Month: February 2019

Part 690: Proper Lighting for Scottish Rite Stages

In 1881, The Building News included the article “Art on the Stage.” A small section addressed the scenic artist’s involvement with lighting at the time:

“The last thing that the scene-painter does before the production of a new play is to have his scenes set upon the stage at night in order that he can arrange the lighting of them. The “gas-man” of a theatre is the artist’s mainstay. It lies in his power to ruin the finest scene that was ever painted. Ground lights turned too high upon a moonlight scene, calciums with glass not properly tinted, or the shadow of a straight edged border-drop thrown across a delicate sky – all these things are ruin to the artist’s most careful work. The proper lighting of a scene is, therefore, a matter that requires the most careful study. The artist sits in the centre of the auditorium and minutely observes every nook and comer of his scene under the glare of gas. Here a light is turned up and there one is lowered until the proper effect is secured. The gas-man takes careful note of his directions, and the stage-manager oversees everything. Long after the audience has left the theatre on the night before the production of a new play, the stage-hands, the artist, and the stage manager are at work, and the public sees only the charming result of their labours when the curtain rises on the next night.”

Over three decades later, electric border lights and other lighting instruments replaced their gas predecessors. In 1913, Bestor G. Brown, western sales manager for M. C. Lieelley & Co., wrote a letter to William G. Bell at the Austin Scottish Rite about the proper way to light a Scottish Rite stage. He cited the recently installed lighting system at the Santa Fe Scottish Rite installed the year before. Brown described the electric border lights:

“Each border ought to be hung the same way as we hang our scenery, on counterweighted cable; it requires a little larger counterweight frame for these border rows on account of the weight. We ordinarily install the border rows where we furnish the fixtures, at the time we install the scenery.”

A stage lighting pamphlet was created by M. C. Lilley during the early twentieth century to identify the recommended lighting equipment for Scottish Rite stages. The equipment for a Scottish Rite stage was classified as border lights, ground rows, floor pockets, strip lights, bunch lights, arc lights, dimmer plant and switch board. M. C. Lilley & Co. offered either three-color or four-color options for border, strip lights and ground rows.

Of the colors, a three-color system for the Scottish stages recommended by M. C. Lilley & Co. included white, red and green. In the case of their four-color systems, the company recommended white, red, blue and amber. Around this same time, the increased use of amber was noted by scenic artist Ernest Albert. In 1913, Albert addressed appropriate lighting colors for the stage. It was in an interview with “The New York Dramatic Mirror,” He commented, “we are now avoiding many of the hard qualities of the electric light by greater use of ambers, straw colors, and pinks.”

The M. C. Lilley pamphlet also noted the additional expense incurred by a four-color light system

noting, “The incorporation of the fourth color not only increases the size of the fixtures, but materially increases the expense. For the majority of Masonic stages, the three color lights are found to be ample.” That being said, the three-color systems of white, red and blue appear to be visually more successful, for the night scenes.

For a stage depth of thirty feet, six border rows were recommended, with each border measuring the same length as the proscenium width. Similarly, there would be a minimum of six ground rows, each measuring four feet long.

To be continued…

Part 689: M. C. Lilley & Co. Lighting for Scottish Rite Stages

 Any painting can be destroyed in an instant with poor lighting. It does not matter how beautiful the composition, or the painted aesthetic; if the person designing ot running the lights does not understand two-dimensional scenes it doesn’t matter.

During a 1913 New York Dramatic Mirror interview with scenic artist Ernest Albert, he explained that a scenic artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within his province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty. It is true that in the days of gas lighting much softer effects were possible, but I will sacrifice all of the advantages of mellow light for safety…Anyway, we are now avoiding many of the hard qualities of the electric light by greater use of ambers, straw colors, and pinks.”

A pamphlet produced by the M. C. Lilley & Co. for Scottish Rite stages during the early twentieth century commented, “The lighting equipment of a stage used for Scottish Rite purpose is very important. No matter how well the scenery may be executed, much of its effect will be lost without proper lighting. The equipment should be complete and in no department should a false economy produce a lack of capacity.”

In 1900, the following lighting equipment was delivered to the Scottish Rite stage in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Four (4) Borders

Four (4) portable ground rows

Two (2) Strip rows

Two (2) Bunch lights

One (1) Slate switch board, full fused, containing 1 main, 3 Service and 32 subordinate double contact knife switches – 36 switches in all; connections on board all made

 

In 1912, the following lighting equipment was delivered to the Scottish Rite stage in Santa Fe, New Mexico:

 

Six (6) Border Rows

Six (6) Ground Rows

Two (2) Strip lights

One (1) Dimmer plant

One (1) Switch board

One (1) Arc spot light

One (1) Arc reflector

Two (2) Metal bunch lights

Eight (8) Framed gelatins

 

To be continued…

Part 688: The American Reflector and Lighting Co., 1900

 Yesterday, I examined some correspondence about footlights between Frank A. Derr, of the Scottish Rite in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and Charles E. Rosenbaum, of the Scottish Rite in Little Rock, Arkansas.

