Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Sosman & Landis were still waiting for the final payments related to government cantonment theater work in January 1918. In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “We closed a contract with H. Robert Law of New York City for a lot of scenery for the Government Cantonment Theatres. First contract was $12,600.00, second $3,600.00, and third $980.00 for installing one job. All to be completed November 7th – some hustling. I went down to the studio on five Sundays – something I haven’t done in fifteen years, and every night until 8:30. Some of the boys slept in the studio. Everyone hustled. We completed the work on the day set and inside of a week it was all out of the studio.” This was a project to help the war effort; a big one that brought in $17,180 in a short period of time. That is the monetary equivalent of $364,438.00 today; no small project.
On January 3, Moses left Akron, Ohio, and headed to New York City, where he planned to “settle up with the Government work with Law.” Of the trip between Akron and New York, Moses wrote, “All day a cold car. The first time I ever had to keep my overcoat on in a sleeping car. Very cold all night – no lights in the car, everything was frozen. Nine hours late. After leaving Philadelphia, we passed a bad wreck. A passenger train had run into another one standing on the side track. The engine had plowed through the rear coach, which happened to be a “dead head.” No one in it. The coach settled down on the engine, covering it completely. Strange to say, no one was badly hurt. Transacted my business in one day.” Unfortunately, the trip was not a success. Sosman & Landis would have to send another representative to New York later that year to collect the final payment. Of this second trip, Moses wrote, “Lester Landis went to New York and finally got a settlement with Law for our government work. It has cost us a good bit to get it settled.”
This becomes a reoccurring theme in the final years of Sosman & Landis, one that directly contributes to the eventual closure of the firm.
At the end of 1917, Moses wrote, “The greatest handicap to a profit sharing business is procrastination among the managers. The eleventh hour idea of getting scenery, we can either take it, or work night and day to get it out on a close margin, or let it alone and allow someone else to creep in and steal our business.” This represented one hardship the firm was repeatedly encountering. Add on collecting funds on projects with a “close margin,” such as the Law project. It took two trips to New York, sending a Sosman & Landis representative to meet with Law in person to collect the owed funds. Two trips, with train fare, lodging expense and meals, plus the loss of time on other projects to collect money for completed work. I then look at the career of H. Robert Law, who was in and out of courts for much of his career, also trying to collect payment for his work (see past post #962). What a mess.
The theatre industry, like any other business, is based on trust; the understanding that you will be paid for your work as identified in contractual agreements. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many of us have weighed the options when trying to collect money from clients for completed work. For Sosman & Landis in 1918, additional project-related expenses included two trips to New York and the loss of time. Much remains unknown about the work contracted with H. Robert Law Studios in 1917. It is possible that Sosman & Landis were simply subcontractors to Law, and he was also waiting for payment from the US government.
The point of this tale in the big picture for the studio is money owed for completed work. The delayed payment in 1918 did not cause Sosman & Landis to crumble in the same way that might have been the case with a smaller firm. However, it did leave a mark, and those marks turned into a major scar. A series of projects with delays and non-payments eventually took a toll on the studio. Keep in mind that Sosman & Landis financed the stage portions of many Scottish Rite theater projects for almost two decades – 1/3 upon delivery, 1/3 a year later and the final 1/3 a year after that. That work made up approximately 25% of all projects for twenty years. I the end, Sosman & Landis had consistent difficulties in collecting the final payment from many Scottish Rite Valleys; this was well after the client had received the contracted goods in their entirety. The continued absence of money owed added up in the end. It became the perfect storm to cause a studio’s downfall. This occurred at the same time that demand for painted scenery began to diminish. And in the midst of these difficulties, studio founder Joseph S. Sosman passed away and a series of internal struggles began. Times were certainly changing for the major theatrical supplier.
To be continued…
