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Part 507: Henry C. Tryon and the Scenery for Frazer’s Hall, 1870

Tyron was associated with Allen’s Globe Theatre in Chicago during 1870. That same year, he was contracted to produce the the drop curtain and scenery for Frazer’s Hall in Lawrence, Kansas (The Daily Kansas Tribune, 28 Dec, 1870).

Frazer’s Hall stage was located on the third floor of a business building. Located at 59 Massachusetts Street, it was next door to the famous Eldridge Hotel. The hotel occupied the southwest corner of Massachusetts and Seventh (now Winthrop) streets.

The first Eldridge House, built in in 1858, was burned by Quantrill’s Raiders on August 21, 1863. This group consisted of pro-Confederate partisan guerillas, also called bushwhackers, who fought in the American Civil War. Missouri and Kansas were subject to Confederate bushwhackers and anti-slavery Jayhawkers who competed for control in the region. The town of Lawrence was a center of ant-slavery sentiment.

In the summer of 1863 Quantrill’s Raiders, numbering approximately 400 men, brutally descended on the town of Lawrence in the early morning, looting and burning the town of 3,000. By the end of their raid, they had killed approximately 180 men and boys, leaving the town in a sad state of smoldering ruins. However, the proud City of Lawrence quickly rebuilt and adopted the motto “from ashes to immortality.”

During the reconstruction, Col. Eldridge used an original cornerstone from the burned Eldridge House for his new hotel. By the next month, a three-story building was under construction. In November, the roof was put on and by the next month the first floor was completed and ready for occupation. The new hotel was complete with five storerooms for lease on the first floor. The Eldridge House re-opened with a reception of guests on September 27, 1864. The next evening the proprietors celebrated the opening by giving a ball at Frazer’s hall. Renters in the new building included Merchant Tailoring, H. H. Ludington’s saloon, a Bazaar store, Drake & Crew’s bookstore, and B. W. Woodward’s drug store. For the next few decades, the Eldridge Hotel was known as one of the best hotels west of the Mississippi; this benefited the small performance venue known as Frazer’s Hall next door.

The Eldridge Hotel was three stories high with a frontage of one hundred feet on Massachusetts Street and one hundred and seventeen feet on Seventh Street. The first floor was used principally for stores with the hotel office and the main entrance on Massachusetts street and the kitchen in the rear. The sixty-four rooms in the upper stories included sleeping rooms and parlors. The rooms were reported to be large, airy and well lighted; everything was tastefully furnished with high ceilings.

In 1866, the Eldridge Hotel was sold to George W. Deitzler for approximately $50,000, with Deitzler retaining the “Eldridge House” name. Deitzler renovated the building and soon leased i to E. A. Smith and E. C. Stevens. Stevens had worked at the Planter’s Hotel in Leavenworth, Kansas, for several years and had the experience for this new endeavor.

It is in 1866, that the first advertisements for Frazer’s Hall appear in the “Daily Kansas Tribune.” On April 29, 1866, “A Grand Concert of Vocal and Instrumental” was advertised at at Frazer’s Hall (page 1). We learn that the venue’s manager is N. C. Pope (May 1866). Frazer’s Hall advertised, “Magnificent and Genteel Comedy Performance By Experienced and Excellent Actors” (Daily Kansas Tribune, May 18, 1866, page 1).

The Leavenworth Theatre played in Frazer Hall, March 18-24, 1867, presenting “Honey Moon, ” “The Lady of Lyons,” “Ten Nights in a Bar Room,” “Richard III,” “Ingomar,” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” The Lord Dramatic Company played the hall December, 1869, and by January 1870, the New York Theater Company performed “Daughter of the Regiment.” It was after the production of “Daughters of the Regiment” that Henry C. Tryon was contracted to paint a new drop curtain and stock scenery for the venue.

The new scenery by Tryon for Frazer’s Hall consisted of a painted front draperies, tormentors, and seven sets of scenery representing a garden, palace, landscape, kitchen, prison, parlor, plain chamber, street, and a complete set of wings and borders; a standard collection for the times.

To be continued…

 

 

Part 506: Henry C. Tryon, Scenic Artist for Allen’s Globe Theatre in Chicago, 1870

I have been exploring the scenic art career of Henry C. Tryon for the past few posts. He worked in Chicago and throughout the western United States during the 1870s and 1880s, including the Salt Lake City Theater and the Tabor Opera House in Denver. Tryon was a friend of Thomas G. Moses and fellow Sosman & Landis employee. Although he worked all over the country, he continually returned to Chicago during the late 19^th century.

In 1870, Tryon was listed as the scenic artist for Allen’s Globe Theater in Chicago, a venue with D. R. Allen & Co. as the proprietors. During the 1860s, Allen had operated a touring company – Allen’s Celebrated Tableau Company (The Burlington Free Press, 17 May 1862, page 3). He performed with his wife in the company, acting in productions such as “May Martin,” “Slasher and Crasher,” “The Story of Camille,” and “The Maid of Munster.” In 1868, the couple was working in Chicago, with Mrs. D. R. Allen performing in “A Bold Stroke for Her Husband” at Col. Wood’s Museum (Chicago Tribune, 20 Dec. 868, page 4).

Chicagology (www.chicagology.com) reports that Allen’s Theatre was the only one to survive the 1871 Chicago Fire; that is no small feat. The Manager of Allen’s Globe Theater was D. R. Allen, with Geo. H. Griffiths as the stage manager. “The Chicago Tribune” published that Allen’s new theater was a “West Side Theatre” (16 Oct. 1870, page 3). D. R. Allen’s Globe Theatre company would continue to perform in a variety of other venues during 1871, including at Chicago’s Crosby Opera House (Chicago Tribune, 15 Feb. 1871, page 4).

