In the life and times of Those
G. Moses, it’s September 1918. Moses is
now working for New York Studios, having resigned as president of Sosman &
Landis on September 1, 1918. On October 10, he will be injured when a boy riding
a bicycle accidentally knocks him down in the street.
By mid-September
Moses was looking for a studio to paint in He wrote, “We got the 20th Street Studio for a month to month
rental. It is pretty cold there but we
can manage to keep going. We made Models
and received the picture set order for the Hamlin Theatre. $1,000.00 is not much for the set.”
Chicago’s
Hamlin Theatre was constructed in 1914 and located at 3826 West Madison Street,
it was a 298-set venue that would close by 1929. According to
cinematreasures.org, the space was later converted into an AmVets Hall (http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/45100). I have only identified a few advertisements for the movie house to date.
The Hamlin Theater is a hard one to track down because over the years there
were a few Hamlin Theaters that operated in Chicago during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century.
In
addition to the 1914 Hamlin Theatre, there were two other Hamlin Theatres built
in Chicago during 1926; one was on W. Madison and the other on W. Belmont. The
one that Moses delivered the picture set to was for the one on W. Madison.
Over
the past few years, the most difficult part in tracking down Moses’ theater
projects is locating the correct venue. Many theaters across the country used
the same name because they were part of a circuit. Think of the names like Orpheum,
Lyceum, Fox, Majestic, and so on. There
were also some cities that had multiple theaters with the same name; I just don’t
understand this at all. In a few cases, two theaters with the same name would open
with the same name in the same year. Why
anyone ever thought this was a good idea is astounding, as it never ended well
as simply confused people.
When
Moses received the picture set order for the Hamlin Theatre in 1918, it was
primarily a movie house. By 1917, the
Hamlin featured the same films as the Kimbark Theatre, Milford Theatre, Oakland
Sq. Theatre, Lane Ct. Theatre, Ziegfeld Theatre and Halfield Theatre.
Advertisement in the “Chicago tribune” 23 April 1919, page 20.
The
actual project that Moses was referring to included the painted surround for a
projection screen. Unlike today’s use of a simply white screen, elaborate
compositions filled the area between the projection surface and the proscenium
arch. What makes this confusing,
however, is the use of the term “picture set.”
In 1918, “picture set” was used to identify the painted surround
manufactured by scenic studios for movie theaters. It also identified the
actual settings used for films, such as the picture set for “Tarzan of the Apes.”
On
Oct. 27, 1918, the “Boston Globe” also introduced a new definition for
“pictures sets” (page 36). An article
reported, “There are four stages used in “Chin Chin Chow” at the Schubert
Theatre – the regular stage, and three small miniature stages on rollers, which
show what are known as the “picture sets” being like small scenes viewed
through a window. This stage device is new and somewhat resembles the closeups
of the movies, only on a bigger scale.” This last use of “picture sets” has me
a little baffled. For a little context about the production, “Chu Chin Chow”
was a massive spectacle set in ancient Bagdad. The show included fourteen
scenes with eighteen musical numbers and a company of three hundred.
There is one last person in the Buell Family that I have not covered yet, Horace Cyrus Buell. tHorace C. Buell was the he son of Nina Giles and Horace H. Buell.
[I was recently emailed by Mark Trainor who offered the following correction: Horace Cyrus Giles Buell’s grandfather was Cyrus Augustus Buell (1824-1904). His great grandfather was Horace Buell (1791-1837) of Troy, New York. I have no research showing Horace’s middle name was Cyrus].
Named after his great grandfather, Horace Cyrus Buell (1793-1870) of New York, he came from a theatrical family. His father was a portrait and landscape artist who also worked as a scenic artist. Buell & Son scenic studio was established in 1908, and the two painted many productions at the New Auditorium in Wichita, Kansas.
Horace C. Buell was born on April 29, 1891, in Santa Monica, California. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a scenic artist, but very little is known about him. The younger Horace remained relatively absent from print, other that a few brief mentions in Kansas newspaper; the polar opposite of his younger sister. Horace C. only appears in a 1900 US Federal Census, a 1905 Kansas state census, and a few Wichita City directories and newspaper clippings.
In 1908 Horace C. Buell was enrolled at the Wichita School of Music, the same institution where his father Horace H Buell briefly taught art classes (Wichita Daily Eagle, 6 Sept. 1908, page 12). In 1911, Horace C. Buell was listed as a student in Wichita, Kansas, residing at 1012 Lawrence Av. This was his parents home at the time.
While looking for artworks by his father Horace H. Buell, I stumbled across one painting by Horace C. G. Buell. The “G” was for his mother’s maiden name of Giles. Like the rest of his family, he was quite an accomplished artist. Unfortunately his career was snuffed out the early age of 24. Horace Jr. died on Sept 3, 1916, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was buried at the Brooklyn Heights Cemetery there.
Artwork recently sold at auction and erroneously attributed to his father Horace Hervey Buell. This is a still life by his son, Horace Cyrus Giles Buell (Horace C. G. Buell).Signature on painting – Horace C. G. Buell (1892-1916).
In 1915, Horace C. G. Buell enlisted in the New Work Guard, becoming a private in Co. F, 71st Inf. A year later he was dead, gone without any obituary or published memorial. I have no idea what happened, but the family had already splintered the year that he passed. Mother and daughter were working as scenic artists and Rapid City, Iowa, and his father was working elsewhere.
Horace H. Buell and Nina Giles Buell pictured in the “Wichita Daily Eagle” on Oct. 12 1911.
While looking for information about the Buell family I came across an article with both Mr. and Mrs. H. Harry Buell credited as the “Designers and Builders of Floats.” I have previously missed this article because the newspaper credits Mr. H. “Harry” and not H. “Hervey” Buell. This is the scenic artist Horace Hervey Buell, his wife Nina Giles Buell and children Mabel and Horace C. Here is the article from the “Wichita Daily Eagle” on Oct. 12 1911. This is simply a wonderful description of a community event and the artistic abilities of the Buell family.
“Work of Art is Electrical Street Parade.
Ten Floats Representing Historical Events, Seasons, ima and Civilization Prepared at Great Expense.
Parade Begins at 7:30 Thursday Night.
Line of March is Announced and Persons are Selected to Participate in Realistic Representations.
The Great Electrical Float parade which has been heralded far and near as the biggest conceived and built is now only a few days off, and the public is soon to be allowed to see the floats in all their glory and beauty. Months have been spent in the preparation of these floats but the tie has been well and skillfully used, and they are now completed and await only the word of the marshall of the parade to reveal their glories to the gaze of an admiring throng. Citizens of communities hundreds of miles from the Peerless Princess have signified their intention of attending the celebration of her Prophets and they will be well repaid for their trip.
There will be a slight change from the usual program and line of march. The parade will start promptly at 7:30 p. m. Thursday, October 12th, from the corner of Central and Main where it will be formed.
The parade will take its course south on Main to Lewis street, two blocks below Douglas; will double back on Main and Douglas; thence it will proceed east on Douglas to the Santa Fe tracks doubling back on Douglas to Market street, turning north on Market it will continue to First street where the parade will disband. Those having children in the parade will meet then in the second block on Market street after the conclusion of the parade.
As has been advertised so extensively, the parade will have in addition to the wonderful and unusual beauty, and educational value in their sequence, historically speaking. The first float representing the seasons covers all time, in that it represents the completed year and the completed cycle of existence, Following this, will come in detail the nine great characteristic period of human history as typified in the characteristic thought or country, or idea which dominated that period. In order that one seeing the trade may get his full value, it is suggested by committee that this article be clipped from the Eagle and taken to the parade.
