Part 602: Chicago Athletic Club, 1908
Happy New Year!
In 1908 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Chicago Athletic Club. We fitted up a complete stage to be ‘Struck’ within an hour. I have been obliged to stay at the Annex, an awful place to heat.”
To decipher his statement, the main studio for Sosman & Landis was located on Clinton Street. In 1892, the Sosman and Landis Company opened a second studio space on the West Side of Chicago, renting the “old Waverly theatre” and referring to the second space as “the Annex.” According to Thomas G. Moses, the first annex studio had four paint frames with plenty of floor space for all kinds of work. This space was specifically secured for Moses and his crew to accept additional work for the Columbian Exposition. Moses’ arrangement with Sosman & Landis was to receive all of their sub-contracted work.
Another annex studio was secured in 1907 for Moses and his crew at Sosman & Landis to accommodate the increase in special projects and Masonic work. Moses wrote, “We opened our annex studio at 19 W. 20th Street in July, and Ansel Cook went there as a manager. He did some very good work but was a long time doing it, which, of course, didn’t pay us.”
The stage and scenery for the Chicago Athletic Club was produced at the second annex studio on 20th Street. In this studio, Moses also wrote that they completed “a good sized job for Wichita, Kansas” during 1908.
In regard to the actual Chicago Athletic Club project, I have uncovered very little information about any theatrical event mentioned by Moses. I located one advertisement in the Chicago Tribune for an amateur actor “tryout,” however, where participants could make their first appearance on stage at the Chicago Athletic Club in 1908.
Here is the 1908 Chicago Athletic Club advertisement for amateur actors:
“Amateur actors wishing to make their first appearance on stage will be given a tryout at the Chicago Athletic Club next Saturday evening April 11 at 8:30; a representative committee of Chicago and New York managers will be present. Prize money will be given to those making the biggest hit. Apply today between 3 and 4 p.m., to the stage door of Auditorium theater” (Chicago Tribune, 10 April 1908, page 21).
What I find most interesting about Moses’ entry, however, is his use of the term “Struck,” typed in quotes. Moses seldom used quotes in his writing, unless he was referring to something new or an unfamiliar term. He typed this sentence in 1931 when he assembled his “My Diary,” based on his annual handwritten diaries started in 1873. So by 1931, he still treated the term “struck” as something unfamiliar. He did not create his diary for the general public, but his family and colleagues, writing in 1922 “I trust my diary will be of some interest to my relatives and brother scenic artists.”
To be continued…