Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett, PhD, is an author, artist, and historian, specializing in painted settings for opera houses, vaudeville theaters, social halls, cinemas, and other entertainment venues. For over thirty years, her passion has remained the preservation of theatrical heritage, restoration of historic backdrops, and the training of scenic artists in lost painting techniques. In addition to evaluating, restoring, and replicating historic scenes, Waszut-Barrett also writes about forgotten scenic art techniques and theatre manufacturers. Recent publications include the The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018), as well as articles for Theatre Historical Society of America’s Marquee, InitiativeTheatre Museum Berlin’s Die Vierte Wand, and various Masonic publications such as Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom and Plumbline. Dr. Waszut-Barrett is the founder and president of Historic Stage Services, LLC, a company specializing in historic stages and how to make them work for today’s needs. Although her primary focus remains on the past, she continues to work as a contemporary scene designer for theatre and opera.
In a world of limited travel and social distancing, I find myself revisiting favorite locations with my brush; painting is a means of escape for me. My previous series “Quarantine Travels” helped me weather the first wave of COVID 19 from April 28-June 19, 2020.
Here is a new series about Colorado that will hopefully do the same as numbers continue to increase across the country. I will post each completed painting in the series to this page.
This series of thirty-five paintings was completed on February 21, 2021.
Here is a link to my previous series “Quarantine Travels” –
Here is a link to my current series “Mountains of Rock” –
On June 14, 1919, the “Brooklyn
Citizen” reported that six well-known scenic artists were engaged at the
Metropolitan Opera for the coming season – Boris Anisfelt, Joseph Urban, Norman
Bell-Geddes, James Fox, Willy Pogany and Pieretto Bianco (page 10).
Two weeks earlier, Norman
Bell-Geddes was quoted as saying, “The painted scenery is the material, the
lighting is the spirit” (New York Tribune, June 1, 1919, page 37). It was now light
that gave spirit to the scene, no longer the skill of the scenic artist. This
is one of the moments highlighted in many theatre history books, a professed pinnacle
moment in American theatre. It signals a departure from the past and the continued
evolution of theatre based on a chronological depiction of historical events. What
it replaced is often dismissed; there may be only a paragraph or two written
about the prior century of American popular entertainment. The painted illusion
produced by generations of scenic artists is abandoned for the new stage art.
This is a significant moment, especially if we contemplate what was lost.
By 1919, Thomas G. Moses
(1856-1934) was sixty-two years old. He had been a scenic artist for over 45
years and founded three scenic studios.
In addition to working as his own boss, Moses had also worked for
Chicago Studios, New York Studios, and at Sosman & Landis. At Sosman &
Landis, he had transitioned from vice-president to president by 1915, first
starting with the company in 1880.
Now imagine, you are an extremely skilled and a well-known artist picking up a newspaper. You are reading about the up-and-coming generation of scenic artists. By this point you have trained at least three new generations of artists, possibly four. Many of your one-time paint boys are leading designers in the field. The article that you are reading signals the ending of your era and the demand for a new art form with a new set of scenic skills. You are now lumped in with the “past,” and this past needs to be completely destroyed for the new generation and new art to proceed. The older generation of scenic artists, like Moses, were part of the “establishment,” moreover part of the “problem.” Unlike the generation before you, whose passing was lamented and the skills of the artists fondly recalled, everything that you worked for is now a target. The American theatre industry splintered into factions, with one segment denouncing the significance of another. We no longer lifted each other up, supplementing established skill sets with new technology. Instead, we promoted new art forms by destroying the past, as well as anything perceived as accepted or traditional. This attitude helped usher out the romantic realism on the stage and use of painted illusion, severing connections to the past. It is a fascinating time and one where the new artists explain, ‘If managers would only realize that it is not necessary to spend such large sums on scenery.” This statement took shot at the scenic studios, such as Sosman & Landis. This statement threatened the living wages earned by those who spent decades perfecting their skills.
On June 1, 1919, an
article in the “New York Tribune” describes the “new art” in glowing terms and
as breaking through the “barbed wire of inertia and stupidity, which always
blocks the way of any innovator.” The article continued to explain that young
scenic artists are leaping the “trenches of opposition and safely passing
through the barrage of ridicule” (page 37). They are labeled the “soldiers of
the new art,” and all were “native born Americans.”
The article headline
stated, “Mr. Bell-Geddes and Others. The Young American Scene Painter Arrives –
Present Activity of the Younger Generation Made Possible by Work of Urban and
Anisfeld.” The article provides great
historical context for Moses’ career in the 1920s, as he continues to encounter
ever-increasing obstacles and the demand for painted scenery diminishes.