Located on Desplaines street, between Washington and Madison, it was rapidly approaching completion by October of 1870. The newspaper article reported, “It will probably be finished and ready for opening early in the ensuing month. The roof is about done, and the work on the stage is now in active progress. Present appearances indicate that it will be one of the best arranged theatres in the city. Mr. Allen is now busy organizing his company, and expects to open about the 7^th with a well-selected dramatic corps. There is every reason to anticipate for the new theatre a successful career.”

The prices of admission for Allen’s Globe Theatre were: Parquette and Dress Circles was 75 cents, with the Family circle at 50 cents, the Balcony at 75 cents and the Gallery at 30 cents. Matinees were 50 cents. The doors opened at 7:15 p.m. daily with an 8 p.m. curtain.

In the Amusement section of the Chicago Tribune, and article announced that one of the first performances at Allen’s Globe Theatre would include Jenny Lind, on November 26, 1870, Allen’s Globe Theatre. The venue was showing Bryon’s “£100,000. Splendid Acting. Chaste Appointments. To conclude with Jenny Lind, with all the original music” (Chicago Tribune 26 Nov, 1870, page 4).

By 14 January 1871, “The Chicago Tribune” was listing Allen’s new theater as Chicago’s “Globe Theatre” with productions including “His Last Legs” and “Turn Him Out” (page 4). The venue survived the Chicago fire, but also became known simply as Allen’s Theatre. (Chicago Tribune, 9 Oct. 1872, page 11).

In 1873, the Chicago Tribune reported that “The Globe Theatre” had reopened with D. R. Allen continuing his former position of Manager after a change of program (Chicago Tribune, 10 Jan. 1871, page 3). That same year, the baseball clubs of McVicker’s and Allen’s Theatre played a game at the corner of Laflin and Van Buren Streets (Chicago Tribune 31 May 1873, page 5). Theaters with baseball teams – what fun.

Tyron was associated with Allen’s Theatre while he was painting the drop curtain and all of the scenery for Frazer’s Hall in Lawrence, Kansas during 1870 (The Daily Kansas Tribune, 28 Dec, 1870). The scenery, consisting of tormentor wings, front draperies and seven sets of scenery that represented a garden, palace, landscape, kitchen, prison, parlor, plain chamber, street, complete with wings and borders.

To be continued…

Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett

Part 505: Replacing Henry C. Tryon’s “The Return of the Victorious Fleet” Drop Curtain

 

 

Yesterday’s post concerned the 1882 drop curtain for the Salta Lake Theater, painted by Henry C. Tryon. In 1910, “The Salt Lake City Herald-Republican” reported that there were plans for a new drop curtain for the Salt Lake Theater (18 Sept. 1910, page 26):

“After thirty years of almost continuous service, the drop curtain at the Salt Lake theatre is to be replaced by a new one which manager George D. Pyper expects to have in place in time for the engagement of Henry Miller, beginning September 29. The subject of the new curtain will be Salt Lake Valley in the days of the pioneers, and it will be copied from a painting by William M. Minor, scenic artist at the theatre.

It will be difficult to exceed the beauty of the old curtain, whose artistic coloring and good drawing have made it a favorite for years. “The Return of the Victorious Fleet” was painted by Henry C. Tryon, one of the best artists in his line who ever came to Salt Lake. Those who have studied the stately ships coming into harbor may have wondered at the absence of life in the picture. The original, which is in the possession of Mr. Pyper, contained a crowd of people on the steps of the buildings, but Mr. Tryon was not a figure painter, and rather than mar his painting by inferior work, left the out altogether.

Except for the short intervals, “The Return of the Victorious Fleet” has hung in the theatre nearly thirty years. Some years ago an attempt was made to replace it by a picture of the chariot race in “Ben Hur.” The artist made the horses of heroic size, and so near the edge of the curtain that they seemed to menace the spectators who sat close. One critic of the day said that a certain scene in a play created a strong effect until “Pyper’s horses came clattering down.”

The artist attempted to remedy the defect by drawing them smaller, when Le Grand Young, a regular patron of the theatre, objected to sitting in front of the theatre, objected to sitting in front of a horse with a dislocated shoulder out of joint. That finished the curtain, and the same artist painted a second, an evening scene in Venice, which was hung for about a year. Another curtain which will be remembered was a field of carnations. This was secured from the Tremont theatre in Boston, but, did not prove to be popular. “The Return of the Victorius Fleet” was rehung, and has continued in place until now. With the closing performance of “The Spendthrift,” it was rung down forever.”

To be continued…

Part 504: Henry C. Tryon’s “The Return of the Victorious Fleet” Drop Curtain

Yesterday I explored the scenic career of Henry C. Tryon, a pupil of Thomas Moran. Thomas G. Moses commented that Tryon followed Moran’s style of work even into his scene painting. Moses also replicated prints of Moran for scenic art compositions. There was another landscape artist whose paintings were replicated as subjects for drop curtains – William Linton. It was noted in a newspaper article about Tryon’s work for the Salt Lake Theater. Images remain of both Tryon’s work, and Linton’s famous historical painting ““A City of Greece – Return of the Glorious Armament.”

In 1883, “The Salt Lake City Herald” described the new drop curtain for the Salt Lake Theater painted by Henry C. Tryon (2 Sept 1883, page 4). This provides insight into this contemporary of Thomas G. Moses.

Here is the article in its entirety, as it is the most beautiful description of a drop curtain that I have come across to date. There is something to be said about the reverence, detailed description and insight of the author in regard to Tryon’s composition. It is an incredibly long article to describe a single drop curtain!

