Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A big ball at the North Side Armory, given by Mrs. Howard Linn gave us a hard job to put up, and we just did that and nothing else.”
This was another Chicago Studios project supervised by Moses before his return to Sosman & Landis in April 2020.
Mrs. Howard Linn was a well-known Chicago socialite, residing at 55 Cedar Street. Linn was involved with many public charity endeavors, social pageants, and social organizations. In 1920 Linn was the chairman of the committee in charge of the Junior League ball held on January 30, 1920, at the Second Field Artillery armory on Chicago avenue and the lake. The feature of the ball was a pageant, announced in the “Chicago tribune” on January 3, 1920 (page 15). This was the event that Moses was referring to in his memoirs.
On Jan. 25, 1920, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “The ‘Bal Surprise’ to be given on Friday evening by the Junior League will be a sort of grand finale to the most brilliant social season Chicago has had in many a year. Mrs. Howard Linn is in charge of the arrangements for the ball, which gives promise of being one of the most interesting affairs ever given here. The feature of the evening will be ‘tableau vivants,’ in which a number of well-known matrons and maids will take part. Herman Rosee, Randal Davey, Allan Philbrick, and Mr. Norton of the Art Institute are assisting Mrs. Linn with the tableaux, the costumes, and the decorations of the First Artillery armory, where the ball is to be held. Mrs. J. Andrews King is co-chairman with Mrs. Linn, and the chairmen of the subcommittees are as follows: Ushers, Miss Edith Cummings; tickets, Miss Caryl Dunham; refreshments, Mrs. Frederick C. Letts; program, Mrs. Lowel Chapin; music, Miss Emily Bisell; decorations, Mrs. Barney Goodspeed; costumes, Mr. Thorne Donnelley, and boxes, Mrs. Frank Hibbard.”
On the day after the ball, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “’Bal Surprise’ Nets $12,000 for Charity” (Jan. 31, 1920, page 3). The article continued, “If it had not been for the modern dress of the guests at the Junior League ‘Bal Surprise’ last night, one would have imagined one’s self at a ball in a medieval castle. The first artillery armory, the scene of last night’s revel, is of medieval architecture and the members of the league, who acted as hostess, were gowned in the picturesque modes of those days long ago. In long trained gowns with basques and tall pointed square headdresses, they looked as if they had stepped out of the frames of old paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. They were divided into two groups, the ushers, whose duty it was to see that everyone present enjoyed the party to the utmost, and the cushion bearers, who between dances flung gaily colored cushions on the floor so that the guests might be seated during the ‘tableaux vivants,’ which were the ‘piece de resistance’ of the affair.
“The tableaux, seven in number, were shown in a larger gilt frame which was hung at the end of the ballroom behind curtains of star dotted midnight blue. Mrs. Howard Linn, chairman of the ball, was assisted in arranging the tableaux by Abram Poole and by several artists from the Art Institute, Randall Davey, Harman Rossé, Allan C. Philbrick and John W. Norton. The backgrounds, which were particularly attractive were painted by these artists and they also assisted Mrs. Thorne Donnelley in designing the costumes. In the first tableau Mrs. John Andrews King and Mrs. Morris L. Johnston, dressed in pastel shaded Grecian robes, posed as figures on a Grecian vase. They were followed by Mrs. Rufus J. Zogbaum, Jr., who, with her lovely auburn hair hanging loose, made a perfect Giorgione Madonna. Preceding the next tableau, in which Miss Polly Carpenter, who is as dainty as a bit of Dresden china, with a figure in an Arras tapestry. James L. Breeze, dressed as a bird vendor with a big hoop on which his wares were perched around his hips, danced a sort of clog dance. He was assisted by Miss Sylvia Shaw and Miss Elizabeth Farwell, dressed as court ladies.
“Mrs. and Mrs. John R. Winterbotham Jr., danced a gavotte as a prelude to the fourth tableaux, in which Mrs. David Adler, attended by an Ethiopian slave, posed as a Van Dyck portrait. Preceding the fifth tableaux, a Chinese screen, Mrs. Mitchell Hoyt sang a Chinese lullaby, accompanied by Miss Louise Thorne on the mandolin. Miss Lucretia Green and Miss Alice Bradely also were in this group. The figure son the screen, which was one of the most interesting of the tableaux, were Miss Mary Rend, Miss Mabel Linn and Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen Jr.
“Mrs. John Root as a figure in a Persian print was next, and last was a Wedgwood plaque in which Mrs. Charles Edward Brown, Mrs. Philip D. Armour III., Miss Gladys High, Miss Lois Kellogg, and Miss Adelaide Pierce posed. Dressed in White robes, with their faces, necks, and arms as white as plaster and their hair covered with white wigs, the group made a base relief against a background of that wonderful Wedgwood blue, one of the most effective and attractive of the pictures.
“The cardroom, or aviary, so-called because it resembles a monstrous bird cage, was decorated with tropical birds, vines and flowers, bright colored lights and awnings. Mrs. Charles Barney Goodspeed was chairman of the committee in charge of decorating the building.
“Miss Edith Cummings, Miss Elizabeth Martin, and Miss Betty Quick were dressed as heralds and carried horns, with which they summoned the guests to the ballroom of the tableaux…a buffet supper was served during the evening in the lounge.
“The proceeds amounted to about $12,000, and will be devoted to charities to which the league annually contributes, including St. Luke’s hospital, the Visiting Nurse association, the Juvenile Protection association, the Infant Welfare society, Practical Housekeeping centers, the Mary Bartlme club, the Mental Hygiene society, the Legal Aid Society, the United Charities, the Park Ridge Home for Girls, the Fort Sheridan beach fund, and the Fort Sheridan Christmas fund.”
The monetary equivalent of $12,000 in 1920 is $153,836.40 today.
The tableaux backings were produced under the supervision of artists from the Art Institute, including Poole, Davey, Rossé, Philbrick and Norton. Moses and many scenic artists were also members of the Art Institute. My research suggests that the tableaux were produced at Chicago scenic studios, as the scenic artists had paint frames large enough to produce scenery for the event, unlike most fine artists.
To be continued…