Here is the article in its
entirety:
“Our singers and actors
may not equal those of our past, our composers and dramatists may lack
inspiration and vitality, but at least we have our scene painters. In the
establishment of a national school of opera or drama this may be beginning hind
end foremost, but some beginning is better than none at all. The Metropolitan
Opera House, so long the abode of extreme conservatism, has of late years even
been taking the lead in the encouragement of what is new in the art of the
scenic artist. It has given us Urban, and Paquerau, and Pogany, and Boris
Anisfeld, and though we still have the glittering gullibilities of Mario Sala,
of Milan, Metropolitan audiences no longer believe that this painter’s ‘Aida’
is a masterpiece of scenic investiture. Whatever may have happened to our ears,
our eyes have been opened.
It undoubtedly is Josef
Urban to whom we owe managerial recognition of the new art. He broke through
the barbed wire of inertia and studpidity which always blocks the way of the
innovator, leaped the trenches of opposition, and passed safely through the
barrage of ridicule. Behind him came the others, younger men all, who dug in
and held their positions, where at last reports they were considering the offer
of an armistice. And happy we may be to realize that the youngest of these
soldiers of the new art are native born Americans. Robert Edmond Jones, Rollo
Peters and Norman Bell-Geddes, Granville parker, Arthur Hopkins and the Russian
Ballet have acquainted us with Mr. Jones’s work. Mr. Peters has painted sets
for Mrs. Fiske, for Henry Miller, and now for the Theatre Guild; Mr.
Bell-Geddes last season made fifteen Broadway theatre productions and one for
the Metropolitan. It is indeed these young artists who offer what is most vital
and significant in the American theatre to-day. Before them our actors and our
playwrights and our composers ought to hang their heads; they have technique,
but they also have courage and ideals. In short, they are real. When our
Broadway playwright begins to talk of the drama our yawns are uncontrollable;
when our actors, though here we will make a few blessed exceptions, speak of
acting, we remember we have an engagement at the dentist’s; but when our young
scene painters discuss scene painting we sit down and listen.
The career of Mr.
Bell-Geddes is of interest in this connection. It shows how these young men
originally were enthusiastic amateurs, whose interest gradually deepened until
they virtually were forced into the theatre. Mr. Geddes, whose painting of the
scenery of ‘Legend’ at the Metropolitan at once brought him into prominence,
was born in Detroit, and attended for a very short while art schools in
Cleveland and Chicago. He then took up the portrait painting and magazine
illustrating, in which work he was exceedingly successful. At that time,
however, he also wrote a play, but, finding it of a type unsuited to the
average theatre stage, her determined to make a study of the theatre. In
furtherance of this plan, he obtained access to the stage of one of the Detroit
theatre, where he studied all that went on, and where he studied all that went
on, and where he helped the stage hands and electricians. He also constructed
in his studio a stage of his own, on which he made experiments in all sorts of
appliances, especially in the matter of lighting. After leaving Detroit he
lived for two years in Los Angeles, where he designed the scenery for a stock
company and further improved his knowledge of practical stage conditions. His
first work in the East was in designing the last act set of ‘Shanewis’ at the
Metropolitan Opera House, after which the Broadway managers seized upon him. It
is only in his set of ‘The Legend’,’ however, that New York has as yet allowed
him even to moderately full sway, but in the coming production at the
Metropolitan of Henry Hadley’s new opera, ‘Cleopatra’s Night,’ he hopes to show
Metropolitan audiences what he is capable of accomplishing. Meanwhile he has
finished designs for settings of ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’ and of ‘King Lear,’ and
is about to set to work on another play. It is these settings and those which
he made for a stock company in Milwaukee last summer, of which he and Robert
Edmond Jones were directors, which he hopes will be considered his, rather than
the work he has done for Broadway managers.
‘We young chaps ought to
be tremendously grateful to such men as Josef Urban and Boris Anisfeld,’ said
Mr. Geddes recently. ‘These men with world-wide reputations have opened the
door through which we youngsters, who are in the developing stage, can pass.
Without them, our enthusiasm and whatever merit we may express probably would
have been powerless to break down the innate conservativism of the average
American manager. But those men have opened the eyes both of the public and of
the managers, and so we now are able to get an opportunity of being seen. Of
course, we often have to compromise, and of course the average Broadway show
gives little scope for imagination, but, at least, we get in our hand.’
Mr. Geddes believes that
lighting counts for more than painting in the modern history.
‘The painted scenery is
the material, the lighting is the spirit,’ is the way he puts it. ‘There is no
need of modern scenery being so horribly expensive. With proper lighting it is
possible to do almost anything, the only trouble being that the lights are no
only arranged scientifically in most of our theatres. With a triad of any color
or combination of colors can be obtained and extraordinary effects in
intensifying the mood can be produced be merely intensifying the lights.
‘The science of color is
definite, yet the average stage manager knows nothing of it, save in the barest
outline in Europe Adolph Appia has perhaps gone further in this respect that
any other manager, though Reinhardt has absorbed and applied the ideas of
others. Gordon Craig was of use as a path breaker, but he writes and talks
rather than carries out his ideas. In America Belasco makes the height of the
old idea, and because of his thoroughness and care he deserves high credit.