The original stage lighting for Guthrie was listed in a contract between the Guthrie Scottish Rite and E. A. Armstrong Mfg. Company of Chicago, dated April 28, 1900. The Armstrong company was located at 300-302-304 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, and listed as “Manufacturers of Secret Society, Military and Band Supplies.” The lighting, scenery and stage work for the new Guthrie stage was provided by through M. C. Lilley and Co. The companies western sales manager, well-known Mason Bestor G. Brown, subcontracted the new work to Sosman & Landis.

In 1900 the Guthrie Scottish Rite hired E. A. Armstrong Manufacturing C. of Chicago to outfit their new stage, lighting was included in the purchsse. The Scottish Rite bodies spent a total of $694.50 on lighting for the stage, the equivalent of $20,811.19 today.

Here is what the contract specified:

STAGE LIGHTING

Four (4) Borders, each 24 feet long, each containing 60 lights wired for three color; sockets and wiring complete but no lamps-

Four (4) portable ground rows, each 10 feet long, each containing 15 lights, wired for three colors, sockets and wiring complete – but no lamps-

Two (2) Strip rows, each 16 feet long, each containing 24 lights, wired for three colors; sockets and wiring complete but no lamps-

Two (2) eight light, porcelain lined, swing head, iron stand bunch lights; complete with extension cord and plug, but no lamps-

Six (6) cast iron floor pockets

Twenty-four (24) Slate receptacles

Fourteen (14) Plugs for receptacles

Fourteen (14) Plugs for receptacles, three lights attached to each of ground rows and one each to bunch lights-

Four (4) 40 Ampere dimmers, German silver wire wound

Three (3) 20 Ampere dimmers, German silver wire wound

One (1) Slate switch board, full fused, containing 1 main, 3 Service and 32 subordinate double contact knife switches – 36 switches in all; connections on board all made

Sockets all of Edison pattern

MISCELLANEOUS LIGHTING APPARATUS

One (1) lamp and chaser

One (1) 4,000 c/p focusing lamp and reflector, stand and rheostat included.

Large and small carbons – no charge

One (1) Lighting box, Complimentary

NOTE- Goods packed and shipped by American Reflector and Lighting Co. Charges collect, but to be paid and applied on bill.

For Scottish Rite theaters in 1900, scenery and lighting went hand in hand. The same would be true over a decade later, as the scenic studios still had great influence over the lighting systems used to light their painted scenery on Scottish Rite stages. Sosman & Landis were involved with the manufacture of painted scenery, stage machinery, and rigging for the stage. They were also heavily invested in the lighting industry. They designed and manufactured electric scenic theatres, electrical floats and other spectacular electrical effects for a variety of performance venues.

The American Reflector and Lighting Company opened its doors just before the Columbian Exposition. On March 24,1893, the “Chicago Inter Ocean” listed Perry Landis as one of the company’s incorporators and Charles Landis as the treasurer. Joseph S. Sosman was a major investor for the enterprise.

In 1894, the Sosman & Landis studio catalogue offered stage hardware and lighting for other projects than the stage. Actually, an entire page was devoted to the American Reflector and Lighting Company in their catalogue. They offered “a full line of improved lighting fixtures for electricity, gas or oil, specially adapted for the lighting of theatres, halls, assembly rooms, and churches.”

The American Reflector and Lighting Co. salesroom was located at 271-273 Franklin Street where the company advertised 150 styles of reflectors for users of electricity, gas and oil. Their products included lighting fixtures for art galleries, display windows, orchestra shades, street lights, stage dimmers, theatre lamps, silver plated mirror reflectors for incandescent cluster with prisms, and many other products. Their lighting fixtures used crystal glass lined with pure metallic silver to provide “the best practical reflecting surface.” The company advertised that their reflectors, for both indoor and outdoor lighting, “promised that the power of light was fully utilized, as its rays are saved from waste, strengthened and thrown in the desired direction.” In 1904, the American Reflector Co. was located at 199 Van Buren St. in Chicago. By 1914 various advertisements listed a new address for the company at 517 Jackson Blvd.

In addition to standard lighting for the stage, the Guthrie Scottish Rite ordered fifteen special lighting fixtures that included:

Four fixtures, two lights each – one above the other-

Four fixtures, four lights each, each fixture the shape of a circle – 12 inches in diameter-

Three fixtures, nine lights each, the lights in each fixture arranged in the shape of three equilateral triangles with the apexes joined – 18 inches square

One Fixture containing nine lights, eight in the shape of an octagon, and the remaining light in the center fixture 18 inches.

One Fixture containing three lights in the shape of an equilateral triangle – 12 inches

One Fixture of seven lights, arranged in the shape of a triangle, four in the bottom row, three in the next, two in the next, and one in the apex.-fixture 32 inches-

One fixture of five lights in the shape of a square, 5^th light in the center.

With the foregoing fixtures are 116, 8 candle power 110 volt frosted, and colored lamps, also 7 receptacles.

NOTE: – Foregoing is billed at $31.25 less than the estimate.

The price for the above-listed special light fixtures was $419.75, making the total lighting purchase of $1114.25, todays equivalent of $33,389.30.

