Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
By the 1950s, DuBois had returned to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1954 DuBois was noted for painted a stage backdrop depicting “a reproduction of the temple of Aesculapius on the island of Cos, off Asia Minor, where the practice of medicine began with Hippocrates” for the Medical student center at Kansas University’s J. R. Battenfeld Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City. (The Kansas City Times, 5 April 1954, page 14).
DuBois also began working for the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. and painting Masonic scenery. This brings the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. into the storyline.
The Great Western Stage Equipment Company (GWSE Co.) was founded by T. L. Greening, L. J. Adler, and Samuel F. Hann, after Greening resigned from the Twin City Scenic Company. Established in Kansas City, Missouri, during 1925, the first listing that I have located for the firm was published in Topeka’s “The Stage and Screen” (Topeka, Kansas, 30 Nov, 1925, page 5). The GWSE Co. Was listed as providing the scenery for Ted North’s North Players production of “The Only Road” at the Grand Theatre. In 1927 the firm delivered scenery and draperies to the Sedalia Theatre in Sedalia, Missouri (Sedalia Democrat, 30 January, 1927).
In 1930 there is a new individual is associated with the company, Edgar L. Gossage of Pierce City. He was mentioned in the “Pineville Democrat” as representing the firm when they were awarded the contract for the Pineville High School (Pineville, Missouri, 14 Nov. 1930, page 1). Competitors at the time included Oklahoma City Scenic Co. and John C. Becker Stage Equipment Co. of Chicago.
During the 1930s the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. was located at 817 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo. The company advertised in 1932 Patterson’s American Educational Directory (Vol. XXIX). This directory is about as significant as “Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide” at the turn of the twentieth century, providing insight into theatrical suppliers, as educational institutions become a major clientele. GWSE Co. advertised alongside American Scenic Studios (Buffalo, NY), B & B Scenic Studio (Cleveland, OH), Beaumont Studios (NYC), Wm. Beck & Sons Co. (Cincinnati, OH); Robt. P. Carsen Scenic Studios (Chicago, IL), Cincinnati Stage Lighting Co. (Cincinnati, OH); Conrad & White Co. (Indianapolis, IN), Archie B. Craig Scenic Studios (South Boston, Mass.), Herfurth Scenic Studios (Cincinnati, OH), Kansas City Scenic Co. (Kansas City, MO), Lee Lash Studios (NY), Novelty Scenic Studios (NYC), Pausback Scenery Co. (Chicago, IL), Queen City Scenic Studios (Buffalo, NY), Rochester Scenic Studio (Rochester, NY), Schell Scenic Studios (Columbus, OH), Schneider Studios, Inc. (NY), Sheck & Co. (Cleveland, OH), Shields Studio (St. Louis, MO), O. L. Story Scenic Co. (Somerville, Boston, Mass.), Tiffin Scenic Studios (Tiffin, OH), Twin City Scenic Co. (Minneapolis, MN), and Wass & Son (Philadelphia, PA). Note the two major studios that led the industry up to WWI are missing from this list – Toomey & Volland (St. Louis) and Sosman & Landis (Chicago). The driving force that kept many studios busy was dramatic productions and school theatricals that also began renting scenery.
Very few GWSE Co. projects are mentioned in the newspaper during the 1930s, as schools become their main target; there was really no need to advertise in newspapers during the Depression. Contracted projects announced in the newspaper includes a stage in Great Bend, Kansas (1938), a school in Marysville, Kansas (1938) and a school in Hutchinson, Kansas. New alliances were formed, and during 1938 Phil Thatcher, president of the Thatcher Supply and Equipment Co of Topeka, Kansas, was representing the firm. On behalf of the Great Western Stage Equipment Co, Thatches was bidding on stage equipment (Marysville Advocate, 17 Nov. 1938, page 1).
By 1939, the GWSE Co. placed a congratulatory note and advertisement in conjunction with the opening of the Illinois Theatre in Jacksonville, Illinois (Jacksonville Daily Journal, 8 May 1939, page 22). Thomas L. Greening was still with the firm, listed as Treasurer and Manager at 817 Holmes Street. The incorporation date of 1926 was noted in advertisements, offering scenery, electrical, draperies, stage rigging and accessories for schools, colleges, theatres, movies, lodges, churches, pubic auditoriums, outdoor theatres, traveling shows, display rooms, expositions and tent shows.
