenic Co. around the turn of the century and two used scenery collections after that. The Deadwood Scottish Rite purchased one scenery collections from the Scottish Rite in Joplin, Missouri (1902) and another one from the Scottish Rite in Kansas City, Kansas (1904). There are many drops still waiting to be discovered, rolled up and stored above the stage. There were also a few other pieces added over time, including a set for the Shrine. Twin City Scenic records from the year 1940 also note that the studio did business with the Deadwood Scottish Rite that year too. Interestingly a fly loft and stage were not added to the building until 1961. Prior to that time, the Scottish Rite Masons temporarily hung the scenes, storing them in the basement.

Fast forward to yesterday at Lance Brockman’s house. I was picking up a some files and books. As I started to merge our two records at home last night I made a startling discovery. In his materials, there was a 1927 program for DeMolay. I quickly paged through it before putting on an archival sleeve. Only a few pages into the program, I stopped in shock. I was looking at the same drop that now hangs in Deadwood!

I immediately phoned my South Dakota Scottish Rite contact, Mike Rodman, sharing the exciting news. It was perfect timing. Tonight is the Deadwood Scottish Rite Quasquicentennial celebration. They are celebrating 125 years of building community partners and building Masonic Brothers. Activities start at 4:00 pm today! Rodman is planning to share my discovery tonight at the event.

This backdrop was pictured in the 1927 program alongside the first forty-seven members to join DeMolay. From this youth order started in 1919, it grew to a membership of a quarter of a million young men by 1927.

However, this may not be a drop specifically created for DeMolay. Over the years, many class pictures were taken in front of Scottish Rite or York Rite scenery, wherever the boys met. It is possible that this backdrop was for a Masonic order other than DeMolay. Regardless, we know that the beautifully painted scene came from Kansas City and was hanging in 1919.

To be continued…

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 10^th 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 10^th degree on line 59. The backdrop shows 10 and 87 for 10^th 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…

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“17^th degree Vision” or simply, “Volcano.”

 

 

To be continued…