In 1910, the Guthrie Scottish Rite border lights were mentioned in a letter from Bestor G. Brown (western sales representative for M. C. Lilley & Co.) to Frank A. Derr (Secretary of the Oklahoma Consistory, in Guthrie, Oklahoma). Guthrie was enlarging the stage in their existing building, a project that necessitated the purchase of new scenery, stage machinery, and lighting equipment. The used stage systems were being returned for credit on the purchase of a new scenery collection. On July 26, 1910, Brown wrote, “I shall probably go to Lawrence some time within the next few days and if I can dispose of your electrical equipment, I will be very glad to do so. It is old and will not pass inspection. The borders have a wooden strip on the top and that disqualifies them under the present regulations. If the Lawrence people want to buy them with the full knowledge of the facts, I shall be very glad indeed to see them get them.”

To be continued…

Part 687: Footlights and the Scottish Rite stage

Lighting was an integral part of the Scottish Rite stage. In past posts, I have touched on the subject of lighting and its control by scenic artists during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1913 many scenic artists still maintained control over the lighting of their work. This aspect of the commercial stage was noted by well-known scenic artists Ernest Albert in 1913. In an interview with Arthur Edwin Krows of the “The New York Dramatic Mirror, ” Albert explained his own design process for the stage. He explained that a scenic artist’s function did not cease until the scenery was all installed and the lighting arrangements completed. He commented, “Lighting is within [the scenic artist’s] province, just as groupings are in a measure. An unexpected orange light on violet, for instance, will produce a russet brown that will make everything look dirty.”

For the next few posts, I am going to examine some lighting characteristics apparent in early twentieth-century Scottish Rite theaters, starting with footlights. Some Scottish Rites installed footlights in the early twentieth century and others did not. In 1904, the Scottish Rite stage in Duluth included a series of retractable footlights, allowing the performers to easily access the steps at the front of the stage as they were not permanently up.

In 1916, a letter from Charles Rosenbaum of Little Rock to Frank A. Derr of Guthrie, Oklahoma, addressed the use of footlights in Scottish Rite theaters. Derr had asked Rosenbaum about the need for footlights in a previous letter, noting that the Scottish Rite in Memphis Tennessee employed the use of footlights for their degree productions. Derr was considering the value of installing footlights at the Scottish Rite in Guthrie, Texas.

Rosenbaum responded to Derr’s query on June 10, 1916:

“I note what you say about footlights, but what use are they? In our old synagogue [the Albert Pike Cathedral in Little Rock constructed in 1896], we had footlights, we found them sort of a nuisance, when we built on 8^th and Scott [the Albert Pike Consistory Building of 1902] we left them out entirely.

While in New York several years ago talking to Stage expert equipment people they showed me foot light equipment they were building for a High School building and it had a nice disappearing arrangement which was all right.

I asked what was the necessary for foot lights, and why they were used.

The answer was —You have to have them to throw up the light on the people on the front of the stage to light up or destroy the rawness of their makeup, which means the paint and stuff they use on their faces, they said you can’t get along without them for that reason.

I said —Suppose there is no makeup, and I described out use of a stage, and they said it would be foolish to have footlights at all, and only in case we rented the building for theatrical purposes would it be necessary, because when Actors and Actresses made up the necessity would it be evident.

So —as we don’t rent for any such purpose and don’t make up our faces, and have no business very far out to ward the front of the stage, or for that matter in front of the curtain line, we have no use for ‘feet lights, to high light our faces and they have no use for them in Memphis [Memphis Scottish Rite] either unless they rent for shows of one kind or another.’”

There are a few things to consider about subjects touched upon in Rosenbaum’s letter. The first is that the participant’s in degree productions on Scottish Rite stages do not wear makeup. Costumes and wigs were part of the normal degree production, but not stage makeup. This makes sense as many of the degrees were not solely contained to the stage area and they would frequently break the curtain line, getting within a very short distance of the audience; there was no need for stage makeup. The apron of a Scottish Rite stage often transitioned into three steps, allowing the actors to easily move the action out into the auditorium. Again, there was not fixed seating in the first part of the auditorium floor as this area was used for degree work.

A second thing to consider is the mention of disappearing footlights. This is the same type of footlights at the Duluth Scottish Rite and other Scottish Rite Valleys. They allow the stage action to easily transition to and from the stage, a common aspect to some degree productions. This is all dependent on the individual interpretation of a particular Scottish Rite valley.

The final point concerns the Scottish Rite stage being used by non-Masonic groups. This was an option many Scottish Rite stages from the onset; consider Masonic opera houses, Temple theaters and shared stages often provided much the needed revenue for Fraternal building expenses. Just a retail shops supported Masonic lodge rooms located on the top floors of a Masonic building, so did stages provide revenue for Masonic edifices. Some were specifically planned and constructed for the Fraternity, as it was another viable source of income that paid for the basic operation of the building. Some Masonic complexes even had two theaters; one solely for Scottish Rite purposes and the other for the general public. Masonic buildings in Detroit, Michigan, and Cincinnati, Ohio, are only two examples.