The order and significance of the parade, together with a complete description of the floats and those privileged to occupy positions of hone upon them, follow. At the head of the parade will come Chief of Police, George T. Cubbon, with a pantoon [sic.] of mounted police. Following the pantoon [sic.] of policemen will be a pantoon [sic.] of cowboys from the stockyards and packing houses led my Marshall Fredericks. Following this body of Wichita Boosters, who represents one of Wichita’s greatest industries, will come the band of Oxford, Kansas, and immediately following this will be the first float, that of ‘the Seasons.’ This float is an entirely new conception of Mr, Buell, the official designer, and is one that will long be remembered. It is built in the form of a monument with four compartments in the base, representing Spring, Sumer, Fall and Winter. Those representing Spring will be Wilna Armstrong and Charles B. Payne, Harriet and Josephine Booth with be in the compartment of Summer. Raymond and Margaret Casey will represent Autumn and Elizabeth and Alfred Campbell impersonate the spirits of Winer. Surmounting these compartments will be characters representing the four seasons of human life. Anna C. Brown will represent childhood; Genevieve Saunders, Youth; Mrs. Gray and her baby will picture Motherhood; and Mrs. L. S. Carter will represent maturity of life.
Float Number 2 represents the ancient Oriental civilization, of which there were several, and all of which flourished before the Grecian era. History reveals the fact that the primal characteristics of the early days of any race was Religion, and this is portrayed in a striking manner. The Oriental idea is given by two immense pyramids, standing alone amid stretches of glittering sand. The sphinxes of Egypt and the winged bulls of Persia are the embellishments if the four corners of the floats. In a beautiful oasis in the midst of the desert appear the characters of the ancient religions. In a temple which will slowly revolve, spear Moses, represented by James Lawrence; Zoroaster by Dan Thurston; the priest of Buddha by Randall Cline; and the worshipper of Isis by Victory Mead. As an escort to this float will come the patrol of Midian Temple, under captainship of C. A. Baker, and accompanied by their inimitable band from the deserts of Arabia.
Float number 3 will take up the next era of human development and will represent the power and glory of Rome. This float has been skillfully designed and embodied a thrilling and lifelike picture if the Eternal City, as it burned in the time of Nero. The float is very gorgeous , and is one upon which the most action will take place. Nero, impersonated by Edwin Johnson, will sit high above the tumult upon his throne, enjoying the terrible sight. The Roman soldiers impenetrable in their reserve and steadfast in their discipline, will be represented by Jim Davidson, Fred Dold, Walter Innes, Theodore Johnston, Robert Campbell and Paul Johnston. Among the terrified populace, rushing in horror from the conflagration, will appear Marshall Mueller, Lloyd Taylor, Arthur Wolf, Gladys Wallace and Elizabeth Avey. A guard of Roman soldiers will be furnished by the Y.M.C.A.
Following the development of Rome, the world fell into a period of desuetude and decay. Learning in and the arts of civilization seemed to have disappeared, and savagery and superstition were rampant. The fourth float represents a scene in the forests of Germany among the old Saxon ancestors, before they assumed the habits and habiliments of civilization. Amid the forests, peopled by wild beasts of various sorts, will appear the Druids in their fire worship, before their rough stone altars. The Druids will be represented by Howard Anderson, and Nellie Hewey, Hortense Thompson and Milton Hutchinson. The Modern Woodmen of America will furnish and escort, i uniform, for this float.
Next in order is the Wichita Union band.
Float Number 5 will represent the Middle Ages and will represent a scene from King Arthur’s court. Irwin Bleckley will impersonate King Arthur and will be attended by two princes, Jack Stewart and Walter Taylor, and two guards, Neal Kirkwood and Rolle Thorpe. At the opposite end of the float will be the representation of knighthood rescuing womanhood from oppression. Orio Thorpe will be the Knight, and Ruth Mueller the fair damsel to be rescued. The dragon is pictured as a terrible creature, Harold Clark will see that the dragon does his duty.
Float Number 6 is a most beautiful allegorical representation of that period of awakening and development commonly called the Renaissance. This float of a beautiful galley, or ship. The oarsmen being represented by Gertrude McCullough, Ida Wilson, Ruth Heppe, Katherine Lewis, Genilee Gregg, Marion Dunn, Nannie Brubacher and Koa McComb. The pilot will be Gladys Warren. The spirit of the Renaissance, Katherine Stewart, while Hazel Johnson will impersonate the Herald which proclaims the coming of an enlightened age.
The seventh float will represent the landing of the Pilgrims. This float is certainly a work of art. A beautiful picture of the rugged, rock-ribbed coast, upon which are gathered a band of Pilgrims, while in the distance, in beautiful perspective rides a little bark, tempest-tossed upon the turbulent waves. the pilgrims will be Homer Hutchinson, Lawrence Rorabaugh, Grosvenor Charles, Aldrich Lasen, Robert Johnson, Marian Hutchinson, Nora Woods, Lillian Bailey, Helen Moore, Marie Gilbert, Lawrence McComb. The Indian will be impersonated by M. W. Longnecker.
Following this float will come the Moose band of this city.
The eight float will represent the United States, and will be one of the most beautiful and unique floats every seen anywhere. The idea of this float is ‘Zangwell’s idea of the ‘Melting to.; Columbus will be seated upon and immense throne and will be attended by four soldiers, Upon the front of the float are Liberty, Justice and Equality, represented by Helen Charles, Edith Saunders and Stella Armstrong. In the center fo the float is the Melting Pot from which arises the American flag as a result of the blending and amalgamation of all races.
The Ninth float will represent Kansas, and the spirit of the commonwealth is to be Miss Edith Gilbert, She, as queen, will be attended by her maids of honor, Anel Saunders, Francis A. Brown, Henrietta Allen, Helen Johnston, Cecil Gilbert, Dorothy Booth and Francis Williard. The center of this the float will be an immense cornucopia filled with overflowing products of the state. The best fruit in all lines has been contributed and will make a memorable show, presiding in all this display will be Pauline Ayers and Leon Cain.
The last float will of course be the climax of all ages and will represent Wichita, the Peerless Princess. The form of the float will be a monument to the greatness of the city. An immense granite monument has been built, surmounting which will be Miss Mabel Buell, representing Wichita. Upon the four wings of the base stand an Indian by the Buffalo he has killed, represented by Horace C. Buell, and the cowboy with his trappings, represented by David Jackman. These two representing the pioneers of the valley. Upon two other wings appear the mechanic and the traveling man represented by Phi Patterson and Harry Schuler. These representing two of the factors of the present financial greatness, Upon the front and rear of the float appear Bessie Applegate, May Weiss, Evelyn Rorabaugh and Helen Booth. representing Fairmount, Mr. Carmel, Friends and the High School, while Katherine and Margaret Ayres appear as pages to the queen.
In addition to these, the following gentlemen will be the marshals of the parade: J. A. Hopkins will be chief marshall of the floats, hill Messrs, Jay Gill, R. B. Campbell, Paul Wall, J. N. Chappie, R. E. Bird, C. L. DeLong, M. E. Garrison, Walter Parrott, James Crossfield and others will assist by being marshals with each float.
The committee consisting of G. M. Booth, H. W. Stanley, Lyman Woodruff and C. L. DeLong have worked tirelessly at the making a success of this parade, as of the other features of the carnival, and they feel that the result has justified the efforts put forth. They believe that no better float parade was every put on by any city. While this committee, however, has had supervision of the entire carnival, the particular task of designing building and decorating these floats has been delegated to H. Harry Buell. Mr. Buell is an artist of much ability and has in times past, as in this present instance done some exceedingly creditable work along artistic lines. Mr. Buell has been most ably assisted in the painting and decorative work by his daughter Mabel Buell and his son Horace Buell, who, seem to inherit a wonderful talent along this line. The detail work outside of the painting and construction, and of costuming has been left almost whole to Mrs. Buell, and she has made a great success of her work as Mr. Buell has at his. Wichita is to be congratulated upon having artists with the ability of the Buells.”