“Henry C. Tryon, artist of the Salt Lake Theatre, has finished the drop curtain on which he has been engaged for some time past. To those who have been acquainted with the artist’s condition during his work on this picture, the result will be a profound surprise. He has had scarcely one day on it in which he had the strength necessary to the labor, to say nothing of the unfortunate condition of mind that naturally results from physical incapacity and sickness. The picture is from a painting by W. Linton, called “A City of Ancient Greece, with the Return of a Victorious Fleet,” but the lines of the composition have been materially altered, and it must be admitted, with happy results. Instead of making the city of primary interest, Mr. Tryon has made the “Return of the Victorious Fleet” the subject of his story, using the city as a necessary detail to the perfection of the tale. The hour is just before sunset, the sky soft, warm, and tender – just such a sky as any lover of nature might have noticed here repeatedly about a week ago when our warm Indian summer evenings began; and one of who had watched the progress of the picture must have felt forcibly on many occasions during the past two weeks what a powerful effect our summer evenings have had on the artist’s mind and with what trust and feeling he has expressed the sentiment they awakened in him.

 

The scene opens in a broad harbor. Showing the grand architectural structures of the period and nationality in the rear, gradating into the distance with a few hazy mountains, as an accessory background, the outlines of which are made apparent by a remarkable atmosphere and soft clouds tinged and iris-hued by the rays of the fast sinking sun, the existence of which, while not visible, is none the less strongly felt. On the right, and very prominent, are marble supports and marble steps leading down to the water’s edge; opposite to the left there is a distinct intimation of the same architecture, only hidden by a profusion of foliage and the sails and banners and pennants of the incoming vessels. A viaduct beneath which a stream of water flows fringes the centre of the harbor in the rear, and here again the foliage golden tipped by the sun, grows in glorious profusion and saves the eye from that sense of weariness which architecture, bare and unrelieved, however magnificent, however fascinating for the time being, invariably produces upon a longer acquaintance. With the genuine landscape artist’s feeling, which does not exist where it does not reach after trees and water generally, foliage freaks out from unexpected yet natural points, and while doing service by relieving the monotony of architecture, introduces a feeling which, even though unobserved, gives a sense of satisfaction which is experienced and enjoyed without passing through the judgment for approval.

The story of the picture is told in its title – “The Return of the Victorious Fleet.” There need be no title for the picture explains itself. The vessels filled with warriors enter at the left, pass up the harbor, then turn to the right where they group together, where wives, children and friends rush out of the grand marble structures and are massed between the marble columns, and receive the dear ones who have come home safely and victoriously out of the contest with a powerful foe. Everything is glowing, warm and cheerful, the expression being free and happy, while the bright colors, the brilliant banners, streamers and pennants, the colors commingling and toned down by the intervening atmosphere, give to the principal chapter of the story a gala-day appearance, and inspire a sentiment of pleasure in the bosom of the spectator. There is enough omitted detail to give the imagination ample sway, hence it is that the story continues to the right outside the picture, leading to the belief that the scene which the eye beholds is continually indefinitely, and that the same happy and joyful sentiment prevails at other colossal structures which do not appear in the picture. The story is made the richer by the happy idea of coloring which the artist has employed – that is, the line of light follows the interest of the story, which begins at the left, spreads bout two-thirds over the picture, and culminates at the extreme right hand. So the shadows are deepened at the left (the bright colors of the sails just entering the harbor relieving it of a dismal air) the light gradually dawning towards the middle of the picture where it breaks in a glorious flood just at that point where the interest of the story culminates, and then modulates and tones down to the right, leaving the impression that away in the distance the story is concluded, leaving also to the imagination just as much as is essential to the perfection of a charming sketch. One objection that might naturally be interposed to the detail of the story is the fact that on the front marble steps there are no figures such as can be seen in the rear, and which as a matter of fact ought really to be visible at the point referred to. But there are weighty reasons why these were omitted. In the first place, Mr. Tryon is essentially a landscape painter, and confesses his inability to paint respectable figures. This being true, he could add nothing to the effect. But even were he capable of painting figures, for the truth of the story they are better omitted in this picture. To paint them well, or even indifferently, would be to arrest the eye, and in the degree in which this result was produced, just in that degree would the interest of the story be interrupted and the idea of the artist be disadvantageously affected. It is a principle in all art that too much detail ruins the finest paintings, as in all stories, those details only are to be tolerated which are essential to the solution of the plot, that moment it is an injury. Therefore, for the reason that he was incompetent for good figure-painting, and because such a detail would arrest the eye at a point where the injurious, Mr. Tryon wisely deemed it best to leave out the figures, and made the architecture as simple as possible, relieving it only by the water at its edge, and the prows of the two vessels just turning one of the columns.

So much for mechanical thought and labor. But who can explain in words the sentiment, the tone, the poetic idealism the artist intended and has expressed? It is in these mainy that his genius is manifest; and every eye that rests upon the glowing canvass will behold beauties peculiar to itself; in every mind it will awaken thoughts that may occur to none other, and the impression and sentiment that it may arouse will be individualized in each bosom. Imagine, a warm, rich, summer day, the haze of an Indian summer’s eve lingering lovingly and tenderly over all, toning down features that might be harsh and making indistinct and indefinite points that seem to fade away into atmosphere so delicate, so mild, so feeling, so tender! Here and there a flood of warm light develops a particular feature in order that the contrast may heighten the effect, as for instance in the foliage under the viaduct, or as a single point in the architecture; as a cloud catches a single ray of the warm sun as ot appears on the ripples on the waves. The beauty of the water in the harbor must strike every artist and art lover as a thing of surpassing loveliness, in that it is true to nature and nature is beauty. The reflection of the brilliant colors from the prows of the bright colored boats, mingling in the waves, produces a combination of brilliant colors, which is rendered beautiful from the very indistinguishable profusion of the hues and the brilliance of the effect, rendering the transparency of the water so realistic that the deception is perfect. But who can describe a painting in words, however beautiful, however poor? It may be pronounced good, bad, or indifferent, particularly points favored and others condemned; it may awaken thoughts that otherwise would remain dormant, and may call to view things of beauty which would otherwise have blossomed and blushed unseen, but to the artist alone is given to produce anything approaching an imitation of the evanescent beauty, the supreme grandeur of nature. The critic cane merely direct public attention, and that is all we dare attempt with regard to Mr. Tryon’s picture.

