Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar: A Special Set of Rigging for the Oakland Scottish Rite, 1927

Copyright © 2026 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

This post was prompted by an article describing  “a special set of rigging” that was designed for the Oakland Scottish Rite by Sosman & Landis representative Fred R. Megan.

On Dec. 12, 1927, the Oakland Tribune reported:

“The rigging was designed and planned by Fred R. Megan, also of the Sosman & Landis company. Special concentration was given the arrangement and construction of the rigging as the commodious stage of the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple allows eighty-five drops to be raised out of sight. This allows plenty of space for high sets. This is the first Scottish Rite Temple to have wall slots, in which counterweight arbors travel without interfering with the operators. In the old system the operator’s hands were in constant danger of being injured by the counterweight frames. Steel sheaves, with ball bearings, the best tiller rope cable, Cuban bolt hauling lines, irons arbors with counterweights constitute the rigging equipment. Iron pipe battens are used in place of the old style wooden battens. The materials for this rigging was furnished by Oakland foundries. Patterns were shipped from the east while additional ones were made here. Megan was aided in this work by L. A. Abrott, of the Western Scenic studios.”  Abrott and the Western Scenic Studios was the topic of yesterday’s post.

Today, I will illustrate information presented in the article and provide a technical context based on past Sosman & Landis rigging systems. All photographs are from Sosman & Landis scenery and rigging systems that I have documented in the past few decades.

My last several posts explored two Scottish Rite theaters in California that I visited last year – the Oakland Scottish Rite and the Long Beach Scottish Rite. Both collections date from the mid-1920s and house scenery delivered by three distinct studios (Sosman & Landis, J. D. Martin, and Western Scenic Studio). The scenery collections feature the work of four scenic artists (Thomas G. Moses, his assistant Lenn C. Harris, his assistant Earl Sudderth, and Paul Raiguel). Here are direct links to the nine posts written between December 10, 2025 and January 8, 2026:

Scottish Rite Theatre in California

Scenic Artist Thomas G. Moses and the Oakland Scottish Rite

Thomas G. Moses and His Scenic Designs for the Oakland Scottish Rite

Scenic Artist Lenn C. Harris and the Oakland Scottish Rite

Scenic Artist Robert Earl Sudderth and the Oakland Scottish Rite

Larry Abrott, the Western Scenic Studio, and the Oakland Scottish Rite Theatre

J. D. Martin and the Long Beach Scottish Rite

Scenic Artist Phil S. Raiguel and the Long Beach Scottish Rite Theatre

Sosman & Landis

This final post examines the rigging system at the Oakland Scottish Rite; a system design by Sosman & Landis and installed by Western Scenic Studio in 1927. At the time, Thomas G. Moses was president of the firm with Fred R. Megan acting as the Secretary/Treasurer. They had known each other for decades when they decided to open the second iteration of Sosman & Landis in 1923.

In 1927, Moses’ professional identity had been linked to the studio for almost five decades. He was Sosman & Landis’ first scenic art hire in 1880, becoming president after the passing of Sosman in 1915. However, Moses struggled with the firm’s board of directors and fellow officer, David Hunt, who also operated New York Studios, their Eastern Affiliate.

In 1923, Moses and Megan entered into a partnership known as Megan & Moses. They established the studio while waiting to purchase the Sosman & Landis name. The first iteration of Sosman & Landis, the one that began when Joe Sosman and Perry Landis, ended in 1923. That year, four firms fought for the name, client list, studio space, and supplies as the firm was liquidated. They were New York Studios, Chicago Studios, William Lemle, and Moses & Megan.

Early in 2022, I wrote and extensive biography on Fred R. Megan (1873-1946). At the time, I wrote, “From a practical standpoint, Moses handled production, while Megan handled marketing and sales.” I based this statement on research conducted between 2020 and 2022, following Megan’s career with the Kansas City Scenic as a salesman. My deep dive started in 2020 as Megan contracted the 1902 Tabor Opera House scenery contract in Leadville, Colorado. Portions of the project were subcontracted to Sosman & Landis. Sosman & Landis shipping tags are still tacked to some of the flat frames at the Tabor Opera House.