Yesterday, I explored the 1884 antics of Horace H. Buell
when he shipped himself in a crate from Chicago to Manhattan, Kansas. His strange
journey made headlines across the country. At the time he was married to Fannie
B. “Nina,” future head of Buell Scenic Co.
Buell was born in 1857, one of four boys born to Cyrus A.
Buell, a hatter. At the age of thirteen, Buell moved with his family to
Wabaunsee, Kansas and then Manhattan, Kansas. At the age of 18, Buell was sent
to Brooklyn to live with his uncle, where he worked as barber. Eventually he
returned Manhattan, Kansas, initially working as a barber and later an artist.
In Manhattan he established his own art studio by the age of 22 years old. On
May 30, 1879, the “Manhattan Nationalist” included an advertisement for H. H.
Buell’s “new photograph gallery” (page 2). Located over the post office,
Buell’s services included tintypes, photographs, crayon portraits and oil
portraits. By the early 1880s, Horace opens another art store in Topeka,
Kansas. On April 15, 1882, “The Topeka Daily Capital” reported, “H. H. Buell, a
telented [sic.] young artist of this city, proposes giving an art drawing at an
early day in Union hall. He has a number of beautiful paintings and artotypes
to dispose of” (page 8). Interestingly, in Topeka Buell was active in the
Knights of Pythias, Topeka Lodge No. 38, (Daily Commonwealth, 29 Jan. 1882,
page 1).
By the summer, however, Buell sets his sights on better
opportunities in Chicago and left Topeka. “The Topeka Daily Capital” announced,
“H. H. Buell went East yesterday to take a position under Geo. Pullman, of the
palace car company” (13 June 1882, page 8). It was purported that Buell met his
future wife there, as she was a Pullman relative. By the end of the year. Buell
married Fannie B. “Nina” Giles on Dec. 1. The Buell’s were encountering
financial difficulties in the Windy City by 1884, and work was not a plentiful
as Buell had hoped. On May 31, 1884, the “Salina Semi-Weekly Journal,” reported,
“Manhattan is just now enjoying the excitement of a novel romance. Saturday
night a large box of express matter was rolled out at the station, and on being
opened was found to contain a young man who figured quite prominently here two
years ago, a crayon artist, society blood and capital guard. H. H. Buell is his
name. He was in Chicago, got broke there, wanted to get home, so shipped
himself C.O.D., by express. Lawrence
Herald” (page 4). Note there is no mention of his wife, at all. Buell did
not return to Chicago and was still living in Manhattan the next year. The
“Manhattan Nationalist” reported, “H. H. Buell has been doing some nice work in
his line lately. All who have ever seen anything from his brush recognized
unusual ability. The battle scenes that added so much to the impressiveness of
the opera house were his latest works” (5 June 1885, page 1). This was the first mention that I have
located to date that mentioned Buell as a scenic artist.
By 1886, both Buell and his wife were living in Kansas City,
Missouri, at 1328 Lydia Ave. Not much is known of their life in Kansas other
than nearby familial ties. Soon, they headed west, settling in California by early
1890s and welcoming two children to their home – Horace, Jr. (1892) and Mabel
(1896). In regard to their daughter, sources vary about a birthdate. 1896 is
Mabel’s birthdate on census reports and the gravestone that she shares with her
daughter. However, newspapers and the social security administration list consistently
list Mabel’s birthday as 1900. Keep in mind that newspaper articles give
Mabel’s age as four years younger than she actually was at the time. So,
working as a sixteen-year-old scenic artist by herself in 1916 really meant
that she was twenty; this puts a slightly different take on her wunderkind
status in retrospect.
By the turn of the twentieth century, the Buell family moved
Portland, Oregon. The 1900 US Federal census
lists a 41-years-old Horace Sr. working as a portrait and landscape artist and
living in Portland with his family. Nina
Giles Buell, was still listed as “Fannie B.” in this census, but the children
remain the same Horace C. and Mabel A., ages 8 and 6 respectively. Both children
were attending school.
The Buells returned to Kansas in1904, the same year that Buell’s
father (Cyrus Augustus Buell (1820-1904)
passes away. Until 1904, Buell artistic endeavors are primarily absent from
print, as he was working as a portrait artist and not connected with any
theatrical productions. There are mentions of his checking into hotels and
visits home to Manhattan, Kansas. In 1904, the “El Paso Herald” announced, “H.
H. Buell of San Francisco, has completed the work of painting a large oil
painting of the city of Alamogordo, 12×21 feet, for the Alamogordo Townsite
company, to be displayed at the World’s Fair. It is a beautiful piece of
work” (3 June 1904, page 2).
In 1905, a snapshot of the Buell’s life was again captured
in a state census report. Horace H. Buell, Fannie B. (Nina) Buell, Horace C.
Buell and Mabel A. Buell are listed and living together in Manhattan. The
“Manhattan Nationalist” included a Buell advertised: “Portraits and frames.
Studio at residence, southwest corner of Fifth and Houston. –H.H. Buell,
Artist” (31 March 1905, page 4). Later
that summer, Buell’s advertisements noted that his studio was located on North
Second Street, opposite of the Manhattan Marble Works. The second advertisement
announced, “We make portraits and photographs at the summer school of painting
and photography, Positions furnished to students in photographic retouching as
soon as qualified” (Student’s Herald, Manhattan, Kansas, 8 June 1905, page 2).
Not everything went well for Buells in Manhattan. The
“Manhattan Nationalist” reported an unfortunate incident at the Buell home:
“The other night, after H. H. Buell had installed water pipes in his house, he
felt water dripping on the bed where he slept. He got up to investigate just in
time to avoid a large mass of plastering which fell from the ceiling. As the
ceiling is high, he probably made a lucky escape” (30 June 1905, page 4). This
just made me think of the crate story.
The family left Manhattan and moved from Kansas City to
Wichita in 1908, presumably for better employment opportunities. In Wichita,
Buell became the scenic artist for the Wolfe Stock Company, providing scenery
for their production of “The Princess and the Girl” at the New Auditorium that
summer (Wichita Daily Eagle, 18 June 1908, page 12). He also painted the
scenery for “Salomy Jane” that fall. Of
the production, the “Wichita Daily Eagle” reported, “Mr. Horace H. Buell, the
Wolfe scenic artist, and his assistants, have made a record for themselves painting
the life-like reproduction of the famous California redwoods in which the Bret
Harte stories are laid” (11 Nov 1908 page 10). Buell’s son, Horace C. Buell was
sixteen years old at the time. Buell’s scenic work in Wichita continued with
the help of his children and wife. By December 1908, the scene painting work
for Manager Wolfe at the New Auditorium was credited to Messrs. Horace H. Buell
& Son (6 Dec. 1908, page 15). Horace Sr. and Horace Jr. painted scenery for
“The Eternal City”. The “Wichita Daily Eagle” reported, “For the past two weeks
the scenic artists of the New Auditorium, Messrs. Horace H. Buell & Son,
have been busy preparing the backgrounds for this richest of all plays, and
they will show the Holy City as true to life as it is possible for brush and
colors to depict on canvas.” In 1923, Mabel would recall, “Of course I learned much from my
father, though even he was more often than not loath to have me around. It was
my brother who used to act as his ‘paint boy,’ cleaning his brushes and mixing
his paints. But I made the most of my opportunities. I hung around and picked
up what information I could, and always kept in mind that some day I was going
to climb to the bridge and do scene painting all by myself.’