The drop curtain just finished, establishes, or will establish a fact that has always been claimed by the HERALD, that a successful scene painter is every inch an artist. Only view “The Return of Victorious Fleet” by Mr. Tryon, and be convinced.”

To be continued…

 Part 503: Thomas G. Moses and Henry C. Tryon

In 1905, Thomas G. Moses recorded that he painted a Grand Canyon curtain for Duluth and used a print of Thomas Moran for the source. Although the Santa Fe Railroad had offered transportation to the Grand Canyon to complete sketches on site, Moses did not have the time to spare.

As I have previously discussed, it was the works of Thomas Moran and some of his contemporaries who influenced the painted aesthetic for popular entertainment on the stage and scenic illusion, if not by their own artworks, then by the works of their students. Moses’ connection to Moran was not simply through his reverence for the artist, but also Henry C. Tryon, a student of Moran’s and fellow scenic artist. Tryon was another Sosman & Landis artist who worked alongside Moses and went on sketching trips with him during the 1880s. Tryon was brought on at Sosman & Landis as Lem Graham’s replacement, after Graham left for Kansas City to start his own scenic studio – Kanas City Scenic Co. Moses wrote: “[Tryon] enthused Young and I more than anyone ever had. He was a pupil of Thos. Moran and James and William Hart and was very clever, but awfully eccentric.”

Moses wrote about his sketching trip to West Virginia in 1885 with Tryon, publishing a series of articles for the Palette & Chisel newsletter where Moses described his journey and traveling companions, especially the “eccentric” Henry C. Tryon. In one section, he described how Tryon became the student of Thomas Moran (1837-1926). In 1885, Moses wrote, “I certainly enjoyed talking on any subject with Tryon. He was very strong on politics, which did not particularly interest me. He was very interesting when it came to anything on art. He had been a pupil of Thomas Moran. Tryon told this story: He had bothered Moran for some time trying to induce Moran to take him on as a pupil. Moran was too much of a gentleman to throw Tryon out of his studio, so he finally took an old canvas, slapped on a lot of color with a palette knife, handed it to Tryon and said: “Take that home, make a picture out of the accidentals and bring it back in a week.” Moran felt that Tryon would throw the canvas away and not come back. The week-end found Tryon back and Moran was so well pleased with the result that he took Tryon on as a pupil, which was very beneficial to Tryon who followed Moran’s style of work even into his scenic painting, as well as his oil. He enjoyed telling this story; he surely must have made a good picture of Moran’s accidentals.” Tryon also worked as a scenic artist at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago, painting alongside Lou Malmsha, one of the great scenic artists of Chicago during the late-nineteenth century.

As I was looking for information pertaining to the drop curtain that Moses’ painted in Duluth, I encountered the Grand Canyon drop curtain that Walter W. Burridge painted for the Grand Opera House in Chicago during 1902. I also encountered another reference to Henry C. Tryon and a description of his character in a book that was recently written by Donna L. Poulton. In “Reuben Kirkham, Pioneer Artist” Poulton writes about Kirkham’s work with Alfred Lambourne (1850-1926). They painted stage scenery in Salt Lake City at the Lehi Music Hall in 1871. In Lambourne’s reminiscences about the theater, he mentions Henry C. Tryon as his final mentor. Poulton includes Lambourne’s description of Henry C. Tryon, “that erratic genius, that Bohemian of Bohemians.” Lambourne recorded, “…I worked with Tryon about seven weeks. Not on the paint gallery of the Salt Lake theatre, but in one of our southern towns, where we had taken a contract, jointly, for furnishing a set of stock scenery. Those seven weeks were among the most exciting, and from the art standpoint, most profitable of my life. Tryon arrived in Salt Lake City, after a long and successful season of scene-painting in Chicago, and at the Tabor Grand, in Denver. Who, that knew the man, could ever forget that walk, that shock of unkempt red hair, that shrewd ingratiating smile and fun, the enthusiasm, or flash of anger in those steel gray Irish eyes. How distinctly I remember the low suppressed tones of his voice and the sparkle in the same eyes, as he once confronted me and uttered these words: “I have never yet met a man whose combativeness I could not overcome with my own.” However that may have been, we became fast friends and without surrender on either side.”

Henry C. Tryon wrote a tribute to his good friend and fellow scenic artist, Louis Malmsha (1863-1882). Tryon worked with Malmsha at Wood’s Theatre in Cincinnati and later with him at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago. In 1882, Tryon published a tribute to Malmsha heralding him as “the greatest scenic painter in the world.” It appeared in the “Salt Lake City Herald” on October 22, 1882. (see past installment #123). Of Malmsha, he wrote, “As an humble follower, ardent admirer, friend, and confrere of this dead artist I felt it my duty to render tribute and homage to his transcendent genius. He was “the best in the profession.” Every artist who has seen his work has without qualification given him this position as a matter of simple fact. I have seen samples from the hands of the best scenic artists in England, France, and Italy, and from what I have seen and learned. I am convinced that Mr. Malmsha was the greatest scenic painter in the world.” This allows us to trace a scenic art lineage of respect and admiration.

