In 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I did a good curtain for Lincoln, Nebr.” As I started combing through newspaper records for a drop curtains in Lincoln mentioned during 1911, I came across several interesting articles, including one drop curtain for Leavenworth prison. It is difficult to verify Moses’ work without a secondary source, such as a newspaper clipping, so I am uncertain the exact nature of his project. I often feel that I am grasping at straws in the dark, until a little gem pops up out of nowhere.
Fortunately, while looking in Lincoln newspapers for information, one article came to my attention. It was published in “The Lincoln Herald” on March 3, 1911, and brought a new scenic studio to my attention. The headline of the article was “Western Scenery Co. C. L. Dodson, Manager. ” Here is the article in its entirety:
“In the past 10 years the subject of scenery painting has attracted the attention of the most skillful painters in the world. The demand is for a much higher grade of artistic painting especially in localities where artwork is appreciated. Lincoln is fortunate in having Western Scenery Co., formerly of Chicago, located here, at 2042 O Street under the management of Mr. C. L. Dodson.
It is the purpose of this company to make a specialty of scenery and curtains for theatres by the most approved and up to date methods, They receive many inquiries and orders for this class of work and are at this time painting a drop curtain for the opera house at Harper, Kansas, which, when completed will be a high grade piece of work. Mr. Dodson is widely known throughout the west as a master of the art and has made curtains for the opera house at Beatrice, Wilber and many other towns in the west. He employs only competent men who are reliable in their work. For more detailed information call, phone address Western Scenery Co. 2041 O Street, Bell A2594.”
There is a great possibility that Moses was one of the “competent men who are reliable in their work” that Dodson employed during a particularly busy period. However, little is known of the Western Scenery Co. of Lincoln, Nebraska. Two Dodson’s lived in Lincoln in 1911, with C. A. Dodson residing at 108 North 27th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star, 21 June 1911, page 7). Were there a C. A. Dodson and a C. L. Dodson? Near the end of summer in 1911, however, another advertisement appeared in the “Lincoln Star.” “Dodson & Dodson” advertised as “Scenic Artists, Opera House scenery, aluminum curtains, stand alone stuff a specialty. We book vaudeville attractions. 108 North 27th. Bell A2594” (6 August 1911, page 12).
As I continued to search for clues about the Dodsons, C. A. Dodson was described as “artist, genius, dope-fiend, and much married man” (Lincoln Star, 23 Feb. 1909, page 3). Reading the various newspaper articles about Dodson’s drunken episodes, however, was like watching an artist’s life slowly go down the drain. It was the time when alcohol addiction was perceived as a character flaw and not a disease.
The earliest article that I came across was published on Dec. 26, 1908. C. A. Dodson. Described as an “individual whose uncontrollable thirst and passionate love of ‘dope’ has made him a derelict…he was arrested yesterday on a charge of taking a ride in a cab when he didn’t have coin to pay for the privilege.” On February 1, 1909, the “Lincoln Journal” reported, C. A. Dodson, the man with an uncontrollable predilection to alcoholism and unending spasms of delirium tremens, is in the city jail. He was able to walk without staggering a few days ago, so was released from the county jail. He immediate secured a job of decorative painting at Friend. At that place he imbibed again and his subsequent antics so horrified the populace they hired a keeper for him, put the couple on the next train and sent them to Lincoln, where Dodson was released again. The police soon gathered him in again as in his usual conditions.”
A similar story about Dodson was published a few months later, on February 2, 1909, in the “Lincoln State Journal” (page 10):
“C. A. Dodson, a scenic artist, who has been of late a frequent occupant of the city hall, and who has been sent to the insane asylum as a dipsomaniac was brought into the police yesterday afternoon by a resident of Friend who had come across Dodson in that city acting in a peculiar manner. The man from Friend said that the citizens of that place had been much alarmed by the actions and had requested that he be taken to the Lincoln police and an attempt made to have him taken again to the asylum. The doctors at the asylum say that Dodson has reached the incurable stage of dipsomania and that it is useless to send him for treatment. Dodson is also a dope fiend as well as a systemic drinker, being a user of morphine and cocaine. Chief of Police Cooper said yesterday that he was at loss to know what to do with the man, as he was no sooner released from the custody of the police that he was back in jail in a lamentable state. It was the opinion of Judge Risser that Dodson should be permanently assigned to one of the state institutions as he was now so far gone nervously that he was no longer able to care for himself and really needed a constant guardian. Dodson was sent to the county jail yesterday afternoon and Judge Risser purposes taking his case up with the insanity board with the view of having him permanently committed to one of the state institutions.” Sadly, later that year, Dodson was accused of beating his wife and received jail time (Lincoln Star, 7 Dec, 1909, page 1). The article reported, “On complaint of his wife that he had been coercing her to give him all the money she made as a department store clerk that he might use it to purchase whiskey, and that he had been guilty of beating her, C. A. Dobson was Tuesday sentenced to thirty days in county jail. For some time Dodson has been known to the police as a shiftless citizen, who cares little for work and less for keeping poverty from his home, and when he was brought before the police magistrate Tuesday on the charge of wife-beating he was given a moderate sentence.” For a little context, Dodson’s first wife, Mary E. Dodson, filed for divorce against C. A. Dodson on May 18, 1895 (Kirwin Globe, Kirwin, Kansas 5 April 1895, page 4).
In 1913, Dodson was still spending spells in jail for drunkenness and threatening his wife with physical harm (Lincoln Star, 5 Oct. 1913, page 4). He made headlines again, this time for picking up a heavy cuspidor and hurling it into the midst of a group of prisoners. It struck Robert Robinson, a veterinary surgeon, who was serving a similar sentence, and split open his ear.
By 1915, the “Nebraska State Journal” reported, “C. A. Dodge, paroled on April 6 from the state insane asylum, was picked up on the street yesterday afternoon in a drunken conditions. When examined at the police station he was found to be suffering from his former trouble and the hospital authorities were notified. He was returned to the asylum last night” (19 Nov. 1915, page 4).
In 1916, the “Lincoln Journal Star” reported, “C. A. Dodson, a patient at the asylum, escaped from the institution early Monday morning. He was found by the police at 9 o’clock near Eighteenth and G streets and was taken back to the hospital” (10 July 1916, page 10).
There was not much to discover about Dodson after 1916, no death notice or any other asylum escapes. It is just such a sad story, yet a small blip in the life of American scenic art.
To be continued…