The Buell’s were still living in Wichita in 1911 when Buell
began working for the Wichita College of Music’s art department. The “Wichita Daily Eagle” reported, “The art
department, under the direction of H. H. Buell, late of Paris and London, will
be a success…H. H. Buell, who is a thorough artist, will be in a position to
give very valuable instruction as well as produce some specially artistic work”
(22 Jan 1911, page 6). Little is known of his trip abroad, the timeline or
purpose. However, his trip to Paris was again sited when Buell received the
contract to design electrical floats for the Peerless Prophet’s Parade that
year too. The “Wichita Daily Eagle” reported “Paris Man to Design Electrical
Floats. Contract Let to H. H. Buell for $2,000 Feature of October Jubilee” (23
July 1911, page 3). In the “Hutchinson News,” Buell was actually noted as the
“well known scenic artist” (9 Sept. 1911, page 1). It is uncertain when Horace
H. Buell & Son became known Buell Scenic Co.
By 1912, Horace was working as an itinerant artist and mentioned in a few newspapers across the country, including Jacksonville, Florida. Four years later, his wife and daughter were working in Sioux City, Iowa at the Princess Theatre, with not mention of Horace H. Buell. This is the same year that Horace Jr. passed away.
The notice of Horace H. Buell’s own passing was brief, and
appeared in only few papers. The “American Art Annul” reported, “Buell, Horace
Hervey. – a painter and head of the Buell Scenic Company, died in New York,
December 22, 1919” (Vol. 16, page 266).
If you need a good belly laugh, this may be the post you
want to read. Horace Hervey Buell was the father of scenic artist Mable Buell
and husband of scenic artist Nina Giles Buell.
Born in New York in 1857, Horace was one of four boys. He
had an older brother that was three years his senior (George K.), and two twin
brothers that were his junior by two years (Walter and Warren Cyrus). Remember
the name W.C. Cyrus when you get to the second newspaper article.
When he was quite young, his father (Cyrus Augustus Buell) left to fight in the Civil War. A hatter by trade, he returned to civilian life to run a hat shop in Albion, New York. In 1870, the Buell family moved to Wabaunsee, Kansas. The 1870 census listed Cyrus as a farmer, but he soon returned to his former profession as a hat merchant. By 1875, Horace was sent to live with his uncle in Brooklyn, New York, working as a barber. Five years later in 1875, Horace returned west, still working as a barber and living with his family in Manhattan, Kansas. By the early 1880s, Horace opened an art store in Topeka. After experiencing only mediocre returns, he set his sights on better opportunities in Chicago. By 1882, he was married to Miss Nina Giles. Two years later, Horace made headlines in newspapers across the country – not for his art, but for his antics.
In 1884, he is low on funds and decides to save eight dollars by mailing himself in a wooden crate, C.O.D. This story is published and republished at the time. Over the decades the story of Horace H. Buell continues to pop up in newspapers here and there; the tale outlives the memory of Buell as a scenic artist. It is well worth reading.
Here is one version published in the “The Garnett Republican
(30 May 1884, page 8):
“A Strange Journey.
Truth is often stranger than fiction, and the following
proves the saying: Residents of Topeka will remember that a few years ago a
young man named Horace H. Buell arrived in Topeka and opened an art studio, but
finding that his efforts to gain a reputation and a living were not as
successful as he wished, he left the city and went to Chicago. There he became
a Pullman car conductor and eventually married, our informant thinks, a
relative of the Pullmans. At any rate he was in Chicago last Thursday and
wanted to go to Manhattan, but didn’t have the funds to pay for a ticket. He at
length determined to go as express matter, and with this in view, arranged a box
in which he could sit quite comfortably, and he could, if necessary, release
himself. He then went to the express office and left an order for a wagon to
call at a certain address and get a box which he billed as from H. H. Buell to
Horace Buell, Manhattan, Kas., and directed that it should be sent and the
charges collected at Manhattan. His scheme worked perfectly. The box was taken
to the depot, weighed and put abroad the cars, and then the adventurous Kansan
was so en rout to his old home by the
Blue. Once an express messenger suspicioned that something was wrong and said
he was going through the box, but he changed his mind. The box weighed 247
pounds, and at Kansas City Buell heard a voice say, ‘I believe I’ll let this
box lay over.’ But fortunately the strange freight was re-loaded, and at 1:27
o’clock Saturday morning was thumped out on the platform at Manhattan. All had
gone well so far, and Buell was congratulating himself o the success of his
scheme, but when the last jolt of the box was over, and he was ready to take an
active part in the strange journey, he discovered that the box was lying bottom
side up, or so it was impossible to work the release. He therefore waited a
more favorable opportunity, expecting it would come when he had been tumbled
into the express office. Fate was dead against him, though, for when the box
was placed in its position to remain until delivered in the morning, the
occupant found himself standing on his head and unable to assume any other
position. The express agent, having all his goods in the room, then proceeded
to ‘check up’ and used the box for a table. The unfortunate victim of his own
ingenuity was forced to listen to the satisfactory ejaculations of the agent,
who seemed to require a long time to complete his work. At length, being unable
to bear it any longer, Buell yelled, ‘How much longer is it going to take you
to check up?’ The agent was frightened and fled to another room, but soon
reappeared with a friend, and two revolvers were leveled at the offending box.
The agent supposed a robber was hidden in it, announced his intention of
perforating it, whereupon Buell begged to be released, when he promised to
explain all. The men at length consented, and a sorry looking individual, a
satchel and the remains of a lunch, were polled out on the floor. Buell paid
the express charges, $9.25, and thinks he succeeded fairly well – in saving the
difference between that amount and the fare, which was $17.55. [To put this in
perspective, today’s equivalent of $17.55 is about $450 today]. Buell organized
a company under the name of the Topeka Zuoaves, and was quite well known here.
At one of the masquerades given in the skating rink he took first prize for the
best character.”
A few months after the incident, Buell explains himself in
the “Holton Recorder” (12 July 1884, page 1). Under the title “New Way of
Travel,” the article reports, “My name is Horace Buell, and I have relatives
living in Manhattan. From my earliest youth I have displayed wonderful talent
for art. Believing that there was a field open for me in the larger cities I
sought a situation, and for a time was successful, but I lost my health, and
being severely distressed and in need, resolved to return home. Too proud to
write for means to defray my expenses, I hit upon the plan which has landed me
to-night, thirty-six hours from Chicago. The way I managed to get billed out of
the city was very easy. I called t the main office and told them I had a box
which I wished to ship to Manhattan, giving instructions where it could be
found, I then packed myself in it and was soon speeding westward. Once I was
left in the car for some time alone, and had a chance to stretch myself. Before
entering the box I supplied myself with sufficient crackers and cheese to
sustain me for fours days, and suffered only for water. I don’t feel much worse
for the trip, it was an easy matter to brace myself in the box so I would not
be injured.”
From the “Buffalo Commercial,” 6 June 1884, page 2.
There is only one question that I would like to ask Buell: “Did you tell your wife?”
I explored the life and career of scenic artist Mabel A.
Buell in the past two posts. However,
the Buell family’s history is complicated and will take a few more posts bit to
unwrap. This is the most interesting theatre family that I have encountered to
date, so I am going to take a little time and enjoy myself. The tales
surrounding Buell’s would be an absolutely fascinating book; maybe even a
miniseries as there is romance, death, intrigue and kidnapping.
To start with, it was a theatrical family entirely composed
of scenic artists: Horace H. (father), Fannie “Nina” Giles (mother), Horace C.
(son) and Mabel A. (daughter). The patriarch was a well-known scenic artist, assisted
by his wife, son and daughter. The son
was initially selected to follow in his father’s footsteps, but passed away in
1916 at the young age of 24. Although
the patriarch of the family actively once discouraged his daughter from the
profession, she had also assisted him on projects when he needed an assistant
and was an accomplished artist in her own right. Regardless of her father’s
warning, Mabel became a scenic artist and was actively working the year her
brother passed. In fact, in 1916 both Mabel
and her mother were listed as scenic artists in the Sioux City Directory, working
at the Princess Theatre. There is no indication of what their father is doing
at that time, but in 1912 he was working and living in Florida.