In 2022, I stumbled across an article describing the new Varsity Theatre in Evanston, Illinois. Sosman & Landis delivered the scenery and stage machinery; Megan had secured the contract. On Dec. 24, 1926, Wilmette Life published an article entitled “Noted Scenic Artist Create Variety Setting.” A paragraph at the end of the article included Megan’s experience: “Fred R. Megan, secretary and treasurer of the Sosman & Landis Co., spent 30 years as director of art with the Kansas City Scenic Co. He severed this connection at the outbreak of the war and had charge of the building and equipment of the Liberty theaters in all cantonments, in this country.” Art director, not salesman. This means that Megan was art director for the Kansas City Scenic Co. during the same time that Moses was art director for Sosman & Landis. Their responsibilities went far beyond aesthetic unification. In 1904, Moses was given complete control over the design, construction, painting and installation at Sosman & Landis. This does not mean that he micromanaged every aspect of production, but he was intimately familiar with mechanical demands when manufacturing scenery, stage machinery, and lighting systems.

I am going to do a brief recap on Megan and his technical theatre background. As a young man, Megan had worked with his father in Leonardville, Kansas. They owned and operated a local newspaper. At 21 yrs. old, F. R. Megan was listed as editor of The Monitor. Two years later, Megan set out on his own, relocating to Kansas City where he began working as a traveling salesman in 1896. During this time, he began working at a Kansas City Theatre. By 1901, he was representing the Kansas City Scenic Co. Salesman for scenic studios intimately understood what they sold and ordered, and it wasn’t just painted scenes. They measured, planned, and recommended various theatre supplies for their clients. In 1902, newspapers credited Megan with superintending the installation of Kansas City stage equipment and scenery. As a salesman that years, Megan also traveled with an electrified working model theater to show clients how scenery was positioned and lit once installed.

When Moses and Megan partnered in 1923, they each brought a substantial amount of industry knowledge and experience to the table. By 1927, Megan had been selling stage machinery, scenery and lighting systems for over three decades. He knew what worked, and what didn’t work. He recognized areas that needed improvement – such as an amateur flyman’s hands being in constant danger of damage from incoming box arbors.

This brings us to the newspaper article that details Megans contribution to the Oakland Scottish Rite Theatre. Here is the 1927 excerpt from the Oakland Tribune again:

“A special set of rigging was installed for the operating of the stage scenery. The rigging was designed and planned by Fred R. Megan, also of the Sosman & Landis company. Special concentration was given the arrangement and construction of the rigging as the commodious stage of the Oakland Scottish Rite Temple allows eighty-five drops to be raised out of sight. This allows plenty of space for high sets. This is the first Scottish Rite Temple to have wall slots, in which counterweight arbors travel without interfering with the operators. In the old system the operator’s hands were in constant danger of being injured by the counterweight frames. Steel sheaves, with ball bearings, the best tiller rope cable, Cuban bolt hauling lines, irons arbors with counterweights constitute the rigging equipment. Iron pipe battens are used in place of the old style wooden battens. The materials for this rigging was furnished by Oakland foundries. Patterns were shipped from the east while additional ones were made here. Megan was aided in this work by L. A. Abrott, of the Western Scenic studios.” 

Newspaper articles are seldom 100% accurate. However, this clearly gives credit to Megan. He may, or may not, have engineered the rigging system. He may have encountered the system before and tweaked a few things. Regardless, he understood the value in separating the arbors from the operating lines, acknowledging “In the old system the operator’s hands were in constant danger of being injured by the counterweight frames.” Operating lines in Scottish Rite theaters were only a few inches apart, most being 2” to 4” apart, on center. Looking up at the close proximately of bottom battens delivered by Sosman & Landis to Scottish Rite theaters, one can see how much scenery a studio could sell to amateur thespians with significant funds. Here are a few examples of Sosman & Landis installations.