Tryon was born in Chicago in 1847.  At the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the army in a regiment attached to the Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, serving until the close of the Civil War. He later became a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Design, intending to become a landscape painter, studying with both Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and William M. Hart (1823-1894). Tryon worked with Malmsha at Wood’s Theatre in Cincinnati and later with him at McVicker’s Theatre in Chicago. In the early 1880s. Tryon had moved to Salt Lake City where he became active as a scenic artist, well known for his drop curtain at the Salt Lake Theatre entitled, “The Return of a Victorius Fleet.” He also produced 25 sets of scenery for the Salt Lake Theatre.

In 1883, the “Salt Lake Daily” published, “The improvements which have been in progress at the Salt Lake Theatre during the past nine or ten months, under the direction of Henry C. Tryon, the noted scenic artist, have attracted a great deal of attention from theatrical men generally” (July 22, 1883, Vol. XIV, No. 41). The author of the article then asked Mr. Mayer, “By the way, what do you think of Tryon as an artist?” Mayer’s response, “Tryon? We he has a national reputation. The fact that he is engaged to paint the scenes is a guarantee that the scenes outfit will be on par with any theatre in the United States. He is none of your fellows who depend on village theatre for a livelihood; his services are in demand all the time and the only thing that beats my penetration is that so expensive an artist could be obtained to come to Salt Lake. The scenes already painted are the equal of anything in stock in the country.”

And yes, Tryon was a Scottish Rite Mason too. For his Masonic affiliation, see past installments #199-201.

To be continued…

Part 502: Thomas G. Moses and the Grand Canyon Drop Curtain for Duluth, 1905

In 1905, Thomas G. Moses recorded that he painted a Grand Canyon curtain for Duluth. This was not an unusual subject for the stage, as Moses’ one-time business partner and good friend Walter W. Burridge painted a Grand Canyon drop curtain for the Grand Opera House of Chicago in 1901. “The World Review” commented on Walter Burridge’s rendition, pubishing, “Probably the most unusual and effective drop-curtain in America is the one that was recently given a place in the Grand Opera House of Chicago. It is the work of Mr. Walter Burridge, who is known throughout the country as a scene-painter of remarkable versatility and artistic sense. He has spent six weeks in the painting of the present curtain, which pictures the Grand Canyon of Colorado. Part of that time Mr. Burridge spent in the canyon itself, and he has succeeded beyond expectation in giving depth of perspective. Largeness of effect, and the marvelous atmospheric clearness that is characteristic of the region. Such painting must take its place in the realm of true art” (4 Jan. 1902, Vol. 2, page 500)

Of the Grand Canyon scene for Duluth, Moses wrote, “This was in many ways a very successful curtain. The Santa Fe Railroad offered to send me to the Canyon to make the sketch that we couldn’t afford to accept – that is the time to go and come and make sketches.” Instead of a sketching trip to gather source material, Moses wrote, “I was satisfied with one of Moran’s famous reproductions.”

I would love to know how many Moran paintings were reproduced for the stage. His paintings, with their atmospheric action and romantic landscapes were perfect for the stage. It is unclear which Moran print Moses used for the Duluth drop curtain, but there are other examples that Twin City Scenic Co. artists used for other projects.

There are examples of Moran prints used as sources by scenic artists in the Twin City Scenic Co. collection at the University of Minnesota Libraries Performing Arts Archives. Many of the prints still had paint spatter from the artists who had them near while painting. One 11”x 17” included notes for the scenic artists on the back of the print, “Reverse and use right half of picture only. No figures. For West.” One Thomas Moran print was replicated by John Z. Wood for one design at the Twin City Scenic Co without any alterations; it was titled “Sunset in Old Mexico.”

Of the drop curtain in Duluth, Moses wrote, “After painting, I could lower the drop down the cut, until the horizon line was perfect. We lowered the bridge so we could look down over 15 feet, and the effect was truly wonderful, very easy to paint a large panorama and get the same effect.”

The drop curtain was so successful that the theater manager in Duluth sent Moses a box of cigars as a token of his appreciation. Moses recorded, “The manager sent me a box of cigars by express. This was evidently smoked by the express agent, as it never reached me, but the second box came alright and I enjoyed them.”

Moses was well known in Duluth, Minnesota, as he had painted scenery for other stages, at least twice before 1905. He worked on both on commercial theatre and fraternal theatre projects there. In 1891, Thomas G. Moses and Abraham “Perry” Landis went to Duluth where they closed an $8.954.00 contract with A. M. Miller, owner of the Lyceum Theater. Moses worked in the Minnesota town from March 1891 until the end of April. In 1904. He was also responsible for supervising the painting and installation of the Scottish Rite scenery in Duluth, Minnesota.

To be continued…

Part 501: Thomas G. Moses and the Ravinia Park Theatre, 1905

In 1905, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Ravinia Park Theatre was done in February.” He was referring a new amusement park near Chicago, accessed by the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad. The park included a theater, pavilion, baseball diamond, electric fountain and casino building, complete with dining rooms and a dance floor. During the winter months, the baseball field was flooded and successfully transformed into an ice-skating rink, hosting many hockey games. Advertisements promised that the park was “equipped with every facility for attracting people of taste and fashion.” Other ads described Ravinia Park as “A place of entertainment for people of culture and refinement.”

In 1904, the A.C. Frost Company created Ravinia as a forty-acre amusement park located south of Highland Park. It was Partially created with the intent to lure riders to the fledgling Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railroad. The park opened during August 1904, but the theater that Moses provided scenery for was not completed until 1905; February 1905, as Moses indicates in his memoirs.

The Ravinia Theatre was built in the prairie-style. It is now the only building on the grounds that dates back to that original park. Later renamed the Martin Theatre, the venue is an 850-seat indoor hall originally planned for vaudeville, opera, and chamber music.  1905 Newspapers advertised that Ravinia Park Theater featured, “refined and high-class vaudeville,” every day except Sunday.