Horace Sr. passes away in 1919, and both mother and daughter
now constitute the Buell Scenic Company. In many newspaper reports, they explain
the desire to continue the Buell name in the scenic art world, an acceptable
rationale for two women running a scenic art business. Mabel makes the paper as a petite pretty blond
who holds a union card and works just as hard as the men who dominate the world
of scenic art. The mother is listed as
head of Buell Scenic Company and becomes a member of the Vaudeville Artists’
Club.
In 1923, the Mabel marries Herbert Schulze, also a scenic
artist and designer, but a sickly one with a heart condition. Three years later, the mother “retires” from
heading Buell Scenic Company, but is still involved as a consultant. Interestingly,
she retires the same year that her granddaughter Joy is born to Mabel and
Herbert. My guess is that she opted to stay home with her granddaughter so that
her own daughter could keep working. The family of four – mother, daughter,
son-in-law and granddaughter – all live
in Manhattan during the 1930s.
It is in the mid-1930s, however, that the daughter meets
Yates Stirling, Jr., a retired admiral. She begins working with him on several
projects, including providing illustrations for his various publications, such
as “Sea Duty: Memoirs of a Fighting Admiral.” They also partner to create the
musical comedy “Sea Legs.” Then, as now, some of society has a hard time
believing men and women can work together and maintain a platonic friendship
without some sort of romantic liaison, so there is speculation that the two
were having an affair. Whether this is the case or not, really doesn’t matter,
but Stirling’s family had a problem with it.
But is in the in 1930s and 1940s that Stirling becomes an increasing involved
with the Buell family, going on extended absences with the three Buell women to
work on his writing projects. This is at the same time Mabel’s husband, Herbert
Schulze, nears the end of his life. He passes away in 1940 at the relatively
young age of 48. At the time of his passing, Schulze was no longer living in
the Buell home, but lodging with others and still working as a scenic artist.
Other than a heart condition listed on his WWI draft card, there is no
indication of what caused his early departure.
Stirling’s relationship with the Buell’s only became a
problem because of his children. His adult children were not happy with his new
friendship and the time spent with the Buell family, to the extreme. There is
all sort of drama revolving around his activities at the Buell’s and the reported
disappearance of the admiral. In fact, when he left with the Buell’s to work on
another publication in Florida, his children reported him missing and hired a
detective. After Stirling requested that more personal items be shipped to him in
Florida due an extended stay, the children broke into the Buell’s home and left
with their father – who was in his 70s at the time. During the home invasion,
18-years-old Nina Buell was injured in “a scuffle with the admiral’s offspring”
(“Tampa Bay Times,” 15 May 1946, page 11). Other reports proclaim that her
injury occurred after she pulled a gun on the invaders and they were trying to
disarm her, hence injuring her hand. Nina was even pictured in the newspaper
with her granddaughter inspecting her injury. Charges against the Stirling children
were filed and the drama continued.
Nina G. Buell and her granddaughter Joy Buell, picture in the “Tampa Times,” 11 May 1946, page 1.
Nina Fannie B. Giles Buell is a fascinating character in her
own right. Various historical records
list provide a variety of names for her, including Nina G., Nina C., Nina B.,
Fannie G., Fannie B. and Fannie C. Buell; yes, they are one in the same. When
Mabel and her mother were painting at the Princess Theatre in Sioux City in
1916, she was listed as Nina C. Buell. Upon her passing though, newspapers
remembered her as Nina Giles Buell and her position as “Former Scenic Firm
Head” (Tampa Tribune, 31 Dec. 1947, page 2).
“The Miami News” announced, “Woman Theatrical Designer Dies”
(30 Dec. 1947, page 1). The “Post Standard” reported, “Palm Beach, Fla. – Mrs.
Nina Giles Buell for many years the head of Buell Scenic company, theatrical
designers of New York city, died here yesterday after a short illness” (Syracuse,
NY, 31 Dec. 1947, page 1). The Jan. 10, 1948 issue of “The Billboard”
announced, “Mrs. Nina Giles, head of the New York theatrical designers, Buell
Scenic Company, December 31 in New York. She was a member of the National
Vaudeville Artists’ Club” (page 42). Nina was not simply window dressing or
doing the accounting for a scenic studio, she was a major presence in the
company, both designing and painting; still associated with the company two
decades after her retirement.
Nina’s obituary is indicative of her unusual life. I have
always found newspaper obituaries fascinating.
Until you actually write one and submit it to the newspaper, it’s not an
activity that one ponders. Having to encapsulate one’s life while contemplating
length, and if an issue, overall expense. I have read thousands of obituaries
to obtain little bits of information about others’ existences to gain little
crumbs of truth. As the obituary is often submitted by a family member, typically
they know how the dearly departed wanted to be remembered; what was really
important to include about their life. On Dec. 31, 1947, “The Palm Beach Post”
reported, “Mrs. N. G. Buell Dies in Resort (page 2).
Here is the article as it was written and submitted:
“Services for Mrs. Nina Giles Buell, former theatrical
designer of New York, who died Tuesday morning at her apartment in the
Paramount Bldg., will be held at 2 p.m. today at the graveside in Hillcrest
Cemetery. The Rev. Ryan Wood, pastor of the Memorial Presbyterian Church will
officiate.” I am going to stop here to point something out. Buell dies on Tuesday
morning, the announcement and burial is the next day. I had no idea that a burial could occur that
quickly, when considering the process that I have encountered in the past. This
suggests that there was no need to plan a memorial service for friends or
family coming from afar. Continuing with the article:
“Mrs. Buell, who would have been 82 in a few days, died
after a short illness. For many years she headed the Buell Scenic Co., and
after her retirement from active work in 1926, she was consultant to their
daughter, Mabel Buell, a widow of Herbert Schulze, scenic designer, who uses
her maiden name professionally.
“Mrs. Buell, her daughter and the latter’s daughter, Joy,
came to Florida in April 1946, after spending some time in Miami Beach. They
have made their home in Palm Beach for more than a year, where Miss Buell has
been engaged in doing murals for a number of clubs.
“Mrs. Buell was born in Milwaukee, where her father was the
second white man to settle in the community. For several years she worked for
the Presbyterian Board in slum work in Portland, Ore. Later conducting a
kindergarten which the board built for her in Mexico near the border.
“She was married to Horace Hervey Buell, portrait and mural
artist.
“Their children, Mabel and Horace Cyrus Giles Buell, who
died in 1916, were born in California, and when they were both quite young the
family went abroad, living in London for two and a half years.
“After Mr. Buell’s death in 1919, Mrs. Buell who managed his
business affairs and her daughter devoted themselves to their scenic business
for years, and did sets for many shows, including a number of Schubert
productions.
“Mrs. Buell was a lay member of the National Vaudeville
artists Club, did many sets for vaudeville acts and was beloved by the
profession.
“Though there are many nephews and nieces in California,
immediate survivors include only the daughter and granddaughter.
“Friends who wish may view the body from 10 a. m. to 1 p. m.
today at the Mizell-Simon Mortuary.”
The following article was written by Henry T. Parker and published
in “American Magazine” (August 1923, page 68). Keep in mind that this was the
same year that Sosman & Landis closed their doors. Times were certainly changing.
Photograph that accompanied the article “A Successful Woman Scenic Artist” in 1918.
“A Successful Woman Scenic Artist.
When Mabel Buell was a child of two, and barely able to
crawl about a California beach, she grasped a stick and began to draw figures
bigger than herself in the sand. When she was ten she painted two heroic
tapestries for a hotel in southern Florida. When she was a year older she
“splashed” huge signs over a theatre curtain in Savannah, Georgia, and when she
was fifteen she climbed an eighty-foot ladder to a ‘bridge’ above a theatre
stage and began to paint her way down, rung by rung, to success, paradoxical as
that may sound. To-day, at twenty three, she is called upon for some of the
biggest productions along Broadway. She is the only woman scenic artist in
America.