Arthur Hopkins has been extraordinarily open to the new art and other managers,
and, of course, Signor Gatti-Casazza, are showing increasing interest in it
all.
‘If managers would only
realize that it is not necessary to spend such large sums on scenery., the new
ideas would travel more quickly even then at present. Let me give an instance;
Edward Sheldon’s ‘Garden of Paradise,’ was only given several years ago at the
Century Theatre with scenery costing $54,000. The play was a failure. Last
summer we gave it is Milwaukee with the cheapest sort of scenery and yet, by
the use of proper lighting the settings were of a beauty, which, I believe, was
equal to the Urban sets at the Century. Moreover, our production was the
greatest success of what lighting can do. The scene in the foyer with the
Trilby singing in the theatre was accomplished by the simplest means, yet we
produced the atmosphere and by a gradual intensifying f the lights brought the
mood to such a vibrancy that the audience went wild.
‘I firmly believe that the
proscenium arch destroys much of the illusion of reality and have patented
plans for a theatre in which the present stage is replaced by a dome within
which sets may be placed and lowered into the basement, where they are run off
on a truck and another set immediately raised into its place. There is no
curtain, the scenes being totally obliterated by the use of lights. Moreover,
in this theatre I have produced three auditoriums, the largest of which seats
three hundred people more than the Century Theatre without the use of a
gallery, while the seat furthest in the van is the same distance from the stage
as the last row if the Metropolitan Opera House. In this theatre each row of
seats is an aisle, the auditorium entering and leaving parallel to the stage.
Indeed, the theatre has illimitable possibilities of improvement. Managers are
naturally conservative, but once they see the practicability of new ideas they
will adopt them. It simply takes time to make them see it.’
This tonic note of
restrained optimism is what the American theatre, be it dramatic or operatic,
sorely needs. Our young scenic artists are furnishing it. If only our
playwrights and our actors – well, our own Mr. Brown has referred to our ‘Ostermoor
school of drama.’ In opera we have had the ‘Pipe of Desire,’ ‘The Canternury
Pilgrims,’ ‘The Legend,’ and ‘The Temple Dancer,’ if only our composers – well,
as least we have our singers.”
I came across an interesting article about scenic artist Charles Squires while researching the life and times of Thomas G. Moses (1856-1934) in 1919. On April 20, 1919, the “Dayton Daily News” published an article about Squires entitled, “Gang Battle Brought Artist to His Career” (Dayton, Ohio, page 36). This one is just delightful.
Here is the article in its
entirety:
“When Charles Squires,
scenic artist for the Brownell Stork players was hesitating over a decision as
to whether he would become a policeman or president when he should grow up, the
desire to paint struck him, and the blow was a lasting one.
The ‘gang’ that made
headquarters on one of Burlington’s numerous hills and numbered young Squires
among its members, fought its way downtown one day and took up a position to
the rear of the town’s ‘opry house,’ from which strategic point, epithets and
stones were hurled at the opposing forces with such excellent marksmanship,
both physical and vocal, that the invaders were left in possession of the alley
and in close proximately to the mysterious door beyond which loomed in
semi-darkness the summer crop of scenery and dusty properties that serves to
emphasize the emptiness of a theater’s stage when the season is over.
On the day of the
invasion, however, there was activity within the building, as the more
adventurous members of the gang learned upon cautious investigation. Straggling
inside and edging along gradually until their bare feet were collecting
splinters from the very center of the stage, they stod [sic.] in awe before the
biggest picture frame they had ever seen and watched white-clad artists wield
bog brushes and daub gallons of paint over the canvases which the boys had
never seen before beheld at closer range than the distance between the gallery
and the stage.
In the mind of at least
one of the rapt audience that watched the artist at their annual task of
retouching the theater’s scenery there was born the desire to emulate their
achievements. Charles Squires resolved to be a scenic artist.
Ensued a period of
feverish activity within the gang. The biggest barn in the hill neighborhood
was chosen as a theater and studio. A monster production of “The Siamese Twins”
was planned with “That Squires Boy” as dramatic director, leading man and –
scenic artist.
As to the dramatic value
of “The Siamese Twins” Mr. Squires refuses to be quoted. Certain it is, though,
that it was a huge success, and it was responsible for the present fact that
Mr. Squires is one of the ablest scenic artists in America. As soon as parental
consent could be obtained he journeyed to Chicago and began the long
apprenticeship which is necessary if one would qualify as a real artist. Study
and application have helped him to forge ahead, and specimens of his work are
to be found in the theaters of New York, Chicago, Winnipeg, Minneapolis, New
Orleans, Washington, Denver, and half a dozen other cities scattered over the
continent.
This versatile genius and
master of the art of scene painting will become closely acquainted with a
number of young folks who will avail themselves of the opportunity offered by
the Brownwell-Stork Players to serve an apprenticeship upon the scene bridge.