Unfortunately in 1907, the park was forced into receivership and changed hands. At the time, a group of Chicago and North Shore residents organized to raise the $15,000 needed to save it, fearing that it would be purchased by a cheap amusement company. However, in 1911, the park once again faced financial difficulty. This time residents were led by Frank R. McMullin of Highland Park, Illinois, to raise $75,000 for the purchase of the park. By June 21, 1911, the Ravinia Company was incorporated, with the park re-opening once again

Historic images of Ravinia Park were recently posted along with an article by Neil Gale, PhD, at the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal blog: https://drloihjournal.blogspot.com/2018/08/ravinia-amusement-park-highland-park-illinois-1904-1910.html Gale’s article with images appeared on August 9, 2018.

Today, the Ravinia Park is the home for the Ravinia Music Festival, offering over 100 concerts each summer from jazz to classical to rock to kids concerts. The Ravinia Theater, now Martin Theater, is still in use.

To be continued…

 

 

Part 500: Thomas G. Moses and  “The Woggle-Bug” 

This is a long installment, but too bizarre to leave anything out. In 1905 Thomas G. Moses wrote that he worked on a production called “Woggle-Bug.”  It opened at the Garrick Theater in Chicago on June 18, 1905, and closed on July 13 of the same summer.

Written by L. Frank Baum, with the musical score by Frederick Chapin, Baum hoped to duplicate the success of his earlier production – “The Wizard of Oz.” The story was also transformed into a short children’s book in 1905. Here is the link to the Woggle-Bug eBook at Project Gutenberg with illustrations by Ike Morgan: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21914/21914-h/21914-h.htm

Noted as a “spectacular extravaganza,” The Woggle-Bug was reported to be an “artistic and dazzling panorama of light an color” (The World To-day: A Monthly Record of Human Progress, Vol. 9, page 703). The “Chicago Tribune” reported, “The scenery is abundant in quantity and good in design and coloring and the costuming is in exceptionally fine taste. The stage pictures are made of uncommon beauty by the skill with which they are lighted. Better stage lighting; nicer discrimination in the changing and employing in their handling has not been seen in Chicago in many a day. The stage pictures, thanks to the elaborate scenery, the handsome costuming, and the excellent lighting become beautiful enough to make “The Woggle Bug” an impressive spectacle and well worth the seeing” (19 June 1905, page 9).

The “Inter Ocean” reported included an extensive article on “The Woggle-Bug” (20 June 1903, page 6):

“The Woggle-Bug,” a musical extravaganza in a prologue, two acts, and an epilogue, was written by L. Frank Baum, author of the book from which it is derived, “The Marvelous Land of Oz.” The story concerns the experience of Tip, the rightfully Princess Ozma, changed into a boy by the witch, Mombi. Tip steals the old lady’s can of Magic Powder, which brings to life inanimate objects, and with Jack Pumpkinhead, a combination scarecrow and jack-o’lantern, enjoys numerous experiences, including arrest by the upsurpers of his throne, before he reaches the domain of Queen Maetta, the sorceress, is turned back into a girl again and placed in charge of the Jewel City. The Woggle-Bug is an incidental character, representing a highly magnified insect.

The world has turner over and times have changed. This summer Chicago has become the London of America and her producing theaters miniature Drury Lanes in holiday time.

In the Garrick Theater last evening there was added one more to the list of prevailing spectacles for children. “The Woggle-Bug” is entertainment pap for the little ones. It is as huge an extravaganza as the stage of the Garrick will permit it to be, and it tells all about fairies and witches, goblins and jack o’ lanterns, magnified bugs, clouds of cats and dogs, fields of lady chrysanthemums and other things.

The children will like “The Woggle-Bug.” The adults will be divided – those with the hearts of children will approve; those who prefer the stronger fare that suits their years will not. For, so far in its career, it has been written and staged apparently with the intention of appealing directly to children, and only incidentally to their guardians. It is smothered in simplicity in which the child mid will revel, and before which the adult mind will not.

The Chicago child should be proud of itself to thus force so many examples of the infant spectacle in the heat of summer. And the parents of the Chicago child should be proud of themselves. Partly on the child’s account they supported “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Babes in Toyland,” and now we see what they’ve done! But that endorsement they have convinced a whole flock of managers that their patronage is just the richest possible harvest of Chicago’s summer time, and just now there is enough to amuse all the nurseries in the country at the same time. If they keep coming we’ll be talking baby talk and wearing sailor hats with ribbons, and playing ring-around-aroses before fall.

The Woggle-Bug, we repeat, will please the children. It is full of startling incidents for the Chicago youngster. There is a pretty little princess who is turned into a prettier little boy by a wicked witch; there is a funny woggle-bug, picked up by a school teacher and magnified so highly that it comes to life and sings a very tuneful song; there is a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head which is sprinkled with magic powder and becomes a man; there is a sawhorse which also responds to the sprinkling and jumps about in lively fashion, and there is an outlandish young person who will make papa and mamma laugh because she is a regular cut-up.

There is, too, much scenery which is attractive, and electric lights of all colors and in all sorts of places, and a whole stage full of girls who sing right out as though they enjoyed it. Sometimes they have decorated stepladders to help them sing, and sometimes vine covered and illuminated summer houses. They always have something, and it generally lights up.

During one scene, when they are dressed as soldiers, they attack the walls of the Jewel city-think of that, children!-and very pretty walls, too, studded with rubies and diamonds and emeralds, and a few chorus men who are on the other side of the fight. And when they charge someone in the Jewel city shoots toy balloons at them through great big cannon. Yes, sire, they do. But the girls don’t care; they just throw the balloons back and finally capture the Jewel city.