Developing Brown’s Special System

Since the 1880s, Sosman & Landis supplied free plans for stages and lighting systems if the client purchased their scenery. In writing for an estimate, the client needed to provide the length of room, width of room, height of ceiling, and locations of stairs (if any). If the stage were already built, the firm requested the width of curtain opening, height of curtain opening, width of stage from wall to wall, depth of stage back from curtain line, height of ceiling above stage floor and location of dressing rooms.

There was in shift in the manufacture and installation of Sosman & Landis stage machinery by the 1890s when the firm began to market their own theatrical supplies and lighting systems.

In regard to rigging systems, the firm transitioned from a hemp system with counterweight bricks to the use of wood box arbors in theaters with fly lofts. Their custom counterweight system was marketed as “Brown’s Special System.” An early example of Sosman & Landis stage machinery manufactured before Brown’s Special System remains at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Yankton, South Dakota.  The stage machinery and scenery were purchased used, originally delivered to the Wichita Scottish Rite Theatre in 1898.

By 1901, Sosman & Landis were manufacturing wood box frames for counterweights. Early Sosman & Landis box arbors are still in use at many Scottish Rite theaters across the country.  The early-version of the Sosman & Landis box arbor uses a single spindle to secure the weights. No rope locks were used, as each was perfectly-balanced and dedicated line set.

Again, this type of counterweight rigging system was referred to by the manufacturer as “Brown’s Special System.” In the early twentieth century, it was also marketed by Bestor G. Brown, a western representative for the fraternal supply company, M. C. Lilley Co. Brown’s Special System was designed for amateur stage hands who had never worked in a professional venue; individuals unfamiliar with hemp system or the handling of fly scenery. It also allowed a venue to purchase twice the amount of scenery as the spacing between lines could be reduced to a little as 2 inches.

By the 1920s, Sosman & Landis began to replace the wood frame of box arbors with steel. Double rods also replaced the single spindle. Such is the case at the Oakland Scottish Rite.

The Oakland Scottish Rite and Joplin Scottish Rite Fly Rail

The layout of the Oakland Scottish Rite rigging system is very similar to what The Fabric Studios of Chicago installed at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Joplin, Missouri, during 1923.

That being said, the Joplin Scottish Rite is much smaller than the Oakland Scottish Rite. The major difference in the arbor construction is that in Joplin the top is made from wood, whereas the top of the arbor is metal in Oakland.

I have written about The Fabric Studio of Chicago in the past, tracing the history of this firm briefly located at State Street. There were three main individuals running The Fabric Studio, artistic director P T. Blackburn, stage carpenter and master mechanic J. A. Bannon, and salesman W. S. Mayer. The same year that The Fabric Studio of Chicago manufactured stage machinery and scenery for the Joplin Scottish Rite stage, Thomas G. Moses and Fred Megan rented space in the Fabric Studio’s space 117 N. State, 4^th floor, Chicago. The Fabric Studio of Chicago was very short-lived, lasting only a few years before the founders all went their separate ways. Blackburn eventually settled in Hollywood, ending up as a head artist at Paramount by 1949.

Interestingly there was another The Fabric Studios at 4030 Whiteside Ave., Los Angeles, established by Henry Clay Hollinger (1882-1963). In 1921, Hollinger was the fifth president of the International Alliance of Stage Employees (The Solano-Napa News Chronicle 14 Mar 1921, p. 2). I could do a whole post on his life and career but today is not the day to go down another rabbit hole.

In 1926, the LA-based Fabric Studio advertised, “We made and installed the H. C. Hollinger Counterweight System as stage equipment in the new house” – Ed Yost’s new Yost Broadway Theatre in Santa Ana (Santa Ana Register 29 May 1926 p 19). Hollinger’s name became synonymous with The Fabric Studio. In 1926 H. C. Hollinger listed 1312 West Thirty-ninth St, Los Angeles, with his firm advertising “Theatre Riggers, Stage Furnishings and Scenery” (Los Angeles Evening Post-Record 20 Jan 1926 p.5). By 1932, H. C. Hollinger The Fabric Studio at 4030 Whiteside Ave., LA. outfitted the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, advertising as suppliers of “Complete Stage and Talking Picture Equipment” (The Long Beach Sun 5 Mar 1932, p 48).