Under the excellent instructions of Mr. Squires it is expected that the various
classes will make rapid progress, so that their own creations on that canvas
may form part of the settings of the various plays to be offered.
While these instructions
will be absolutely free of charge, no application will be considered unless
recommended by a member of the hostess committee.”
There are thousands of productions with scenery delivered
by Sosman & Landis that were not recorded by Thomas G. Moses in his memoirs.
In 1919, new scenery for the “Let’s Go Peggy” was designed and delivered by
Sosman & Landis and Kansas City Scenic Co. The two firms had partnered
together on many projects, including the scenery for the Elks’ Opera House in
Leadville, Colorado in 1901.
The “Topeka Daily Capital” reported, “a carload of
scenery is being built in Chicago for the production and will be received here
in time for the stage rehearsal scheduled for next Monday night” (20 Oct. 1919,
page 6).The setting for the first act was in Madrid and the setting for the
second act was in Palm Springs.
The “Topeka Daily Capital” reported, “’Let’s Go Peggy Will Be A Home Grown Production By James A. Darnaby” on October 13, 1919 (page 6). Here is the article in its entirety: “’Let’s Go Peggy’ arrived in Topeka yesterday with James A. Darnaby and his corp of assistants who will direct the production of the fall show for the Elks. Mr. Darnaby has written the show expressly for the Topeka Elks to include several features not unusually written into a play of this character. In it are incorporated part of the original draft of ‘Janitor James’ and ‘Who Do You Love.’ He will open the same show with a professional company in Chicago January 1.
’Let’s Go Peggy’ starts in Spain where Major Hamilton,
member of a socially prominent family is about to leave for America. A stunning
and very rich widow desire to marry him. His son, however objects to the match,
likewise, her daughter. To overcome their objections the elderly couple agree
with the youngsters that if the son and daughter don’t marry they must not
stand in the way of papa and mamma marrying.
The second act includes a minstrel oleo sketched in as the performance of a blackface glee club at a charity ball in Spain and the cast requires about thirty blackface comedians. Mrs. Anne Saunders Darnaby has written all of the music.
Madame Chenault will arrive Tuesday to direct the ballets
and Miss Helen Runyan, musical director, will direct the choruses.
The first rehearsal will be held Tuesday and Mr. Darnaby
will confer with the entertainment committee of the Elks’ club this morning
with regard to a selection of the cast. The performance will be given at the
Grand, October 28, 29 and 30.
Miss Runyan is staying with her aunt, Mrs. James Cannon,
who is in Topeka with her husband, James Cannon, who is superintending the
contract for building the East Sixth Street concrete road.
Everything which goes with the show will be new. The
Kansas City Scene Co. is building a complete set of scenery for the entire show
and Lester o Chicago, is making new costumes for the parts.”
Later advertisement would note that scenery for the show
was provided by “Sosman & Landis, Chicago, and Kansas City Scenic Co.,
Kansas City” (Washburn Review, 22 Oct. 1919, page 3).
On October 25, 1919, the “Topeka State Journal” reported,
“Delegations of Elks from all over the state will see the opening performance
of ‘Let’s Go Peggy’” (page 6).
“Lets Go Peggy” continued to be a success at Elks’ venues
over the years. The show went on tour to other Elks theaters over the years. On
March 24, 1922, the “Ottawa Herald” reported the show was “declared by many to
have been the best home talent production ever presented “in Ottawa, Kansas (page
4). J. A. Darnaby and Anne Saunders Darnaby were still traveling with the
production that involved thirty locals.
Chicago’s Empress Theater opened
in 1913. The venue was located in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. Six
years later the building was renovated and purchased new scenery. The Chicago
Studio of Sosman & Landis was contracted to supply the new sets. This is
not to be confused with Chicago Studios, the company that Thomas G. Moses
worked for in 1919 after leaving New York Studios.
In 1919, Moses wrote, “A
new contract was entered into between the Chicago Studios and myself for one
year. I hope it will prove to be a paying one in which I participate in the
profits and a raise in salary, which means my old salary of $100.00 and a
bonus.” Chicago Studios was a competitor of Sosman & Landis. It was also
the same name as midwestern branch of Sosman & Landis Scene painting Studios,
making the history a bit complicated. On Nov. 1, 1919, Chicago Studios placed a
want ad in the “Chicago Tribune”:
“MEN-YOUNG, BETWEEN THE AGES OF
16 and 21 to learn to paint theatrical scenery; must start in as paint boy and
work up; salary to start $15 per week; an excellent opportunity for one who
wishes to learn the trade. Apply Chicago Studios 15 W. 20th-st”
(page 25).
This is from the same time when
Moses was working at Chicago Studios; he needed to expand the staff.
