Copyright © 2022 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
Robert McBride was associated with a Sosman & Landis project in 1928. He was mentioned in a local newspaper article when the firm was working on a project at the Junior College Auditorium in Edinburg, Texas.
The Edinburg Junior College Auditorium project was contracted by the second iteration of Sosman & Landis studio. The first iteration of the company, Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio, liquidated all of its assets during 1923. In 1924, Thomas G. Moses and Fred R. Megan purchased the name and “good will” of the firm, opening a second iteration known as the Sosman & Landis Co.
I am going to briefly recap the history of the Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Co. as part of this post, as I have uncovered next to nothing about McBride. The Chicago-based scene painting studio started with a chance meeting between Joseph Sosman & Perry Landis in 1875. They likely met in the opera house in Fairfield, Iowa, where a young Sosman was painting new scenery for the stage. Landis had previously lived in Fairfield and was visiting friends in town at the same time that Sosman was painting scenery. Sosman and Landis formed a fast friendship, soon partnering and completing a variety of painting projects throughout the region. They took whatever work they could find, pooling their resources to open a brick-and-mortar studio. By 1879, the two accumulated enough funds to lease a space in Chicago. They placed ads for mail order scenery across the county, as well as completing projects in Chicago and on site throughout the region. As their project load increased, so did their staff.
One of the first Sosman & Landis employees was Thomas G. Moses. Moses began working for the firm in 1880 and remained associated with the Sosman & Landis for almost five decades. Beginning in the early 1880s, Sosman & Landis continued to expand, dramatically increasing their staff, and opening regional offices all across the country. By the mid-1880s, the managed branches in several cities, including Kansas City, Detroit, and New York. They also had dozens of affiliate studios to support a variety of regional projects.
By 1902, Sosman & Landis advertisements reported that they had delivered scenery to 6000 stages in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, and South Africa. Despite Landis’ illness and passing in 1904, the company continued to grow under Sosman’s management. The firm’s period of greatest productivity was from 1908 to 1912.
Unfortunately, the passing of Sosman in 1915 was instrumental in the firm’s eventual demise. When Sosman died, stockholders elected Moses as the new president. However, this shift in leadership meant that there was no one in line to replace Moses at the studio; he just added more administrative tasks to his plate. Moses’ lack of a second-hand man was detrimental to the successful running of the shops. Both quality and productivity began to falter. In the end, Moses was expected to cover his previous responsibilities as well as those once handled by Sosman. It was too much, and he burned out by 1918. He did return to the firm, but not in the same capacity.
In addition to personnel changes at Sosman & Landis, both the entertainment industry and the world were rapidly changing. The onset of WWI crippled many scene painting studios, as other projects took precedence over popular entertainment at home. Many employees enlisted to fight overseas, were drafted, or began working in the government sector. Not all returned to the theatre industry after the war. Sosman & Landis, like many scenic studios in the post-WWI years, never quite recovered or regained their pre-war momentum. The demand for painted scenery continued to decrease. There were new expectations in the world of scenic design and art. Additionally, there was also the emergence of new competitors. Some competing studios were established by former employees, individuals who could underbid Sosman & Landis based on their intimate knowledge of the firm’s process and overhead. What was once a torrent of work soon dwindled to a trickle.
By 1923 the company implemented a plan to close its doors, intending to liquidate all assets and lease out its main studio. Thomas Moses and Fred Megan made plans to purchase the company name and rent the space, but were only successful in securing the name of the firm. Although they opened the Sosman & Landis Co. in 1924, they never recaptured the previous momentum or staff. No more were their legions of arts employed by the firm. Instead, second iteration of the firm relied upon a handful of short-term independent contractors, renting studio spaces, and completing many projects on site. Such was the case in 1928, when Sosman & Landis worked in Edinburg, Texas.
Robert McBride’s participation in the project would have remained unknown, if it weren’t for a mysterious shooting on March 5, 1928. On March 5, 1928, “The Brownsville Herald” reported, “Mysterious Shooting. EDINBURG, March 5.- Police here Monday continued an investigation begun Sunday night into reports of a mysterious shot fired near the junior college auditorium Sunday night. Robert M. McBride and F. R. Megan, workmen, narrowly escaped being hit by the hail of shot.”
The Edinburg Junior College auditorium was built in 1926 to serve the newly founded Edinburg Junior College. This building is still standing, and a Texas historical marker now graces the south-side entrance of the Auditorium. It was designated a Texas Historic Landmark in 1989. Giesecke & Harris designed the Gothic revival-style building. The architectural firm was from Austin, Texas. The theater is now known as the Edinburg Municipal Auditorium. Here is a link for more information about the space and its availability for performances and special events:
https://www.edinburgarts.com/ema
The auditorium in Edinburg was just one of many projects completed in southern Texas by Sosman & Landis in 1928. That year they also worked in nearby Harlingen, Texas. On Feb 22, 1928, the “Brownsville Herald” reported, “To Get Scenery. HARLINGEN, Feb. 22. – Installation of theatrical scenery in the high school auditorium here is to begin within the near future, according to F. R. Megan, representative of the Sosman & Landis Scenic company of Chicago, who has been awarded the contract for the work” (page 16).
While in the area, the firm also worked on an upcoming Valley display for the national democratic convention scheduled for Houston, Texas. On Feb 25, 1928, the “Brownsville Herald” reported, “Among the exhibits already arranged for a Valley booth at the convention will be three large oil paintings, gifts of the Sosman & Landis Scenic company, of Chicago.” These were likely oil paintings painting by Moses for the exhibit. Moses was known for gifting his easel art to theatre clients upon the completion of many projects.
There are a few obstacles in trying to track down McBride. In the newspaper article, he was just listed as a “workman,” the same as Megan. They could have been working on the same project, or independently, representing separate interests. I cast my research net wide as I began to look for THE Robert McBride. Sometimes using a middle initial (Robert M. McBride) backfires on you, as it unintentionally limits you search. I did ever online research trick that I knew of, sifting through hundreds of historic records.
I tracked entire family histories with individuals named Robert McBride, initially looking in Edinburg and throughout the region. I expanded my search to other areas of the country with Sosman & Landis projects – Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois. In the end, I located dozens of men named Robert McBride – theatrical managers, color mixers for wallpaper companies, contractors, traveling salesmen for machine shops, publishers, and brick masons. All were plausible candidates, but there remained no certainty that any on particular individual was the correct one.
It becomes almost impossible to identify an individual when I have no idea of his actual profession, affiliation with Sosman & Landis or his permanent residence. So far, I have been very lucky. I watched my dedication transition into a slight fixation, and then full-blown obsession. It is difficult to recognize when your quest or it becomes an obstacle all other research. I had to stop looking.
This is the first time in writing about a Sosman & Landis employee that I am going to give up the chase. There are too many variables, and I cannot even say for certain that he was an employee. McBride may have simply been working on a common project with Sosman & Landis.
To be continued…