“Her success, she says, is due to the fact that she has
always held to one ideal and has reused to be swayed from it by criticism,
handicaps, or disappointment. Even from those earliest days on the California
beach she knew that she could never deal in the miniature in art. She wanted
only the heroic, the statuesque, the bigger-than-life-itself. But once did she
try to evade the issue. Then, at the insistence of her father, she studied
landscape and portraiture for two years in London.
“Scene painting is an exacting art. It calls for a
physical strength and endurance that is not demanded in any of the allied arts.
Many times, especially when one is working in stock, and one or more complete
sets must be turned out each week, the scenic artist is called upon to work for
thirty and forty hours at a stretch. And when one considers that every minute
of each of those hours is filled with wielding a brush that weighs from five to
eight pounds, turning the big windlass that raises or lowers your canvas,
mixing one’s own paints, and forever considering the details of colors and
lights that are involved, it is easy to realize that scene painting is not
child’s play.
“I talked with Mabel Buell of the arduous side of her work,
as she paused after ‘sweeping’ a sky line across a forty-foot canvas that was
destined to be a back drop for a new production by the Coburns. Miss Buell
looks all of five years younger than her confessed twenty-three. She is small,
slim, and dainty, and her trim knickers and tailored smock were so bedaubed
with pigments that she looked as though she should have been in a nursery,
coloring cut-out dolls, rather than tackling the huge canvas that hung before
here.
‘Hard work? Of course, it is hard work,’ she said; ‘but
then so is everything else that is worthwhile. I am never so happy as when I am
‘way up here on my bridge with my paints, brushes and canvas. It is only then
that I am really living my life as I first conceived it, and I know that I
would be miserable if I couldn’t do it. I despise the detail of little work,
and have ever since I was a child in pinafores. Making a set in miniature
drives me to distraction and sometimes – even when I am in a hurry to finish a
model to show to some manager or director – I have to quit and come up here in
this atmosphere of bigness to think things out and get the right perspective.
‘But I do know that it is the so-called drudgery of the
thing that turns most women against scene painting as a means of expression and
livelihood. I have had hundreds of girls come to me and ask about my work and
by what means they, too, might take it up and succeed at it. And they have all
seemed highly interested until I have told them that the real scenic artist
must of necessity do all or most of his own painting, then they have turned
away.
‘It was simply too much for them, and very wisely, I
presume, they have sought other fields more suited to their tastes. Not
necessarily that they are afraid of so much of it and also of the handicaps
that beset every woman who takes up scene painting as a profession, for there
is, as always will be, a great prejudice against women in this field.’
‘It was probably the knowledge of this fact that, more than
anything else, led my father to try and discourage me against it. Even to-day
many theatrical managers are inclined to refuse to allow women on the bridge,
and it is only there that one can work satisfactorily. The scenic artist
naturally sees only part of his work at the time. The vast canvas is stretched
out before him, and, unless he knows the exact scale on which he is working,
the perspective is likely to go all wrong.
‘I have found many men, managers, electricians, stage
carpenters, and others, who have been only to glad and willing to help me in
every way. That is – as soon as they learned that I knew my business and was
competent to do the work for which I have been employed. But they must be
convinced, and therein lies the hardest part for the girl who is trying to
break into the game. Of course I learned much from my father, though even he
was more often than not loath to have me around. It was my brother who used to
act as his ‘paint boy,’ cleaning his brushes and mixing his paints. But I made
the most of my opportunities. I hung around and picked up what information I
could, and always kept in mind that some day I was going to climb to the bridge
and do scene painting all by myself.’”
Mabel Buell directing operations in one end of the ballroom in the Opera Club of Chicago. Photo accompanied “A Successful Woman Scenic Artist” by Henry T. Parker and published in “American Magazine” (August 1923, page 68).
In 1923, the “Olean Evening Herald” reported, “Mabel A.
Buell, the only woman scenic artist in New York, claims that scene painting is
ideal work for the woman artist, combining aesthetic progress with a large
salary as few other artistic professions do” (6 June 1923, page 9).
Mabel Buell pictured in the “Buffalo Courier,” 31 Dec 1919.From the “Tucson Citizen,” 4 Jan 1920, page 10.
Today I explore the life of Mabel Buell (1896-1982) as she
became a popular subject in 1918 newspapers. As I am covering that year in the
life and times of Thomas G. Moses, this seems like an appropriate moment to add
a little historical context about female scenic artists. On March 10, 1918, the “Buffalo Times”
reported that Mabel Buell was “a noted scenic artist with the Bonstelle Company
and has a host of friends in New York” (page 30). The “Buffalo Courier” added
that she was “one of the few women scenic artists with the Bonstelle Company at
the Star Theatre” (Feb. 17, 1918, page 7). However, Buell’s scenic art career
began well before 1918. By 1916, both Buell, and her mother Nina C. Buell were listed
as scenic artists in the Sioux City Directory, each working at the Princess
Theatre and rooming at the Jackson Hotel. Mabel’s father, Horace H. Buell, was
also a well-known scenic artist, but working and living elsewhere at the time. I
will explore the entire Buell family in a few days. However, Horace H. Buell passed away in 1919,
three year after his son, Horace Jr., who was also a scenic artist.
Mabel Buell pictured in the “Buffalo Courier,” 17 Feb, 1918, page 7Mabel Buell pictured in the “Buffalo Times,” 10 March 1918, page 20.
The story of Mabel’s rise to fame was told to many
newspapers over the years. She shaped her introduction to scenic art and
training to fit with societal expectations. In 1922 the “Washington Post”
reported, “Mabel Buell, still in her early twenties, petite and blond, is the
last person one would associate with a big paint brush and scenery, yet this
diminutive young woman is the only feminine possessor of a union card in the
Scene Painters’ union, and is in fact, the only woman in the United States who
is a real scenic artist. Miss Buell’s father was Horace Buell, one of the most
famous scenic artists of his time, and as a small child Mabel learned from him
the fundamentals of her art, for real art it is. When still a girl in her teens
she assisted him when he was engaged in stock, and upon his death she undertook,
on her own, to carry on the Buell name in theatrical history. A year ago she
was a scenic artist in stock in Detroit with the Jessie Bonstelle stock company
and last summer she was with Henry Hull in Dayton. She built and painted
scenery for ‘The Squaw Man.’ But she considered her production of ‘Main Street’
one of he best works, for she admits it is not as easy to get all of Main
Street, as it was pictured so vividly in the book, on the stage. Any day you
may care to you will find her high on the bridge on the stage in the Manhattan
opera house where she has her studio, brush in hand, working industriously on
some set. Miss Buell is one of the few independent scenic artists who possess
their own studios, and the nicest thing about her is that she is delightfully
naïve and cannot understand why there is anything unusual for a woman to be in
her profession. Her production of ‘Main Street’ has been highly praised for
retaining the correct atmosphere of the book” (March 12, 1922, page 3, in “Much
on the Job”).
A few years earlier, on Dec. 31, 1919, “The Newark Advocate”
featured Buell and mentioned some of her early history (Newark, Ohio, page 9).
The article reported, “To be a scenic artist at twenty-one with five years’
experience to one’s credit at an early age is something unusual for anyone, but
when the person is a slight little blond girl one simply has to investigate.
This is what the investigator finds out about Miss Mable Buell and the unusual
career in which she is steadily climbing to fame and fortune. She lives in New
York City and has been creating scenery for stock companies and vaudeville
teams since she was a slip of a girl, sixteen. She thinks perhaps she inherited
her ‘work,’ for her father, Horace Harvev Buell, was well known for his scenic
and portrait painting in New York and elsewhere in the country. When in London
doing scenery for a theatre there Mr. Buell sent his little daughter to an art
school to study. Mabel was but a tiny kiddie then with short skirts and long
pig-tails but she studied in the same class with, grown-up professional
artists.”