Of the Sosman & Landis’
Chicago Studio, the “Herald and Review” credited the firm with the new Empress
Theater sets in 1919 (Decatur, Illinois, 10 Aug 1919, page 18). The article
reported, “Empress Theater Opens Next Week. Interior has been redecorated and
new stage lighting system installed. After being closed for a period of six
weeks for redecorating, the Empress will open for its fall and winter seasons
next Sunday afternoon. Extensive improvements have been made during the closed
period, the interior being entirely newly decorated, new seat covers for the
orchestra chairs and the scenery department supplied with new sets from the
Chicago studio of Sosman & Landis. A new lighting system has been
installed, exactly like the one being used on the stage of the Great State-Lake
theater, Chicago. Twelve sets of lights, each containing a 500-watt nitrogen lamp,
set in a specially constructed reflector, will throw 6,000 watts of light on
the performers, making it one of the brightest stages in this art of the country.”
Thomas G. Moses resigned
at Sosman & Landis on September 1, 1918 and began working for New York
Studios that fall. In 1919, he left the employ of David H. Hunt at New York
Studios and signed a new contract with the Chicago Studios. Even though Moses
was no longer affiliated with Sosman & Landis the company trudged on under
the management of Perry “Lester” Landis, son of the co-founder Perry Landis.
Much of the scenery credited to the studio in 1919, however, had been completed
under the direct supervision of Moses before his departure.
In 1919, Sosman & Landis studio was credited with the scenery for the DeKoven Opera Company’s production of “Robin Hood.” Ironically, the scenic art was still credited to the firm’s two founders Sosman and Landis. On May 19, 1919, the “Post Crescent” reported,
“APPLETON THEATRE. ‘Robin
Hood.’
Did you really ever see a
first class performance of the best COMIC OPERA any American Composer has
written? ROBIIN HOOD is worth seeing and hearing, for both is joy. The time you
remember as the 13th century and the locale is the Medieval City of
Nottingham in England where the ubiquitous ‘Sheriff’ is the ‘Pooh Bah’ of the
town. Here is where Ed Andres the veteran comedian shines. Later his activities
extend to Sherwood Forest, and his complicated drolleries seem never ending.
The scenic artists Sosman & Landis have achieved a remarkable piece of work
in both of these settings for the DeKoven Opera Company, the Central square of
Nottingham being a magnificent panorama of the middle ages and the forest scene
with its rustic beauties a vista of rare beauty. The choral effects, the clever
dances, the kaleidoscopic lighting, and the delightful ensembles which Mr.
DeKoven wove into his most successful opera form a cycle of entertainment which
those who witness at the Appleton Theatre next Monday May 17 will long remember”
(Appleton, Wisconsin, page 7).
In 1919, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“The last of August, Alex DeBeers and I started for Utica, Illinois, from where
we struck into the Starved Rock country for a few days of sketching. We found it very good. This trip is also included in my travelogues.”
Unfortunately, the whereabouts of Moses’ travelogues remain a mystery.
Of the Starved Rock vacation area,
the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “A little more than a two-hours’ ride from
Chicago via Rock Island Lines, in comfortable steel coaches and parlor cars,
you reach the Starved Rock country, the new Illinois State Park. The wonderful natural
beauties of Starved Rock and many others in the vicinity, the numerous great
depressions or fern filled canyons that lie between and the beautiful Illinois
River have made this region a famous outing spot for thousands of nature
lovers. A more delightful spot for a day’s outing so conveniently accessible
and inexpensive is not to be found. Fast trains daily from La Salle Station and
Englewood Union Station. Drop in at our Travel Bureau, Adams and Dearborn Sts.,
Chicago, for a copy of folder on Starved Rock” (27 May 1915, page 4). By 1924,
a photograph of campers in Starved Rock country was included in the Chicago
Sunday Tribune (10 Oct. 1924, page 33). The caption stated, “Ottawa, Illinois,
gateway to the Starved Rock country, has provided one of the loveliest tourist havens
of the middle west in Allen park, the city’s free camp. Holidays this year have
packed the camp to its limit and throughout the season motorists from every
part of the country have enjoyed its hospitality.”
In regard to Moses’ traveling
companion Alex DeBeers, little is known. In fact, DeBeers was a new name for me
in the scenic art world.
Part of the problem with my
search for DeBeers is his last name; newspapers are filled with articles about
the DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Company. DeBeers also went by De Beers, so the
difficulty of the search increased tenfold. However, I was able to track down a
little information about this elusive artist. Here is what I discovered during
a pretty exhausting search.
In 1905 Alex DeBeers was painting
in Chicago at the Marlowe Theatre, located on S. Stewart Avenue and not far
from W. 63rd Street. The 1200-seat venue was also known as the
Marlowe Hippodrome. The “Suburbanite Economist” listed DeBeers as one of the
staff at the theater with an article reporting, “Very few in the audience know
it, and fewer appreciate the fact, that there are seventeen actors at the
Marlowe at every performance, whom the audience never see, and yet upon whose
ability, talent, skill and good management every presentation depends. I was
back behind with them this week, while one of their most credible works was
being presented, and the success of it was appreciated by every man of them
from the artist to the scene shifters, as much as Willis Hall or Maude Leone
smiled their due appreciation of the hearty applause that greeted them. Alex De
Beers, the artist, is one of the best in his line and his work speaks for
itself” (Nov. 3, 1905).