The Oakland Scottish Rite stage exemplifies a shift in the industry pertaining to the manufacture, installation, and handling of painted scenery. Sosman & Landis delivered scenery to 6000 theaters by 1902, allowing us to able examine standard procedures employed by the leading theatrical manufacturer in America from 1880-1920. To date, I have documented thousands of Sosman & Landis drops examining how they were constructed, painted, installed, and handled. Between 1880 and 1930 there was a definite change in not only drop construction, but the operating systems that raised and lowered scenery in theaters with fly lofts.  

THE DISCONTINUATION OF SANDWICH BATTENS

From a drop construction standpoint, the use of sandwich battens declined by the late-1920s. Studios began to adopt the use of pipe, or metal rod, in pockets at the bottom of painted scenes. Similarly, sandwich battens at the top of drops were replaced with webbing, grommets and tie line.

Throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, white-pine sandwich battens were attached to the top and bottom of each drop. A sandwich batten is two pieces of wood that “sandwich” the painted scene at the top and the bottom. The lightweight nature and strength of white pine was ideal; it perfectly stretched the scene without tearing the fabric, keeping the fabric taut. Unless battens warped or operating lines sagged, many extant drops with sandwich battens remain in remarkable condition when appropriately lit.  The only variation in sandwich battens was shape.

Once perfectly round, the shape transitioned from oval in the 1890s to angled by the 1920s. Initially the shape facilitated rolling and transportation. However, sandwich battens took on more of an angular shape when permanently installed as stock scenery collection. The curved/angles shape facilitated the drops in close proximity to easily bypass one another during a scene change. Bottom battens that were shaped would not catch on a neighboring one.

How the top of a drop was connected to the operating system also changed over time. Initially, wire rope cables or hemp/manilla were fed through ½-inch holes drilled through the top batten.

Simple knots gave way to log staples that secured the cables to the wood forming pick points (cable loops) for operating lines. Dog clips at the end of cables were quickly clipped to the cable loops on the top batten. Cable loops were eventually replaced with steel brackets that clamped to the top battens, forming a more secure connection.

As pipe pockets began to replace bottom battens, the longevity of drops diminished. In many cases the pipe, often ¾” – 1” in diameter, weighed much more than the sandwich batten. This caused seams to fail and the fabric at the bottom of a pipe pocket to deteriorate.

Similarly, the top sandwich batten was replaced with top webbing (jute), grommets and ties lines that secured the top of each drop to pipes. Grommets were not new to scenic studios but used for purposes other than painted scenes. Nineteenth century scenic studios has been using and selling brass grommets and pins for stage carpets and floor cloths, not fly scenery. The Oakland Scottish Rite exemplifies the shift from sandwich battens to pipe pockets, as well as webbing, grommets and tie lines.

The benefit of the new system was when drops needed to quickly ship or shift position. However, in Scottish Rite theaters the scenery seldom moved; there were dedicated line sets. It was specifically designed to be used in a certain order for plays that remain the same. I will also remind readers that stage scenery produced by Sosman  & Landis was guaranteed for only twelve years throughout the duration of the firm.

The Oakland Scottish Rite scenery is almost a century old. The fabric supporting pipe pockets does not age well, and it has to do with how the lines are handled. When a wooden batten hits the deck, the fabric is not compromised as the wood takes the brunt of the blow. When the bottom of a fabric pipe pocket lands, the fabric begins to deteriorate. If there are pipe connections, they start wearing on the fabric, creating a weak spot. Similarly, if the pipe shifts, the off stage edges of the pipe pocket can also become compromised. Pipe pockets always fail. It may take decades, but the fabric will wear out from constant contact with the floor.

Now this problem could be solved by slowly lowering the drops, but that is often not the case with inexperienced stagehands – such as those running Masonic performances. Time, and a lack of communication, will unravel much information backstage. In the beginning, Masonic stage hands were instructed in the proper handling of scenery by a studio representative. Buildings were new and stage machinery unfamiliar. However, over the decades the information was passed from one stage crew to another and distorted, like the child’s game of Telephone.

To be continued…