Afterward there is a cyclone, as there was in “The Wizard of Oz,” and on the screen are shown what appear to the corpses of numerous white cats and dogs – an uncanny effect that the managers likely did not count on. Following this there is a field of nodding chrysanthemums shown, as were the poppies in “The Wizard;” then the Woggle-Bug Tip, and Jack Pumpkinhead comes wandering in as the Woodman, the Scarecrow, and Dorothy did in the other play. In fact, “The Wizard” is palpably the inspiration for newer extravaganza. The chief difference is this: Someone took the book of “The Wizard” after Mr. Baum got through with it and did so many things to it that the original author could hardly recognize it, while with “The Woggle-Bug” the impression is strong that the original manuscript has been altered but little. The children’s show was incidental in “The Wizard;” it dominates “The Bug.”

The costuming is pleasing in design and coloring, if not rich in material, and the scenic setting is at all times effective. “The Woggle-Bug,” taken in all, represents an earnest effort to provide an extravaganza free from objectionable feature. The music is an attractive virtue, and reawakens the hope that some day Composer Chapin will have a real good book to work with.”

The show did not do well at all. By July 13, 1905, the “Chicago Tribune” published, “’Woggle Bug’ is Hungry – Salaries unpaid; electrical apparatus taken for debt. Creditors of the Company Playing at the Garrick Theater Clamor for the Money Owed Them and Probably Will Force Close of the Engagement- Show is Given Under Difficulties Without Lighting Effects-Owner Makes Efforts to Continue” (page 3). The company was obliged to turn over its electrical apparatus to the Garden City Calcium Light company. Then the fifteen electricians struck and would not do their work until guaranteed wages by the house management.

When a show about lights loses the lights, it makes for a difficult time.

To be continued…

Part 499: Thomas G. Moses and the Jewish Bazaar at the Chicago Coliseum in 1905

In 1905 Thomas G. Moses recorded that he worked on a project for the Chicago Coliseum. He wrote, “a big Jewish bazaar at the Coliseum took us a month to complete.” He was referring to the charity bazaar for the benefit of the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged.

The event raised proceeds from seventy-five booths, each with a unique theme, such as the Japanese Tea Room. The Inter Ocean reported that the event promised to be “the largest one of the kind ever attempted in the United States” (Inter Ocean, 12 Feb. 1905, page 7). Mayor Harrison of Chicago gave the opening address on February 25, 1905. 3,000 people were in attendance for the opening, but over 10,000 men and women were anticipated to contribute funds until the end of the event on May 5. The bazaar closed, however, for the Jewish Sabbath. The goal of the event was to clear the $20,000 mortgage on the Orthodox Jewish Home for the Aged. Over $25,000 worth of goods were donated for the event, including such prizes as an automobile, a piano, and $2,000 in “bottled goods.” There was hope that enough money would be made to put the home on a “solid financial basis for a decade to come” (Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb, 1905, page 12). Smart idea.

After opening day speeches by Mayor Harrison, Dr. E. G. Hirsch and Rabbi Yudelson, “electric lights flashed, and in the center of the Coliseum, at the entrance to the dancing pavilion…The word ‘Charity’ was blazed forth in fiery letters” (Chicago Tribune, 26, February 1905, page 12). Then 3,000 attendees then flooded the Monte Carlo dancing pavilion.

The “Chicago Inter Ocean” reported, “One of the important features of the affair will be the Pike, comprising of nine theaters. Many of the attractions at the St. Louis World’s Fair have been secured.” The Inter Ocean commented about this area: “Barkers on the ‘pike,’ which is located in the north end of the building, added to the noise and confusion. Outside of the Monte Carlo and the dancing pavilion, the ‘pike’ was the one particular feature which attracted the visitors last evening. Twelve exhibits are included in the department, consisting of moving pictures, Alpine theater, continuous vaudeville, laughing gallery, and Ferris wheel” (Inter Ocean, 26 Feb 1905, page 8).

Mrs. A. M. Rothschild was in charge of one of the booths featuring a Turkish smoking room and café. She was assisted by twenty-five young women of “prominent in Jewish society.” They were attired in Eastern garb, serving champagne, cordials, Turkish coffee, cigars, cigarettes, and Oriental knickknacks. Other booths included a Russian tearoom, Japanese garden, Old Vienna restaurant and café, a Gypsy camp, a doll booth, an orange grove, a candy booth, and liquor booth. The book and stationary booth featured an autograph volume of the messages and speeches of the President, presented by Mrs. Roosevelt, and placed on exhibit for almost a week (The Inter Ocean, 28, Feb. 1905, page 12). Another valuable volume on display was the 400-year-old Nurnberg Bible.

There was even a competition with thirty contestants to be Queen of the Jewish Bazaar. Other events included a confetti battle. The confetti battle used “eighteen bushels of colored bits of paper as ammunition (The Club-fellow: The Society Journal of New York and Chicago, Volume 6, 1905).

The “Chicago Tribune” noted that an emergency hospital was also on site, reporting, “In case the visitor should faint on being charged an extra admission to the ‘Pike’ or try to commit suicide after an unfortunate venture at the roulette table, to the left of the main entrance is an emergency hospital with a physician and two nurses” (26 February, page 12).

Of the attendees, there were thirty residents from the Jewish home who were brought to the Jewish Bazaar. The “Chicago Tribune” reported, “In the convoy of the superintendent and several matrons the distinguished visitors were taken to the refreshment room for luncheon soon after the exhausting trip downtown in the carriages. L Simon, aged 96 years, after being assisted to a seat and tied round with a huge napkin, nodded approvingly when a bottle of beer was brought to him, and shook his head in emphatic refusal when a plate of cookies and some sandwiches were offered him. All the fifteen old men followed his example…The party was then taken the rounds of Monte Carlo, the Pike, the Japanese village, the sideshows, the Ferris wheel, and all the multitudinous objects of interest in the wonderland that has been created in the Coliseum” (26 February, page 12).

