Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1923 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “As I have very little time to paint, I feel that I am not producing what I should, and I am not feeling very jubilant over money affairs. I am not drawing enough to keep my small house expenses going; our only extravagance is the movies, which we attend twice a week either at home or downtown…The studio is not doing well, and the prospects are anything but encouraging. We all cut our salaries (the office only). That wouldn’t be so bad if we could draw it every week, but when our current bills and salaries are taken care of there is very little left for the officers… Hunt wants me to remain in the studio, but I can’t see it.”
By the end of 1923, Moses wrote: “On December 26th, Megan and I met Sosman and Landis Company at Richard’s office and paid our first installment for the name and good will of Sosman and Landis Company, which we now own and will operate, but for a while we will have to use our names of Moses and Megan, until the old company can liquidate. We will then get a new charter.” When the company liquidated, Hoyland & Lemle purchased the studio’s contents.
Moses selected Fred R. Megan for his business partner in 1923. Megan was not only a scenic artist, but also a very successful salesman for the Kansas City Scenic Co. He was a good pick, as Moses needed partner who understood all aspects of the business from sales to installation. Megan drummed up business in 1923 while he and Moses waited to officially claim the name of Sosman & Landis. Although Moses made a name for himself over the decades, his designs and painting were integrally linked to the Sosman & Landis brand. It is not surprising that Moses believed that he needed the Sosman & Landis name to continue.
Although I have written about Megan in the past, here is a brief recap of this incredibly interesting individual.
Frederick Rishel Megan (1873-1939) was the son of a Dr. James W. Megan and Cornelia Wookey. Like many in the medical profession during the nineteenth century, Dr. Megan traveled throughout a region, establishing one practice after another as the family moved from one small town to the next slightly larger town. The Megan’s early residences in Kansas included Pawnee Rock, Little River and Home City.
In 1893 the Megans moved from Home City to Olsburg before continuing on to Leonardville. On October 18, 1894, the “Olsburg News-Letter” reported, “Dr. J. W. Megan expects to move to Leonardville after election and will practice medicine there as well as look after editorial duties of the Monitor” (page 8). Their time spent in Olsburg signified a turning point, as Dr. Megan began to branch out beyond the medical profession. After Olsburg, the Megans moved to Leonardville, Kansas, where father and son commenced a new business venture – a publishing company. On October 25, 1894, the “Clay County Star” reported, The Leonardville Monitor has changed hands, assuming editorial charge, F. R. Megan, assuming editorial charge, and Dr. Megan & Son appear as publisher. From appearances they start in with an excellent patronage and will no doubt keep the paper up to its former high local standing” (25 Oct. 1894, page 3). Frederick R. Megan was listed as the editor for Dr. Megan & Son, publishers. The publication was advertised, “a spicy 5-column quarto, neatly printed and is Republican in politics” (Leonardville Monitor, Leonardville, Kansas, 8 Nov. 1894, page 4).
By 1896, Fred Megan set out on his own and relocated to Kansas City (“The Topeka Daily Capital,” 9 April 1896, page 8). It is unclear what prompted the move and resulted in his career in theatre. By 1897 Megan was touring with the Barrett & Barrett Company (The Leonardville Monitor, Leonardville, Kansas, 2 Dec. 1897, page 8). Within the next decade, Megan would work as a salesman, scenic artist, installer. Megan married Thenia Jones, in Jackson, Missouri, on April 14, 1898, likely while Megan was touring. The couple celebrated the birth of a daughter Anabel L. Megan in 1900.
Megan is first associated with the Kansas City Scenic Co. in 1901. On June 27, 1901, the “Rooks County Journal” of Stockton, Kansas, reported, “F. R. Megan of Kansas City, spent Saturday in the city soliciting advertising to place on a new drop curtain which he will place in the opera house. We were told he sold Mr. Bigge about $300 worth of theatre supplies of various kinds”(page 50).
The next year, Megan secured the scenery contract for the Tabor Opera House’s newly renovated stage in Leadville, Colorado. He also landed another scenery contract for the Columbus opera house. His visits to Colorado that were fortuitous, as the Kansas City Scenic Co. completed multiple contracts in the region over the next decade, including West’s Theatre in Trinidad. On July 10, 1902, “The Columbus Courier” reported, “Fred R. Megan, representing the Kansas City Scenic Co., is in the city today with full samples of scenery. He sold a good-sized order for the LaRue Investment Co. for the Opera House” (page 5).
Like Moses, Megan not only contracted the work to produce new scenery for a variety of entertainment venues, but also designed and painted the contracted settings. A few years later he represented the firm in Lead, South Dakota, working as a scenic artist on site. On October 8, 1906 the “Lead Daily Call” reported, “Fred R. Megan, who has the work of painting the scenery and decorations was on arrival on the Burlington last evening. He comes from Kansas City, and is an artist in his line, one of the best in the country. He will begin just so soon as the carpenters give him room, which will be in a day or so, to erect his stagings and make other preparations for doing the work of adornment, and when he has finished the interior of the little opera house will be one of the handsomest in the west, and no pains will be spared to make it so. Mr. Megan will have his work well under way before the week is over, and will have it completed before the winter season really begins.”
Megan also worked as an installer for Kansas City Scenic Co. In 1908, Megan installed the scenery at the Haydn-Parke theatre in Gadsden, Alabama (“Gadsden Daily Times-News,” 26 Sept. 1908, page 2).
Megan represented the Kansas City Scenic Co. until 1918. The last record of his involvement is in his WWI draft registration card. The card still listed Megan’s occupation as a traveling salesman for the Kansas City Scenic Co., located at 24th and Harrison Streets in Kansas City, Missouri. That same year, Megan was appointed to the Liberty Theatre office in Washington as Supervisor of Maintenance and Construction (Variety, Vol. LII, No. 10, page 19). By 1920, Megan was simply listed as Government Supervisor in Washington D. C. Keep in mind that many scenic artists began working for the government on painting projects during WWI, especially at Liberty Theaters and in the newly established camouflage trade. Many continued their government service in the post-war years, finding more security there than in commercial theatre endeavors. The 1920 US Census listed Megan and his wife at 16th Street in Washington, D.C. This was a second residence for the couple, as the still lived part-time in Kansas City, Missouri.
It was in 1923 that Megan teamed up with Moses to purchase the Sosman & Landis name, initially leasing the old Fabric Studio in Chicago. While waiting for the firm to liquidate and officially secure the Sosman & Landis name, the two briefly established Moses & Megan. This meant that Megan returned to work as a traveling salesman, representing both Moses & Megan, as well as the second iteration of Sosman & Landis. When they secured the Sosman & Landis name, Megan became the vice-president and treasurer for the firm. While Megan was on the road, Moses made models and painted scenery. This is how Sosman & Landis started, successfully operated from 1877 until Landis’ passing in 1905. Landis was on the road and Sosman was on site or painting in the studio. This is also how Kansas City Scenic Co. functioned, with J. V. Bronaugh on the road securing work and B. F. Dunn painting scenery. As project loads increased for each of the aforementioned studios, additional staff members were added, with more salesmen on the road and more scenic artists painting in the shop on new projects. However, each just started with two individuals and an established labor pool.
Moses and Megan continued working together throughout the 1920s.
By 1933, Megan was listed as the manager at Sosman & Landis, residing at 819 Dobson in the Evanston, Illinois. Moses passed away the following year in 1934, with Megan following in 1946. At the time of Megan’s death, his occupation was listed as a “paint contractor.”
To be continued…