To be continued…

Part 686: Meanwhile, in the Northern Jurisdiction

I am in the midst of examining the progression of Scottish Rite stage construction in the Southern Jurisdiction, before I return to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in 1909. 1908 to 1910 is when Sosman & Landis reach their peak production period of fraternal theater production and Brown’s special system. There is little documented evidence of degree productions in the Southern Jurisdiction before 1896, with the earliest stages being constructed in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Oakland, California, much flew under the official radar.

The major aspect to the evolution of theatrically interpreted degree work in the Southern Jurisdiction is a systematic marketing plan by a relatively small number of individuals that included Bestor G. Brown as the spokesman for the movement. Brown created demand for a particular product manufactured by Sosman & Landis studio. The development of Brown’s special system directly increased the amount of painted scenery that was able to be installed in a Scottish Rite theaters. Although Sosman & Landis scenic artists and stage carpenter David Austin Strong (1830-1911) was credited by Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934) as the “Daddy” of Masonic design, the theatrical staging of degree work had long been occurring in the Northern Jurisdiction for decades before the Southern Jurisdiction.

Before moving forward with the expansion of Scottish Rite stages throughout the Southern Jurisdiction, from 1896 onward, here’s a brief recap of what was already occurring in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction (NMJ) of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Keep in mind that the NMJ is located east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio River. At the time the geographical demarcations were established, the NMJ included many of the United States’ major metropolitan areas, including Boston, and Philadelphia. These were vibrant theatrical hubs during the mid-nineteenth century when the NMJ began staging portions of their degree work, not to mention the Masonic Opera Houses that were constructed during the time.

In the 1860s the Indianapolis Scottish Rite Bodies used movable scenery and a small stage in their 1863 space of the Yohn Building, before moving to the Baldwin Building in 1873. Increasingly elaborate stage productions of degrees continued until 1882 when the Indianapolis Scottish Rite purchased and remodeled an old pork slaughterhouse, installing two stages for degree work. Originally a five-story brick building, the back half was raised an additional story to accommodate a theatrical fly system. Theatre spaces occupied both the fourth and fifth floors and were of similar size, each including galleries on three sides with 450-seat capacities.   The fourth-floor and fifth-floor auditoriums measured approximately forty by eighty feet. The fourth-floor auditorium included a twenty-eight foot proscenium opening that was primarily used for scenic effects in connection with the conferring of degrees. The fifth-floor proscenium stage opening was twenty by thirty feet and included a forty-five-foot high fly loft.

Despite the popularity of Scottish Rite stages, the Southern Jurisdiction did not follow suit because of Grand Commander Pike. The same year that the Indianapolis Scottish Rite building was completed, Grand Pike addressed the dissimilarity of degree work in each jurisdiction in his 1882 Allocution, stating, “The Rite in this jurisdiction is a Rite of Instruction, and not of scenic pomp and stage-show. We do not indulge in melodrama or pantomime. It is the firm conviction of hundreds of our zealous workers that our books are well worth being studied, and that the Rite, as developed in our Degrees, is destined by God to be in our future one of the chief benefactors of humanity…I can not conceive of a more useless occupation than the arranging and performing of degrees, neither the effect nor the purpose of which is to make men wiser or better, but which are acted as melodramas, to gratify an æsthetic taste and please the imagination, like the pageantry of cardinals and orioles. It is not Masonry.”

As in Indianapolis, Cincinnati also constructed a series of early stages before building a full Scottish Rite cathedral. Cincinnati’s first Scottish Rite cathedral was destroyed by fire during 1884. The New Scottish Rite Cathedral was described in the Masonic Column of Cincinnati’s Commercial Gazette on July 5, 1885. The article boasted, “When fully completed the Cathedral will constitute the most complete and elegantly fitted building devoted to any one branch of Masonry in the World.” It was competed by 1886 at a cost of $82,500. (Democratic and Chronicle, 16 May 1886, page 2). The Cincinnati Scottish Rite auditorium contained a three-tiered balcony and a thirty-two-foot proscenium opening. The entire scenic installation for their newly constructed Scottish Rite building was credited to E. T. Harvey. His scenery included a tomb, interior palace, palatial chamber, landscape, fiery underworld, ascension of Christ, and a cathedral interior to name a few. As an itinerant artist, Harvey worked at a variety of theatres throughout the region, including Heuck’s New Opera House where the Scottish Rite scenery had been painted. E. T. Harvey would create 18 new sets of scenery for the Cleveland Scottish Rite in 1901 too after they suffered the loss of a previous building to fire (Cincinnati Enquirer, 31, Oct 1901, page 3). Harvey (1843-1918) was an Englishman who immigrated to America in 1860 and worked extensively as a scenic artist in the east. He also worked at the Grand Opera in Cincinnati for 25 years. Harvey was a member of the Scottish Rite and Shrine, as many of the first scenic artists to create Masonic scenery,

In 1886, the same year that the second Cincinnati Scottish Rite Cathedral was completed, another one was finished in Columbus, Ohio. The “Fort Wayne Daily Gazette” included an article “Gorgeous Quarters. The Magnificent Scottish Rite Cathedral at Columbus, Ohio” (5 Dec. 1886, page 8). The Third Street Universalist church was purchased and remodeled for $12,000. The renovation included a stage and property room. At the time, the newspapers proclaimed the building to be “one of the most complete in the country.” Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati were only a few examples of a wave sweeping through the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction a full decade before the first small Scottish Rite stages appeared in Little Rock and Oakland.