There is an interesting parallel
between Mabel and an earlier female scenic artist, Grace A. Wishaar (1876-1956)
who also made a splash in the scenic art world during the 1890s. Mabel was born
the same year that newspapers began mentioning Grace Wishaar. I explored the life of Wishaar almost three
years ago (see past posts 284 to 290), the petite brunette who eventually
married world-class chess champion Alexander Alekhine. Wishaar was also born
and started out on the West Coast, but began painting in New York at the turn
of the twentieth century. The “Buffalo Morning Express” interviewed Wishaar on
April 4, 1901 and published an article about her (page 3). Under the heading, “She is a Scenic Artist,”
the article reported that Wishaar had recently arrived from Seattle and was
working as the scenic artist Frank D. Dodge. After describing her artistic journey,
Wishaar was quoted as saying, “They told me at half the theaters in town that a
woman couldn’t do it. Any way, I have
proved one woman can.” Almost two decades later, Buell had made a similar
journey, but she had a head start in a scenic art family. In 1923 when
questioned about women in the scenic art field, Buell responded, “For there is, as always will be, a
great prejudice against women in this field” (“American Magazine” page 68)
Grace Wishaar pictured in the “Albuquerque Citizen,” 1905.
Regardless of either woman’s
accomplishments, each was erroneously credited as the only female scenic artist
in the country at the time, which was simply not the case, but that title it
made headlines. My research confirms
that there were many more female scenic artists at the time. The only
difference is that they evaded the printed record and were subsequently not
included in history books.
By 1918, Mabel was pictured in the “Dayton Herald” on July 11, (page 7). Under her portrait was the caption, “Miss Mabel Buell. This scenic artist of the Brownnell Stork Players at the Lyric, is responsible for a beautiful piece of tapestry which she painted for ‘The Thirteenth Chair,’ this week’s attraction. Miss Brownell will donate this very artistic piece of work to the Red Cross Society next Monday.”
There were also personal interest stories about Buell. The “Dayton Daily News” noted, “Miss Mary Buell, the scenic artist, has a little collie dog, Sheamus, a most loving pet whom she has shaved so closely this summer that he actually thinks that he is a poodle, and wants to climb into your lap” (Dayton, Ohio, 14 July 1918, page 44).
Mabel Buell pictured in the “Dayton Herald,” 11 July 1918, page 7.
Her Broadway credits for scenic design include “Fifty-Fifty,
Ltd.” (Comedy Theatre, Oct. 27, 1919-Nov. 29, 1919), “Plain Jane” (New
Amsterdam Theatre, May 12, 1924-Oct. 4, 1924), “Blackberries of 1932” (Liberty
Theatre, April 4-23, 1932), “Blackbirds of 1933” (Apollo Theatre, Dec. 2-Dec.
1933), “Summer Wives” (Mansfield Theatre, April 13-18, 1936), “Sea Legs”
(Mansfield Theatre, May 18-May 29, 1937), “Straw Hat” (Nora Bayes Theatre, Dec.
30, 1927-Jan. 1938), and “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1939” (Hudson Theatre, Feb.
11-18, 1939).
Mabel Buell was the scenic designer for “Blackbirds.”
The 1930 census listed Mabel as an artist working, also
painting in the interior industry. Her husband was Herbert H J Schulze (b. Oct.
30, 1891), also an artist, and listed as working in the picture industry. Schulze’s
WWI draft registration noted that he was working for Gates & Morange in New
York in 1917. At the time he filled out the draft registration, Schulze listed
that for the past five years he had been under the care of a doctor for heart
disease. The couple were married on Feb. 6, 1923 and celebrated the birth of
their daughter Joy the next year. He passed away on July 23, 1940. At the time
he was still working as a scenic artist for the theater, but lodging at another
residence.
On May 6, 1937, “The Brooklyn Daily Eagle” reported “Rear
Admiral Yates Stirling Jr., who retired a year ago as commandant of the
Brooklyn Navy Yard, has interrupted his writings on naval matters to become a
stage designer. Today he was busily at work in the studio of Miss Mabel A.
Buell at 1828 Amsterdam Ave., Manhattan, with whom he has formed a partnership.
In the set at which the two are now at work Admiral Stirling’s sea experience
is standing him in good stead, for it is set for ‘Sea Legs,’ a musical comedy
which opens with Dorothy Stone and depicts the exterior of a stream-lined cabin
on the deck of a private yacht. ‘Flesh has been wiped out,’ said the Admiral,
discussing the plight of the theatre today.’ All the training of talent is in
the night clubs or in the stage shows of a few theaters, the movies have eaten
up the seed corn. The harvest better be planted and Hollywood and the films
should start up theaters to train talent for the coming dearth’” (page 26). In
1939, Buell provided the illustrations for Yates Stirling’s “Sea Duty: Memoirs
of a Fighting Admiral” (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1939). They had a very
close relationship.
Inscription from Yates Stirling to Mabel Buell’s daughter. Image posted on a military forum.Inscription from Yates Stirling to Mabel Buell’s daughter. Image posted on a military forum.
In 1941, Mabel visited her cousin, Mrs. P. M. Baldwin, in
Las Cruces, New Mexico. Of her visit,
the “Las Cruces Sun-News” reported that Buell was an artist of New York City
and collaborator with Admiral Yates Sterling, writer and speaker. The article
elaborated, “Miss Buell is a portrait painter and does the frontispieces for
Admiral Sterling’s books. Also those pen and ink drawings that head each
chapter. She also does scenic painting and often works on stage sets for the
largest theatres in New York” (16 Feb. 1941, page 3).
By 1947 and 1948, Mabel was
living in west Palm Beach Florida, continuing her work as an artist until her
passing. More on Buell tomorrow.
In 1918, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “September 1st, I
resigned as President of the Sosman and Landis Company which severs my
connection with the firm after thirty-eight years of service. I joined the New York Studios and expect to
get a studio and an office to do business.”
1927 New York Studios advertisement from “Scenic Artist,” Vol 1 No 1, May 1927.
Quick recap about New York Studios: Former Sosman & Landis secretary and treasurer, David H. Hunt, established New York Studios in 1910. The firm was intended to be an eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis. Remember that Sosman & Landis established Kansas City Scenic Co. as a regional branch in the nineteenth century. However, the relationship between the two studios became strained after Moses became president of Sosman & Landis. Moss and Hunt had never really got along well, so I was quite surprised that Moses left Sosman & Landis to work at New York Studios in 1918. It must have been quite bad for Moses at Sosman & Landis for him to pull the plug after thirty-eight years. One has to wonder what was going on between the studio and the stockholders, as well as the company’s finances.
Of his new job, Moses wrote,
“Marshall of the New York Studios and I had to hustle out for a studio. Got an office in the Consumers Building. I did two borders for the Chateau Theatre at
the old place. We tried very hard to buy
out the old place, but they want too much money. I was willing to make a big reduction on my
claim, but it was no use. We have to
find a studio.”
Moses was referring to Fred
Marshall, a scenic artist who would later represent the United Scenic Artists’
Association of New York City. Born on March 24, 1895, in Woodridge, New Jersey.
He was the son of Louisiana native, Frederick Marshal, Sr. (b. 1851), an artist
who specialized in mural paintings and contemporary of Moses. WWII draft
records describe the younger Marshall’s appearance as 6’-2” and 190 lbs., gray
hair, blue eyes and a ruddy complexion.