Other than Moses’ mention of
DeBeers in 1919, the next record I located of DeBeers is from the late 1920s. He
was still painting, and in 1928, Alex DeBeers was listed as a scenic artist in
the City Directory for Peoria, Illinois. At the time, he was residing at 514 N.
Madison Ave, but was not affiliated with any particular theater in Peoria.
By 1931, DeBeers was included in
an article about “The Masquerader” at English’s Opera House in Indianapolis,
Indiana. The article reported, “The several settings for ‘The Masquerader’ are
the work of Alex DeBeers. These are the first settings designed and painted
here by DeBeers, formerly with the Chicago Civic Opera Company. He is the
successor to Milo Denny.” Like many scenic artists during the Great Depression,
painters sought any type of employment beyond traditional theater; DeBeers started
working for the circus, primarily as a sign painter.
By 1935, DeBeers began painting
for the Russell Bros. Circus. In 1936, DeBeers was listed as the “Boss Painter”
for Russell Bros. Circus (The Billboard, May 2, 1936, page 41). Founded in 1928
by the husband and wife team Claude E. Webb and Pauline Russell Webb. The show
initially played fairs and carnivals in the Iowa, starting small with a pit
show that featured large snakes and other animals. An elephant was purchased,
and the circus gradually expanded to three rings. On April 9, 1938, Alex DeBeers
was mentioned as the “master painter,” back for his third season with the
circus. By 1937, the Russell Bros. Circus was touring as a 40-truck show with a
big top canvas. Interesting aside: It was the availability of trucks after WWI
that contributed to the rapid growth of truck shows for circuses, allowing
entire shows to be transported this way.
DeBeers stuck with this employer
for quite some time. On February 21, 1942, “The Billboard” reported, “Alex
DeBeers has the painting well ahead of schedule and is turning out some
beautiful jobs” (page 40). DeBeers was included in an article on the Russell
Bros. Circus. DeBeers was still with the circus in 1943. Alex DeBeers was
mentioned in the Feb. 27, 1943 issue of “Billboard” magazine (page 37). He was
listed as the artist for the Russell Bros. Circus under the direction of Jack
Joyce. The article reported, “Alex
DeBeers, artist, has a crew redecorating cages, wagons, ticket boxes and ring
curbs. New equipment is arriving at quarters to carry the new menagerie stock
recently acquired by Manager R. N. O’Hara.” That year, the circus played on the
West Coast. The Russell Circus then merged to become the Clyde Beatty-Russell
Bros. Circus. I think that this was when Russell left the circus, but his final
whereabouts remain unknown.
1944 is when the trail for
DeBeers ends. I have yet to locate any
death certificate, gravestone or obituary notice.
In 1919, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Found
the new studio in good shape and we will be able to get a lot of work, as it is
so far ahead of the Peltz and Carson Studio.” This was written in July. Since September Moses had been looking for a
new studio on behalf of New York Studios. On September 1, 1918, he resigned as
president at Sosman & Landis and began working for the firm, but he only
lasted a year. This is not surprising as New York Studios was run by former
Sosman & Landis employee David H. Hunt. Hunt established New York Studios
as an eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis in 1910. It wasn’t really a
regional branch; as Sosman & Landis had previously established regional
branches, such as Kansas City Scenic Co. run by Lem Graham.
New York Studios was different;
a separate entity that really seemed to take advantage of the Sosman &
Landis name, labor and resources, giving little in return. This always irked
Moses, so I have to wonder what caused Moses to quit and work for a man who he
really didn’t like at all. However, Hunt had lured Moses away from Sosman &
Landis before, but a long time before – 1894. This was when there was a lull in
business after the Columbian exposition; Sosman & Landis scenic artists
scrambled for any outside work after weekly wages were ridiculously reduced from
a drop in demand. Of his 1894 departure, Moses wrote, “Sosman and
Landis didn’t like my being with Hunt as they felt I was slipping away again,
which I did.”
From the fall of 1918 to the
summer of 1919 Moses spent much of his time looking for an acceptable studio,
finally renting the Peltz and Carsen space in Chicago on behalf of New York
Studios. Unfortunately, Moses only benefited from the new studio for little
over a month. By September 1919, Moses
wrote, “A new contract was entered into between the Chicago Studios and myself
for one year.” So, what happened?
That summer Moses wrote “Our
work kept up very good at the studio.” New York Studio projects include settings
for the Pittsburgh Shrine, Denver Shrine, Pittsburgh’s Albin Theatre Albin
Theatre. It all seemed to be going well until just after he went on a sketching
trip with Alex DeBeers.