To be continued…

Part 685: The Scottish Rite in Portland Oregon, 1902 

By 1902, Sosman & Landis studio had delivered Scottish Rite scenery and stage machinery to Southern Jurisdiction Scottish Rite Valleys in Little Rock, Arkansas; Oakland, California; Wichita, Kansas; Guthrie, Oklahoma; Fargo, North Dakota; and Salina, Kansas. Some of this early scenery is still available for examination. The collections from Little Rock, Guthrie and Fargo share many similar compositions, indicating that Sosman & Landis were in the process of developing Masonic stock scenery options.

In 1902, another Scottish Rite scenery collection was being prepared for installation the western region of the United States – Oregon. That year, the Scottish Rite in Portland began the construction of their new home that would later be dedicated in 1903. Portland was just one on many Scottish Rite buildings being constructed during this period to included a theater and scenery.

As with many early-twentieth-century Scottish Rite Valleys, membership rapidly outgrew existing spaces As the size of candidate classes increased, so did the necessary regalia, paraphernalia and stage requirements.

In 1892,The Masonic Temple association of Portland filed articles of incorporation, with the following incorporators: F. A. Moore, J. C. Moreland, John McCracken and D. C. McKercher with a capital stock of $250,000. The purpose of the association was to erect a Masonic Temple at the metropolis (Statesman, 6 Sept. 1892, Page 1).

Later the Scottish Rite began planning for the construction of a cathedral on the corner of Morrison and Lownsdale Streets. The grounds were purchased in 1902 by Oregon Consistory No. 1. Measuring 100 feet by 120 feet, the price of the lot was $18,000. Bonds were issued for the construction of a $100,000 building. Architect and Scottish Rite Mason, Martin Beck, designed the edifice.

The grand opening of the Portland Scottish Rite occurred on May 19, 1903. For the event, there was an grand concert organ recital and ball. By this time, the public attending events was becoming increasingly common. In 1886 an interesting article was published in the “Cincinnati Enquirer” in regard to a public music concert at the Cincinnati Scottish Rite Cathedral (16 Dec. 1884, page 4). The article reported, “It is not a usual thing in the long history of Scottish Rite Masonry that he Cathedrals are thrown open for concert purposes. The first incident of the kind that comes to mind occurred last night in the new Scottish Rite Cathedral on Broadway, between Fourth and Fifth Streets.” That year, the new Scottish Rite Cathedral had been completed at a cost of over a quarter million dollars as was said to be the “finest building for Masonic purposes in the world” (South Haven New Era, 15 May 1886, page 8).

Today, many Scottish Rite buildings host public events as a way to generate revenue, allowing the public a peak at their historic stages.

Scenic artist and final president of Sosman & Landis, Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934), recorded in his memoirs that he was in charge of producing the Scottish Rite scenery collections for Little Rock, Salina, and Portland between 1901 and 1902. However, during these two years, Moses had left Sosman & Landis to establish a studio of his own – Moses & Hamilton. Moses & Hamilton operated out New York from 1901-1904. It was studio founder Joseph S. Sosman who maintained close ties with Moses and his family, finally luring him to return to Chicago during 1904. It is unclear whether Moses returned to Sosman & Landis to paint on any project from 1900-1904, but it would not be unusual as Moses was hired y a variety of other studios during this time. Regardless, Moses takes credit for scenery collection delivered to Portland, Oregon and the 1912 scenery collection delivered to Portland, Maine.

The 1902 drop curtain designed for Portland (Oregon) Scottish Rite is very similar to that created for the Wichita Scottish Rite in 1908. As the two compositions are very unique, I wonder about a possible connection between Wichita and Portland, and the sale of used scenery. Although the majority of 1898 Wichita scenery was resold to the Yankton Scottish Rite, I wonder if certain used pieces made their way west to Oregon. This was the case with the second Little Rock scenery collection being divided between the Scottish Rite theaters in Miami, Florida, and Pasadena, California.

To be continued…

Part 684: Scottish Rite Stages in Salina –1901 and 1927

In Salina, Kansas, the “Daily Union” published an article that almost read like an advertisement for the upcoming Scottish Rite reunion. The heading stated “THE SCOTTISH RITE. Interesting Facts About Bodies Located Here. Spring Reunion in June” (Salina Daily Union, 14 April 1900, page 1). The amount of information provided in this 1900 article is quite intriguing:

“The Bodies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, located at Salina, Kan., acknowledge and yield allegiance to the Supreme Council, 33d degree, for the Southern Masonic jurisdiction of the United States of America, whose grand East is in Charleston, South Carolina, and is in fraternal communication with every legitimate Supreme Council in the world.

“The various degrees as conferred by these orders are divided in a series as follows:

The first series comprises the degrees from the 1^st to the 3d inclusive and are termed symbolic, being conferred in the Blue Lodge, actual membership in which is the obligatory qualification for the advancement to the succeeding series.

