Copyright © 2019 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1914, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Did a Vaudeville act for the Edelweiss Company.” Moses was referring to the “The Edelweiss Girl and Co.,” also billed as the “Edelweiss Trio” and simply “Edelweiss Girl.”
The vaudeville act opened with a musical number, quickly changing to a sharpshooting exposition that featured marvelous marksmanship skills (Des Moines Tribune, 12 Dec. 1914, page 3). The Edelweiss girl and her two countrymen were all accomplished vocalists and the three sung native yodeling songs of the Tyrol region.
The “Rock Island Argus” reported, “’The Edelweiss Girl’ is an Alpine sketch of a novel kind, with a beautiful mountain setting. The girl yodels and does some remarkable rifle shooting, in which she is assisted by a young man. One of the prettiest exhibitions is when the girl, while playing a number on the organ, is accompanied with chimes effect produced by rifle shots fired by her assistant” (16 Oct. 1914, page 13).
Of the scenery, the “Omaha Daily Bee,” commented, “Special Alpine scenery and effects are a feature of the act” (23 August 1914, page 17). An entire carload of special scenery accompanied the act to provide the Alpine setting and lighting effects. “The Times” described, “The scenic setting is arresting beauty, the sunrise in the Alps invariably getting a round of delighted applause” (Streator, Illinois, 26 Dec., 1914, page 5). The show was billed as a “Spectacular Scenic Sharpshooter” (The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 23 Oct. 1914, page 3).
Sosman & Landis delivered a similar scene and effect during the 1893 World Fair and later at the Temple Roof Garden. The earliest mention was the scenery for “A Day in the Alps” at the Columbian Exposition’s Electric Scenic Theatre. Located in the Midway Plaissance of the World Fair, the electric theater displayed a picturesque Alpine setting that transitioned from day to night for each performance.
World Fair guidebooks noted, “The stage picture is a beautiful Swiss Alpine scenery, depicting in a realistic way every change of nature shown from dawn to night, as each gradually appears, and representing some of the most wonderfully realistic light effects ever produced by electric lamps. It is almost beyond belief that the visitor is not looking at a marvelous production of nature itself, instead of a picture created by an ingenious and artistic display of electric lights…Tyrolean warblers perform on their various instruments, and sing their tuneful lays. Their renowned ‘yodels,’ as sung at each performance, are applicable to the scenery.” Sosman & Landis later replicated this scenic who as a main attraction for the Masonic Temple roof garden in 1894.
To be continued…