To be continued…

Part 498: The Financing of Scottish Rite Theaters, 1905

In yesterday’s post, I talked about the financial incentive for Sovereign Grand Inspector General’s to increase the membership of 32^nd degree Masons in their Orient (State); a 1905 resolution allowed them to received $2.00 per incoming 32^nd degree Mason until its repeal in 1909. During that time, membership was skyrocketing. The situation was comparable to the goose that laid the golden egg. There was a belief that future dues from a continually increasing membership would support the construction and maintenance of ever-increasing Scottish Rite homes. The idea that membership would always increase was not a realistic scenario and no one anticipated any decline, stock market crash, or a world war. No one also realized that during times of plenty, many Masonic leaders would not invest the funds into the maintenance and repair of their buildings as they aged; deferred maintenance would become the norm and is now causing many insurmountable problems.

There was something else, however, that facilitated the growth of the Fraternity during this first “golden age” of Masonic construction – the financing!

While I was doing research at the University of Texas’ Harry Ransom Center during the fall of 2016, I came across an intriguing letter from the western sales representative of M. C. Lilley & Co. – Bestor G. Brown. Again, Brown was the Past Grand Master for the State of Kansas in 1903. Brown belonged to many other Masonic orders, and was known as the only “Masonic Stage Carpenter” in the country. He also was the stage director for the Scottish Rite in Wichita, Kansas. Brown moved to Kansas City in 1904 where the regional offices for M.C. Lilley were located and formed quite a financial enterprise. As I mentioned yesterday, for Scottish Rite scenery and stage machinery production, Brown – on behalf of M.C. Lilley – subcontracted all work to Sosman & Landis of Chicago. Brown’s employer, M. C. Lilley and Co. was an established business with deep pockets; they could wait a while for payment on goods. THAT is what was needed to push the Scottish Rite into outfitting their theaters, sometimes beyond their means, with state-of-the-art stage systems. Many Scottish Rite theaters rivaled any counterpart on Broadway, Chicago, or the West Coast. Everything was top of the line at the time.

In 1913, Brown was negotiating a sale of stage machinery and a used scenery collection with the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies. He used their standard financing formula, allowing the Austin Scottish Rite Bodies to purchase 64 of Guthrie’s drops for $1,650. The drops had been accepted on credit toward the purchase of a new scenery collection in Guthrie, their first scenery collection was only eleven years old. Here were the standard terms for the production of a painted scenery collection, the manufacture of props, construction of costumes, delivery of stage machinery, stage lighting and the completed installation- a third due upon installation (in cash), a third due the following year, and the final third due in two years.

This financing was standard for most Scottish Rite endeavors delivered by M.C. Lilley. I am unsure how many other scenic studios or regalia suppliers cold afford to carry the debt of Scottish Rites across the country at that time. Brown even wrote, “In fact, if we had not been able to carry the Bodies in the Southern Jurisdiction as we have, we believe that fully one half of the development of the past ten years would not have been possible.” It becomes understandable why M. C. Lilley and their subcontractors dominated the market. From 1900 to 1904 there were a total of seven Scottish Rite Theatres outfitted with scenery and stage machinery by Sosman & Landis. From 1905 to 1909, there were sixteen Scottish Rite Theatres outfitted with scenery and stage machinery by Sosman & Landis – almost double. Between 1910 and 1915, there were another eighteen Scottish Rite Theatres outfitted with scenery and stage machinery by Sosman & Landis. This was simply their share of the Masonic market and represented approximately one quarter of all incoming work.

I believe that the special financing for Scottish Rite Bodies was HUGE! It presents how Scottish Rites were able to purchase state-of-the-art scenery, props, lighting and costumes; they were buying everything on credit and only had to pay a third upon receipt of goods. To pay off the new building and theater simply meant increasing membership numbers to generate even more income. It appeared to be a win-win situation.

 

Was everyone on board with the construction of Scottish Rite theaters and the staging of degree work? No, for many it went against the teaching and guidance of long-time Grand Commander Pike who reigned over the Southern Jurisdiction from 1859 to 1891. Although the Supreme Council had other Grand Commanders, there was no longer a unified vision directing the Scottish Rite. There were those who understood Past Grand Commander Pike’s desire that all of the members should take their time with the degrees to fully understand the Masonic instruction. There were others who saw the massive infusion of wealth into the organization. In 1915 an argument was made for the use of staged degree work in “Transactions of the Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction” –

“The interpretation of a degree, either by picture or stage scenery or other adjuncts, and most frequently, is, allowable, because men may be taught through the eye and frequently with more ease and facility than through the ear” (page 84).

True, and the demographic had shifted over the past century to include those who were not the top intellectuals of the country. There were many farmers, ranchers, businessman, and others from the rising middle class of American Society. It was no longer a group of visionaries who supported public education, riding the crest of every social wave that washed over America.

The Fraternity had survived a period of anti-Masonic sentient during the nineteenth century. The few brilliant men who were prevalent in the order at the beginning of the 18^th century were replaced with hoards of “good men” by then end of the nineteenth century. There were still brilliant intellectuals, but they no longer dominated the organization. For some, the Scottish Rite became a social organization, with the great potential for networking their business; others held onto the message and potential to better mankind. Membership growth and massive candidate classes and increased activities blurred the divide. During the early nineteenth century, the enormous infusion of cash allowed some to place the construction of massive stone monuments ahead of the Fraternity’s mission. These large buildings were perceived as the Fraternity’s crowning glory – look what we achieved! In some cases it was a competition to see who could build the biggest and best in their Orient. Sometimes it became more about the building than the everyday message that the Fraternity offered to better the world.

To be continued…