The second series comprises the several degrees form the 4^th to the 14^th inclusive, are termed ineffable and are conferred in a “Lodge of Perfection.”

The third series comprising the several degrees from the 15^th to the 18^th inclusive are termed the historical and philosophical degrees and are conferred in a “Chapter of Rose Croix.”

The fourth series comprises those from the 19^th to the 30^th inclusive, are termed the modern historical, chivalric and philosophical degrees, and are conferred in a “Council of Kadosh.”

The fifth series comprises the 31^st and 32d degrees, are allegorical and philosophical, and are conferred in a Consistory.

“The work is very solemn and impressive in nature, calculated to improve the mind and character of all coming in under its influence, there by causing them to become better members of the commonwealth.

“The bodies here are thoroughly equipped with all the paraphernalia required for the proper rendition of the work and have among their members several who cannot be excelled in exemplifying the characters required to be taken in conferring the several degrees and are favored with a very competent leader. Owing to the number of applications lately received and a larger number having signified their intention to apply for admission, it has been decided to hold a spring reunion, commencing the 11^th day of June, continuing for four days, at which time the several degrees from the 4^th to the 32^nd will be conferred; the greater majority in full ceremony and form.”

When the article was published in 1900, Salina Masons had already enjoyed their Masonic Temple for four years. They were in the process of planning a major expansion that would result in an even larger stage, complete with fly loft and horseshoe balcony.

By 1901, the “Topeka State Journal,” reported the substantial number of Scottish Rite Masons in Kansas, the newspaper reported “Kansas boasts the largest membership in the Scottish Rite of any state in the southern jurisdiction of the United States and the fame of the Topeka officers for their thoroughness and perfection displayed in conferring the degrees is not confined to the borders of the state. No order makes use of as elaborate paraphernalia and so dramatic a ritual as the Scottish Rite and with each succeeding reunion the classes to take the sublime degrees increase in numbers.”

In 1902, the “Junction City Republic” reported about the Fall Reunion at the Salina Scottish Rite noting, “A large number of candidates from this part of the state will be present to take the degrees. This is the fountainhead of all the beautiful allegories and work of freemasonry throughout the world” (24 October 1902, page 1). Membership continued to grow in Salina, as well as the rest of the country and what was once though ample space became cramped quarters.

By 1919, Salina Masons planned for Masonic Temple, referred to as the million-dollar to reflect the expense. Work began in that year, but the concrete design, however, collapsed in 1920 due to faulty construction, occasioning a loss of approximately $250,000 (The Kansas Workman, 1 Sept. 1926, page 6). The arched concrete ceiling of the auditorium gave way. The building was partially re-erected with structural steel and Carthage limestone. The original year scheduled for completion was 1923, until the collapse. During this time, the Masonic bodies were still meeting in their old home when disaster struck again.

In 1922 the old Masonic Temple was practically destroyed by fire. This was the 1896 building that had been expanded in 1902. Two decades later, the two upper stories of this building were burned out (The Salina Evening Journal, 30 1922, page 1). The Blue Lodge, Order of the Eastern Star, the Royal Arch, the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite and Shrine all suffered heavy losses of degree paraphernalia. The article reported “Thirty-nine curtains for the stage, used in the ritual work of the lodge and the presentation of degrees, were included in the loss also.” After the fire, the Masonic bodies negotiated with the proprietor of the new theatre building until the Masonic temple was finished. The new scenery collection purchased for the new Masonic Temple was far larger than that in the old building or their temporary theater space.

For their new building, the Salina Scottish Rite would purchase a used scenery collection in 1927. Scenic artist for this collection, Thomas G. Moses, included pasted a newspaper clipping in his scrapbook. It was about the used McAlester Scottish Rite scenery collection purchased by the Salina Scottish Rite Bodies in 1927. The article reported, “The one hundred and seventeen drops of scenery that has been in use on the old stage for twenty-five years, has been sold to the Scottish Rite Bodies of Salina, Kansas, and it has been shipped to them. There was nearly a carload of it. Brother John T. Leibrand, 33°, Wise Master of South McAlester Chapter of Rose Croix, negotiated the sale to the Salina brethren who came to McAlester to inspect it. The scenery was painted by Brother Tom Moses under the direction of that great Scottish Rite Mason and student Bestor G. Brown, and was said to be the finest in the Southern Jurisdiction at the time.” The article also noted, “the Salina brethren are negotiating with Brother John G. Redpath, who had charge of the old stage for years, to superintend the hanging of the drops in their temple.”

To be continued…

Part 683: Scottish Rite Stages in Salina – 1896 and 1901

The first Masonic lodge in Salina, Kansas was organized during 1866. A small group met in what was known as the Goddard house located on the corner of Iron and Santa Fe. A second meeting location was on the second floor of J. F. Hanna’s store in the Probert building. By 1886, Salina Masons constructed their first Temple. Keep in mind that during this same year, Scottish Rite cathedrals with stages were already used in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction cities of Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Fort Wayne.