During the 1940s projects included the Home Theatre in Oklahoma City (1946), the Go-Show theatre in Clinton, Missouri (1947), a school in Tremonton, Utah (1948), and the South School in Neodesha, Kansas (1950). . In Oklahoma City the GWSE Co. received a rather large project for a Cooper Foundation theatre called the Harber (Daily Oklahoman, 1 July 1951, page 69). By 1951, project load once again increased, along with the building boom following WWII. The country was investing in education and entertainment; the greatest generation opened their pocketbooks for their children and those who would follow. Positions opened up at the firm, advertising for stenographers, switchboard operators, bookkeepers, men who were mechanically inclined with carpentry skills,
The company’s main focus remained schools and civic centers, with projects in Lake Park, Iowa; Decatur, Illinois; Lubbock, Texas; Totonka, Iowa; Independence, Iowa; Garden City, Kansas; Miami, Oklahoma; Waterloo, Iowa; Moline, Illinois; St. Joseph, Missouri; Davenport, Iowa; Decatur, Illinois; Freeport, Illinois; Rock Island, Illinois; Iola, Kansas; Alton, Illinois; Carbondale, Illinois; Emporia, Kansas; and elsewhere. Frequent competitors during this time were Texas Scenic Co., Texarkana Scenic Co., Northwest Studio, and Metropolitan State Equipment.
In 1956 there was a new division of GWSE Co., Great Western Fabrics, offering half-price remnants for sale. They sold velvets, fine hand prints and assorted fabrics for “pillows and many other uses, advertising “red hot” bargains at 1324-1326 Grand in Kansas City (The Kansas City Times, 26 Sept, 1956, page 46).
It is around this time that DuBois begins working in earnest for the company, focusing on new scenery for Scottish Rite theaters in the Kansas City and the southeast. Fraternal work begins to pour in, but DuBois is nearing the end of his career. Although the scenery for a handful of Scottish Rite theaters represents a lifetime of experience as a scenic artist, isn’t with the company long.
DuBois passed away on 26 March 1964, and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.
Then came the big fall for the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. In 1968, Newspapers all over the country announced “Price Fixing Charge Filed.” Here is the article:
“WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Federal Trade Commission Thursday provisionally accepted a consent order prohibiting two Midwestern stage equipment companies from conspiring to fix prices and allocate territories and customers. The order cites Great Western Stage Equipment Co., Inc. of Kansas City Missouri, and its president Edgar L. Gossage, and the Metropolitan State Equipment Co., Inc. of Omaha, Neb., and Donald W. Beck and Carl W. Winter, resident and vice-president respectively. The firms sell, manufacture and install stage curtains, rigging, lighting apparatus and other stage equipment. The complaint charged that all the parties participated in a conspiracy under which Metropolitan and Great Western agreed not to compete with each other in certain areas. It also said Great Western and Gossage had prevented competitors from bidding effectively on proposed projects by manipulating terms and specifications. Under order, Great Western and Gossage are forbidden to prepare terms or specifications of proposed stage equipment projects wit the purpose or effect of denying competitors fair opportunity to submit competitive bids” (The Springfield News-Leader, 21 June 1968, page 14).
In the 1970s there are only a few mentions of the company. In 1976, the Great Western Stage Equipment company advertised for a drapery workroom supervisor (Kansas City Times, 15 Feb 1976, page 65). They placed an ad for a seamstress at their Great Western Textiles division that same year (Kansas City Times, 20 Feb 1976, page 22). Then news about the company went silent until the 1990s, when it was mentioned again in the touring exhibit, “Theatre of the Fraternity,” featuring Masonic designs produced by the company as part of an exhibit about Scottish Rite theatre.
Prof Emeritus C. Lance Brockman assisted in the acquisition of the Great Western Stage Equipment Company collection for the University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives. This is the first collection that I catalogued as a recipient of an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program grant. The Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection primarily contains Masonic designs. However, there are many commercial theatre designs with a Great Western Stage Equipment Co. stamp in the Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, also in the Performing Arts Archives.
Here is a link to the GWSE Co. online collection: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?facets%5Bparent_collection_name%5D%5B%5D=Great+Western+Stage+Equipment+Company+Collection+%28PA044%29
Back to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in 1916 tomorrow.
To be continued…
My name is Robert Hindson, I am the grandson of Allen Kelly Hann who was a scenery painter in the 1930s. I have a large painting of his 24x 55 inches . I would like to donate this piece in his honor. To a worthwhile cause or organization. I believe he was the brother Samuel F. Hann one of the founders of the the Great Western Stage Equipment Co,
Dear Robert, my apologies for the delayed response. You contacted me the same evening that my mother went into the ER and I completely missed this comment. I would consider donating the painting to the Omaha Scottish Rite (Micah Evans contact). They have an entire collection of DuBois’ scenic art, and it would be wonderful for them to display his easel art too. Good luck.
If anyone has any information regarding this man please contact me.