While looking for information about Marshall, I came across
three interesting finds that are worth sharing to give some context to his role
in American theatre history. The first was a 1936 Columbia University doctoral
thesis by Charles Lionel Franklin, A.M., entitled, “The Negro Labor Unionist of
New York, Problems and Conditions among Negro in the Labor Unions in Manhattan
with Special Reference to the N.R.A. and post- N.R.A. Situations.” The dissertation included interviews with Max
Graft (Secretary of the U.S.A.A.) and Marshall (business representative of the
U.S.A.A.). Graft was quoted as stating that the United Scenic Artists’ Association
was “Organized in 1918. First it was explained that this local has jurisdiction
over all workers in the Eastern United States. In its membership there were at
one time two Negroes. One, a New York man who joined in 1918, dropped out in
1925. He was one of the first members. The other Negro member now in the union
is a resident of Pittsburgh. In the local there are 339 members. The initiation
fee is $500.00, $250.00 with application and $250. With initiation and yearly
dues of $48.00.” On August 29, 1936,
Marshall explained that the union’s “Membership was open to “any person who
follows any branch of work within the jurisdiction of the scenic artists crafts
for a livelihood.” Here is a link to the
entire dissertation as it is certainly worth the read: https://dspace.gipe.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10973/22326/GIPE-014119-Contents.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
Marshall was also interviewed in 1937 for the Emergency
Relief Appropriation Hearings before the Committee on Appropriations, United
States Senate Seventy-Fifth Congress, First Session on H. J. Res.361 The
following is included from June 1937:
“Statement of Fred Marshall, United Scenic Artists’
Association of New York City.
Mr. Marshall: Gentlemen, I have nothing further to add to
what has been said. I represent just the local in New York. We have three
locals throughout the United States but I speak for New York. We had a
membership of 490 in 1928, and we have some 320. We did try to discourage
people from coming into the business. We closed our books and tried to
discourage the schools teaching scenic designs, and so forth, as we did not see
any advantage in bringing a lot of people into a business that had no future.
But we did notice a pick-up since the Federal Theater started and we do dope it
will be made a national institution, that the Government will make it a
national theater. It is purely seasonal theater now with work for 5 months a
years and the other 7 months of intermittently here and there; nut we do get
about five months regular employment for all our people, and the other 7 months
they do nothing; but we would like to see it become a national institution.” He
spoke alongside Dorothy Bryant, Chorus Equity Association, Alfred Harding,
Actors Equity Association, Fred J. Dempsey, International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees, and David Freed, American Federation of Musicians
for Emergency Relief Appropriation (page 236). They were concerned with the
Woodrum amendment. Dempsey explained that of their 30,000 members, only 15,000
have work.”
Finally, in 1939 Marshall was listed as part of the
Amusement Committee for the NY Worlds Fair, as the business representative for
the United Scenic Artists of America, Local No. 829, 251 West Forty-second
Street, NY. He was mentioned in the New York World’s Fair Hearings before the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives Seventy-fifth Congress,
First Session on H. J. Res. 234 and H. J. Res 304 Authorizing Federal
Participation in the New York World’s Fair, 1939).
The point that I am trying to make is that Marshall was a mover and shaker in the scenic art world, but as a young man of 23 in 1918 he was walking around New York in search of a studio for Moses.
In 1918, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I made a lot of models and
sketches for floats for Labor Day.
Hamilton came out from New York to superintend the work. He always drops into a fat job somewhere.” Moses
was referring working with William F. Hamilton again. The project was floats
for the San Francisco Labor Day. The parade of 1918 focused on labor unions and
worker’s rights, with eighty-seven unions participating in the parade that day,
spread out over seven divisions.
Article about the San Francisco Labor Day parade in 1918, From the “San Francisco Chronicle,” 3 Sept 1918, page 11.Detail from the “San Francisco Chronicle,” 3 Sept 1918, page 11.Detail from the “San Francisco Chronicle,” 3 Sept 1918, page 11.Detail from the “San Francisco Chronicle,” 3 Sept 1918, page 11.
It has been more than two years since I explored the life of
scenic artist Will Hamilton and the short-lived firm of Moses & Hamilton.
It is time to recap, because I think that working with Hamilton during the
summer of 1918 prompted Moses to tender his resignation to Sosman & Landis
by that fall. Hamilton may have reminded him that better opportunities were lurking
elsewhere, and that Sosman & Landis was a sinking ship.
Less than a decade later, the two established Moses & Hamilton
in New York. The partnership lasted
until 1904 when Moses returned to Chicago to become vice-president at Sosman
& Landis studio. When Perry Landis had to leave the company for health
reasons, Sosman assumed many of the administrative and marketing duties. Therefore, someone was needed to supervise
all design, construction, painting and installation.
Moses & Hamilton advertisement in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide, 1903-1904.
It had been difficult for Moses to leave in 1904. That year
he wrote, “When I had to tell Hamilton, I almost gave in to stay with him, for
he was awfully broken up over it.” Moses was leaving a good friend, a good
crew, and good work, hoping for something even better upon his return in
Chicago. This was especially difficult as the theatrical center of the United
States was shifting to New York.
Moses & Hamilton had assembled a paint crew at the
Proctor’s 125th Street Theatre only three years earlier. Their staff
included Ed Loitz, Otto Armbruster and Al Robert. Projects were plentiful, and consistently
spread across three theatres: The American Theatre, Proctor’s Twenty-third
Street Theatre, and Proctor’s 125th Street Theater. Thomas G. Moses was the lead scenic artist at
the American Theater, William F. Hamilton was the lead scenic artist for
Proctor’s Twenty-third Street Theatre, and Al Roberts was the lead scenic
artist at Proctor’s 125th Street Theatre.
For three years, Moses & Hamilton had more work than
they could handle, producing scenery for opera, vaudeville, and other
entertainments. Their work for Frederick Thompson at Luna Park included “A Trip
to the Moon,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” “War of the Worlds,” and “Fire and
Flames.” A few of Moses & Hamilton’s Broadway designs included “Under the
Southern Skies” (Theatre Republic, Nov. 12, 1901 to Jan. 1902), “In Dahomey”
(New York Theatre, Feb. 18, 1903 to April 4, 1903, with a return to the Grand
Opera House from August to September, 1904), “The Medal and the Maid” (Broadway
Theatre, Jan. 11, 1904 to Feb. 20, 1904, Grand Opera House, March 1904), “The
Pit” (Lyric Theatre, Feb. 10, 1904, to April 1904), and “Girls Will Be Girls”
(Haverly’s 14th Street Theatre, Aug. 27, 1904 to Sept. 3, 1904). Their work was
sought after by Helena Modjeska, John C. Fisher, Henry Savage, and other
well-known theatre personalities.
Another advertisement for Moses & Hamilton.
Even after Moses & Hamilton folded, the two continued
working together on a variety of projects across the country until 1909. Moses remained
at Sosman & Landis, while Hamilton worked at New York Studios, the eastern
affiliate of Sosman & Landis. However, as business picked up at Sosman
& Landis, it became more and more difficult for Moses to do any outside
work with Hamilton. Previously, he
earned extra income by taking on these outside projects. Part of the perks was
his being able to use the studio for night work. However, as Sosman &
Landis took on more and more work, hours were extended into the evening,
prohibiting outside projects.
So work slows down during the war years, and Hamilton comes
around again. It was no coincidence that Hamilton shows up in July and Moses
resigns as president of Sosman & Landis less than two months later. Moses
wrote, “September 1st, I resigned as President of the Sosman and Landis
Company which severs my connection with the firm after thirty-eight years of
service. I joined the New York Studios
and expect to get a studio and an office to do business.” On September 2nd
Moses recorded, “There was a big Labor Day parade and such a crowd. Mama and I went down but were very careful
not to get in the thick of it.” That was his first day of freedom from Sosman
& Landis, his first day without the worry of being president at the company.