The 1886 Masonic Temple in Salina cost $25,000, and by 1888 an addition was added to the south. In 1895, this Temple in caught fire and was severely damaged along with much of Salina’s business district. The Salina Masonic bodies immediately began to rebuild their home at South and Santa Fe Avenues (Salina Evening Journal, 30 Jan 1922, page 1). The Masonic losses at he time were recorded to be nearly $150,000. The Salina Daily Republic reported, “the Masonic Temple was ablaze, the flames leaping over the high south wall and making sad havoc with the substantial building and the elegant and costly paraphernalia of the different orders of Masons. The greedy flames devoured the draperies and curtains speedily and torn down the high cupola” (Salina Daily Republic, 4 March 1895, page 1). Note the mention of costly paraphernalia, draperies and curtains. This suggest the possibility of a stage, especially with differentiation between draperies and curtains. Theatre terminology of the time of differentiated between fabric draperies and painted curtains.

The next 1896 Masonic Temple in Salina definitely included a stage. After the fire, a larger temple was built on the old site. Five years after completion, plans were published in a local newspaper, describing the intended improvements that included a three-story addition to the alley. The 1901 extension included a larger stage across tat now covered the entire east end of the main lodge room. A horseshoe gallery also replaced the existing stage a gallery (Salina Daily Union, 28 May 1901, page 3). The “Salina Daily Republican” proclaimed, “The new edifice now being enlarged to the most handsome home of Masonic Bodies in the West —$11,000 Improvements, Making a total cost of $43,000” (17 July 1901, page 4). Of the new improvements, the article reported, “By the work now going on, the Masonic Temple will be remodeled throughout.” The article cited the attached illustrations, “By Fig. 1 it will be seen that a handsomely decorated horseshoe balcony will replace the present affair and that the stage space will be enlarged by the removal of the organ from the corned at the left to the position at the rear, as observed in Fig 2. The new stage is to be equipped with a complete set of new scenery, shifted by regular traps and flys to be put in…With the additions made to the stage and scenery the Scottish Rite ceremonies can now be given the same advantages as in the larger cities.”

That same year, the “Salina Herald” noted, “The Scottish Rite bodies in Salina are holding a reunion this week and ‘breaking in’ their new scenery. It is the silver anniversary of the institution of the Mackay lodge of Perfection in Salina and therefore of more than ordinary interest. A class is also being initiated into the mysteries of the different Scottish Rite degrees. This is the first reunion since the Masonic Temple was remodeled and several thousand dollars spent in fixing it specially for the Scottish Rite” (3 Oct 1901, page 3). “The Independent” reported, “The sets of scenery for the stage cost $2,400” (26 Sept. 1901, page 2). The “Salina Daily Union” described “The Temple is now supplied with finer scenery than in any opera house in Kansas and is equaled by no Masonic Temple in the state with the possible exception of Wichita, the scenery is simply superb while the electrical effects heighten the beauty of the stage settings is a hundred fold” (24 Sept. 1901. Page 3). By 1904, the “Salina Evening Journal” published that the Masonic Temple in Salina was one of the finest in the state, “owning a complete set of magnificent scenery painted from the latest designs.” (14 Nov. 1904, page 4). The article continues “The stage is fully equipped with a most complete arrangement of electric lights and the effect produced exceeds most of the large spectacular representations on the stages of the larger theaters in the country.”

As with the rest of the state, the scenery was provided by Sosman & Landis.

To be continued…

Part 682: The Oakland Scottish Rite, 1896

For the past several installments I have focused on the development of the degree productions at Scottish Rite stages in Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma Territory. Little Rock, Arkansas, is often cited as the first, and most notable Scottish Rite. The Little Rock Masons remodeled an old synagogue and installed a stage. It was called the Albert Pike Cathedral.

Interesting, in 1896 another old synagogue was purchased and remodeled by the Oakland Scottish Rite bodies. As in Little Rock, the renovation of the synagogue included the installation of a stage with new scenery to confer degrees. The building was located of Fourteenth Street, between Webster and Harrison Streets and dedicated at the Oakland Scottish Rite Cathedral on September 21, 1896.

The first paraphernalia used by the Oakland bodies was purchased from the disbanded Lodge of Perfection in Virginia City, Nevada. (Oakland Tribune 12 Dec. 1927, page 16). In 1927, one of the original thirty-eight charter members from the Oakland Scottish Rite from Oakland, California, was still living when the third stage for Oakland was constructed in 1927. Of the Oakland Scottish Rite and his experience in 1883, Hugh Alpheus Kendall, explained, “The work was new to the officers, the paraphernalia was crude, and the meeting place was not suitable for the conferring of degrees inasmuch as the paraphernalia had to be set up before the conferring of the degree and put away immediately after. To remedy this a committee was appointed to look for a home of which we would have the exclusive use.” The old paraphernalia was purchased from the Scottish Rite bodies in Virginia for $100.