It has taken me a while to
recognize something, a pattern in Moses’ career. Change for Moses always
occurred after spending an extended period of time with a close friend, a
fellow scenic artist, or his after painting a series of fine art piece. It
seems as though there was some type of conversation (whether inner dialogue or
chat with a colleague) that suggested work would be better elsewhere. Moses left
the employ of Sosman & Landis four times between 1880-1904. When he finally
returned in 1904, he lasted until 1918, but this was when he became vice-president
and then later president of the company. Right before each decision to leave
the company, Moses was working away from the main studio, possibly thinking
that there were greener pastures elsewhere, so I began to contemplate his
departures from Sosman & Landis in 1882, 1887, 1894, 1900 and 1918.
In 1882, Moses left Sosman &
Landis to partner with Lemuel L. Graham after spending a pleasant time with
Will Davis on a project in Richmond, Indiana. That year Moses wrote, “1882
found me just as restless to do something big, and I drifted along with the
regular work, until about May, when Graham’s season as the theatre closed. We got together and I quit the firm after
refusing a big salary – that is, for me.” He had been accepting outside work
and helping Graham with several projects before he tendered his resignation.
In 1887, Moses also left; this was after
he returned to his hometown to refurbish an old project. He had completed eight
years earlier. At the time, Moses wrote,
“My discontent with studio work got the upper hand and I quit on February 11th,
and joined Burridge, Moses and Louderback.”
In 1894, Moses struck out on his own for
two years. This occurred after a lull in work and spending time on his own art.
It was a constant stream of projects in the Sosman & Landis studio that
often prohibited Moses from doing any fine art; that was his true goal. In 1885
Moses wrote, “I was ambitious to do something besides [being] a scene painter,
to leave something besides a name, which is about all a scene painter leaves as
his scenic work is soon painted out.” I think it was really this desire that
prompted Moses to leave Sosman & Landis every time, hoping he would be able
to carve out a little time for his own painting. Any art that he produced for
Sosman & Landis was ephemeral and attributed to the studio, under names
that were not his.
Ironically, his work would become so
intertwined with Sosman & Landis, that he would eventually purchase the
name after the company liquidated in 1923. It has to have been hard, knowing
that his legacy would always be associated with a scenic firm that did not
include his own last name. Moses & Graham (1882-1883), Burridge Moses &
Louderback (1887-1888), Moses (1894-1896) and Moses & Hamilton (1901-1904)
were all very short lived, Sosman & Landis lasted for decades. The scenery
associated with his own firms disappeared long before Moses passed away. In
fact, much of what remains of Moses scenic art are installations delivered by Sosman
& Landis. Moses had no way of knowing that work painted for Masonic
theaters would far outlast his other commercial endeavors; forming historical
time capsules that are only now disappearing.
So, in 1919 Moses went on a
sketching trip with Alex DeBeers. He wrote, “The last of August, Alex DeBeers
and I started for Utica, Illinois, from where we struck into the Starved Rock
country for a few days of sketching. We
found it very good. This trip is also
included in my travelogues.” After his return to the new studio, Moses worked
on only one more protect then left New York Studios, writing, ““A new contract
was entered into between the Chicago Studios and myself for one year.” What was
discussed on that sketching trip?
I am taking stock today as it is my 51st birthday. Each year, I reflect upon my life, accomplishments and, most of all, past regrets. My biggest regret is not being a better advocate in the continued battle for civil rights.
My mother was the first person who made history come alive for me. She was just a few credits shy of getting her doctorate at the University of Minnesota when life and work interfered with further academic intentions. In the 1950s, she took every history class that the university offered and graduated top of her class. She taught history and social studies classes at local schools, even developing the Brooklyn Center curriculum. She also majored in math and is a phenomenal mathematician, but that is a separate story. I was fortunate to have someone, a personal tutor in a way, who provided deeper insight into historical events and made me want to learn more.
The schools that I attended (Forest Elementary, Hosterman Junior High, and Robbinsdale-Cooper High School) were fantastic; well-funded public schools in an inner ring suburb – District 281. However, there was not a lot of diversity. We may have been ten miles from downtown Minneapolis, but my classrooms were primarily filled white middle-class kids.
African American studies were a subset of American History. That is telling in itself, as it removes the history of slavery, placing it in a neat little envelope apart from the American history storyline of our great founding fathers. My classes covered the history and evils of slavery, but pretty much ended with the emancipation proclamation. Little else was said after that; a short note on Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement. However, the civil rights movement, Korea, and Vietnam were never really explored in full, it was more of an overview.
It was not until college that I realized the massive gaps in my history education. After completing a course on Native American Studies, I was astounded at how little I knew beyond a few basic historical mile markers. Unfortunately for me, I never took any African American studies classes in college while I completed a BA, MA and PhD. This meant that the sum of my understanding about African American history was high school classes.