On June 22 1896, the Oakland Scottish Rite building committee recommended the purchase of a property general known as the Jewish synagogue. At the time, it was currently occupied by the ACME athletic club. A committee consisting of William Frank Pierce (Inspector General), Charles L. J. W. Pierce and N. W. Spaulding were appointed with the power to act. A corporation was formed under the corporate name of the Masonic Cathedral Association, representing the Oakland Lodge, Scottish Rite of Free Masons. The articles of incorporation were filed on on July 31, 1896 (The San Francisco Examiner, 1 Aug 1896, page 7). The capital stock was $15,000, of which $500 had been subscribed by Directors W. Frank Pierce, C.L.J.W. Pierce, John Martin, D.E. Fortin and G. B. Daniels. The newspaper announcement noted, “The synagogue property, corner of Fourteenth and Harrison streets, will be built upon by the association and the structure will be used as headquarters and lodge rooms by Oakland lodge.”

The actual address was 305 Fourteenth Street. The “Oakland Tribune” noted, “the building was purchased, repaired, painted and furnished in a very modest way” (Oakland Tribune 12 Dec. 1927, page 16). At the time of its dedication, it was the only Scottish Rite cathedral west of the Rocky Mountains. When the Oakland Scottish Rite bodies outgrew their home at 305 Fourteenth Street, the building was used by the Improved Order of Redmen, becoming known as a Redman’s Hall. Unfortunately, the building was razed and there is now a parking lot were the first Scottish Rite in Oakland once stood.

There is a lovely article on the history of the Oakland Scottish Rite, it was originally written by Arthur R. Anderson and published as a booklet for the Oakland Scottish Rite Diamond Jubilee in 1958. The text is posted to the Oakland Scottis Rite website: https://oaklandscottishrite.com/history/

To be continued…

Part 681: The Second Scottish Rite Stage in Little Rock, 1902

By 1901, Sosman & Landis had successfully delivered Scottish Rite scenery and stage machinery to the following valleys in the Southern Jurisdiction: Little Rock, Arkansas (1896 and 1898), Oakland, California (1896), Wichita, Kansas (1898), Guthrie, Oklahoma (1900) and Fargo, North Dakota (1900).

On April 17, 1901, the Wichita Scottish Rite reunion included a class of two-hundred candidates, the large Scottish Rite class size to date. The day before, newspapers across the country shared the news from Wichita, “The largest class of candidates for the mysteries of Masonry in the history of the Scottish Rite in the country will be given the degrees here tomorrow, the special occasion being a twentieth century jubilee” (“San Francisco Examiner,” April 16, 1909, page 3). Biggest candidate class? Sure, but the Guthrie Scottish Rite had already boasted of something else– a bigger and better building for bigger and better degrees. And so the American comparison begins – “Mine is better than yours.”

That same spring, the “Guthrie Daily” announced, “The Scottish Rite at Guthrie has the distinction of being the only building erected exclusively for the Masonic Fraternity, and its equipment in stage scenery, electrical lighting devices, robes and general paraphernalia, is the most complete in the United States” (15 March 1901, page 5). That would soon change as the Little Rock Scottish Rite entered into the fray again with the construction of a new home; their second theater.

By September 1901, an article in the “Arkansas Democrat” about the new Little Rock Scottish Rite building reported, “The stage will be the special feature connected with the auditorium and will be the largest and most thoroughly equipped in the United Sates and used for Masonic purposes. The fact there are few stages in theaters in the larger cities than this one will be and none in the United States more perfectly equipped with scenery and electrical appliances, and few its equal. The scenery will of course be all specially designed for the building and for the use of conferring degrees, but that some idea of the magnitude of the scenic effects may be obtained it is proposed to place on this stage nearly one hundred different drops, at least forty complete sets of scenery each entirely different from the other in design and thought” (18 Sept. 1901, page 2).

By November 28, 1901, the “Arkansas Democrat” commented, “The stage equipment will be the most magnificent that can be secured, and it is contemplated that not less than $5,000 shall be expended upon this feature alone. It will be the largest and most equipped in the United States for Masonic purposes – in fact there are few theater stages more perfectly supplied and arranged, and fewer that can equal for scenery and electrical appliances” (page 1).

Sosman & Landis studio delivered a second scenery installation to Little Rock in 1902, after having installed two other scenery orders at their previous stage in 1896 and 1899. Little Rock’s Albert Pike Consistory building and stage were prominently featured in “New Age Magazine” (later becoming “Scottish Rite Journal”). In the article, Rosenbaum proudly claimed, “…the stage equipment in Little Rock is the most perfect in America – not only for Masonic purposes, for which it is used exclusively, but from any other point of view…nowhere else in America, with the possible exception of one theatre in New York, and one in Chicago, is it possible to produce either the scene or electric effects that can be produced on this stage.”

This Little Rock scenery and stage machinery was replaced when the Scottish Rite built its third stage in the 1920s. The used collection was then sold to the Scottish Rite in Pasadena, California. In Pasadena, the scenery and stage machinery began a new life where it is still used to this day. The scenery collection in Pasadena, Austin and Fargo are extremely significant in the scope of both theatre history and Masonic history. These three valleys are stewards to some of the earliest scenery in the Southern Jurisdiction. This is what their predecessors witnessed when they first stepped foot in a Scottish Rite stage to experience a new form of degree work.

To be continued…