I had never heard about Juneteenth until this year. Feeling quite stupid, I asked my husband if he had ever heard of Juneteenth. He attended a very diverse public-school system in Delaware and also holds a doctorate. Like me, Juneteenth was something new to him. And then I asked my mom if she had ever heard of Juneteenth. No, she had not.
To put this in context, my mother and I are both historians. We each have a track record of academic excellence that resulted in various awards, membership in Phi Beta Kappa, and careers that focused on some type of American history. On a daily basis we continue to read and research about historic events online. As two progressives, white, and highly educated women, we should be the ones aware of Juneteenth; yet we did not.
For me, this explains a lot about the racial divide in America. If you are white, chances are you have not been adequately taught about the history of the African American community, Native Americans, or any other minority. If you are white, it may be easy to dismiss racial tensions, as you are completely unaware of the current obstacles that any person of color continues to face today. Your knowledge of American history is likely lacking. Then there are regional differences too, whether you learned history in the northern or southern United States. Was it the War of Northern Aggression or the Civil War? Same outcome, but different perspectives of the war, slavery and the future.
I am going to add on one more layer of institutionalized racism. As I was looking for a potential college scholarships and meeting with counselors in high school, the seeds of racism were further sowed in the back of my mind. This was the same for my husband in Delaware. We were both told that because we were white, our options were limited. This is in 1987. Both of our counselors went on to point out that if we were a black male or black female, we would have many more scholarship options; we just were part of the wrong demographic. In my white, lower-middle-class home, I was taught to not judge individuals on their race or religion. Yet, my counselor’s statement immediately made me resent those who were of color, because they were offered better scholarships. I put myself through college, paid my bills, and eventually received a few scholarships from the theatre department at the University of Minnesota. I survived, and continued on to graduate school. Now imagine if I were raised in a racist home and could not afford college, never went to college; scholarships were not an option.
This may be one of the many reasons why so many white Americans consider themselves oppressed and believe that minority groups are stealing their opportunities. You’ve got to be carefully taught.
In 1919, Thomas G. Moses
bought a car for the family. It was a new Elgin Six.
A “Chicago Daily Herald” advertisement
announced, “New Elgin Six. Ready for you now. You don’t have to wait for
after-the-war model and price if you want to buy a car now. The New Elgin Six
is a full year and a half ahead of the times. And it is here now, ready for
your critical examination. While the Elgin factories were making war trucks,
the Designing, Engineering and Executive Staffs prepared for peace. They
designed, tested, refined and perfected an entirely new automobile – new in
design from radiator to taillight – a car that retains the notable sturdiness
and light weight which won for the Elgin Six perfect scores and highest honors
in many grueling endurance and economy contests. The New Elgin Six has 38
improvements and refinements, everyone a worth-while inducement to the
purchaser. These new cars have been given the most strenuous and exacting trials
over more than 20,000 miles of all kinds of roads. You will find no other car
at the price equal to the New Elgin Six in Beauty, Performance, Durability,
Comfort or Economy. We welcome the careful inspection of expert motorists. The
more you know about a car, the more the New Elgin Six will appeal to you. Ask
for our ‘Inside Information’ circular” (March 28, 1919, page 14).
The list price for a New
Elgin Six was “$1485, f.o.b. factory” (The Dispatch, Moline, Illinois, 11 Aug
1919, page 6). $1485.00 in 1919 is the equivalent of $22,008.39 in 2020.
Other advertisements promised
that it was a better car because, “It is more beautiful, rides easier, performs
better, stands up longer, has a quicker pick-up, and goes farther on a gallon
of gas.” Advertisers stated, “We welcome comparison of the New Elgin Six with
any other car on the market selling for less than $2000. The keener your
knowledge of automobiles, the more thoroughly you will be convinced that the
New Elgin Six stands pre-eminent in the light six field. There is only one way
to judge the true value of a motor car, and that is to see it and ride in it
yourself. A visit to our salesroom is the first step towards genuine motor car
satisfaction.”
At the end of 1919, Thomas G.
Moses wrote, “We have all enjoyed the car, and while it is rather an expensive,
we felt that we deserve the pleasure that we derive from it.” On July 5, the Moses family took a trip in
their car to Sterling, Illinois, his hometown. Of the trip, Moses wrote, “Rupert
and family and the Madam and I started in our Elgin ‘Six’ for Sterling. Some trip.
I say we certainly had a fine time, arriving in Sterling about
noon. Put up at the celebrated Hotel
Galt and fared very well. We started
home on Sunday. Had a very good run
home, having a few little accidents.’
Later that summer, Moses wrote
of another car trip, “Rupert and I made several trips to Fox Lake where I made
a few sketches. It is very nice to make
the trip in a car, as we made it I three hours.
The roads were not any too good.”
It was wonderful that Moses
bought a car in 1919, but he was never drove the vehicle. It was his son Rupert
who became the family driver. Even in 1929, Moses wrote, “Rupert gave up three
days to drive our car all over Chicago and elsewhere.”