Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps
On February 14, 1925, the “Pasadena Post” reported, “While Mr. Moses has watched carefully the painting of the curtains, much credit for their final perfection must go to the assistant and scenic artist, F. B. Fulton. Mr. Fulton believes the scenic work to be some of the finest he has ever produced. The final work of hanging and installing the curtains will be under the supervision of Harry Naile, a member of the Sosman & Landis company. This work demands such expert workmanship that Mr. Naile was brought from Chicago so that no mistakes in installation could be made.”
Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.Note the old line numbers from Little Rock (top) and the newly painted numbers for Pasadena (side). Previously-owned rigging system designed for the Little Rock Scottish Rite, installed at the Pasadena Scottish Rite by Harry E. Naile in 1925.View of bottom battens on scenery at the Pasadena Scottish Rite,
Harry Naile and Fitch Fulton were repeatedly mentioned by Moses in the 1920s. Other projects with stage carpentry and installed by Naile include the Tacoma Scottish Rite and the Binghamton Scottish Rite. In regard to the Binghamton project, Moses wrote, “I insisted on having Naile on the job…He and Mrs. Naile arrived on the 1st of October and we then proceeded to get things going.” Between 1924 and 1925, Moses, Naile and Fitch Fulton bounced from one project to another. Although, I have written about Naile in the past, here is a recap as he plays a more prominent role in the storyline at this point.
Harry Elmore Naile was born in Pierceton, Indiana, on June 15, 1879. He was one of four children born to Mary Elizabeth Orr (1854-1900) and Louis Phillip Naile (1855-1918). His siblings were Roy, Grace, and Ralph. He also had a halfsister, Loretta; Naile’s father remarried after the death of his mother. I have yet to find any information about Naile’s early life or when he entered the theatre profession. However, he came by the trade naturally as his father was a house carpenter. It is not a surprise that he was born into the trade. Like many young men at this time, he headed west and settled in Colorado Springs.
In 1907, he married Georgia E. Robinson in Colorado Springs. She was the only child of William W. Robinson (1863-1926) and Mary A. “Mamie” Rogers (1869-1954). Her father was a painter, and possibly provided an initial introduction for the couple. At the time Harry was twenty-seven years old and Georgia was nineteen years old. The couple spent the majority of their marriage apart, with Harry lodging in various hotels and boarding houses for work as a stage carpenter. By 1913, the Polk County directory listed “Naile, Harry E. (Georgia), removed to Chicago, Illinois, from Colorado Springs.” In 1916 he was working for Sosman & Landis on a New York project with Nicholas J. Pausback.
Naile remained in the Chicago area for much of his life, working as both a stage carpenter and stage mechanic. By 1918, he was at the Chateau Theatre on 3810 Broadway. His WWI draft registration noted that he was 5’-7” tall, with a slender build and blue eyes. No hair color was mentioned at all. By 1920, the Naile was living at 57 East Van Buren Street.
After the Pasadena Scottish Rite project, Moses, Fulton and Nail worked on a project in San Jose, California. Of the project, Moses wrote, “I started for San Jose on March 27th and found Naile had everything in good shape.” The trio also worked in Los Angeles on the “Fullerton job.” By 1930, Naile was still living in Chicago, now at the Kenmore Beach Hotel, 552 Kenmore Avenue. The 1930 US Federal Census listed Naile as a superintendent for a theatrical supply company, although it remains unclear as to which firm.
He died shortly after the US Federal census recorded his employment. Naile passed away on September 15, 1930. He was only fifty years old at the time and had been married to Georgia for twenty-three years. I have yet to locate any death notice or obituary, giving any cause for his passing. Georgia was left a widow at forty-six years old and never remarried. Of Georgia’s own passing the Colorado Springs “Gazette Telegraph” printed, “Naile- Mrs. Georgia Naile, 2612 W. Cucharras, passed away Tuesday at a local nursing home” (12 March 1975, page 4).
Both Georgia and Harry are buried in Colorado Springs’ Evergreen Cemetery.
Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
Between 1924 and 1925, Thomas G. Moses, Fitch B. Fulton and Harry E. Naile delivered scenery to several Masonic theaters. The Pasadena Scottish Rite project began on the heels of the Fort Scott Scottish Rite project. It all started with Fort Scott, Kansas.
In August 1924, Moses wrote, “Fulton is now in Fort Scott getting ready for our big work. I bought a round trip ticket for a long western trip and started on the 16th of August arriving in Fort Scott on the 17th. Put in one day with Fulton, leaving on the 19th.”
Fulton was on site setting up the paint space in the theater and was already painting when Moses arrived for a day in Fort Scott. The two worked on a platform twenty-feet above the stage-left side of the theater. The project would be completed in spits and spurts that year.
After leaving Fort Scott and stopping in Salt Lake City, Moses arrived in Los Angeles on the afternoon of the August 22, He wrote, “Got busy immediately at Pasadena for ten days. As a final deal, I offered the Little Rock drops for $8,500.00, closed the deal and at Los Angeles for a big interior for the Consistory.”
So, while Fulton began the Fort Scott job, Moses landed the Pasadena job.
Moses returned to the Fort Scott Project, finished the work with Fulton, and then headed back to Chicago. By November 1924, Moses wrote, “I must get back to Pasadena as they want to open on the 24th of February, so we put the house in perfect shape for cold weather and got our tickets via the D.R.G. through Colorado. Met Fulton at Denver and were soon on our way to San Jose. Arriving in San Francisco, we reached the 3rd Street Station just in time to catch a train for San Jose. Went to the Vendome Hotel and Mrs. Fulton came up. It took us eight days to close a $7,000.00 contract and get to Los Angeles where we spent two days, finally securing a fine apartment at the 159 S. Los Robles Avenue in Pasadena, where we will remain for two months. Had a delightful Christmas day at Walters.”
Moses and Fulton planned on preparing the used Little Rock scenery for installation and painting a few new scenes for the Pasadena Scottish Rite.
Scene by Sosman & Landis for the Scottish Rite theater in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1902. It was sold to the Pasadena Scottish Rite and installed in 1925.Scene by Sosman & Landis for the Scottish Rite theater in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1902. It was sold to the Pasadena Scottish Rite and installed in 1925.Backdrop painted by Thomas G. Moses and Fitch Fulton in 1925 for the Pasadena Scottish Rite.Painted detail. Backdrop painted by Thomas G. Moses and Fitch Fulton in 1925 for the Pasadena Scottish Rite.
On February 14, 1925, the “Pasadena Post” reported, “The magnificent scenic drop curtains which have been hung in the new Scottish Rite cathedral to be dedicated Tuesday evening, are a gift of Major Charles M. Skillen, in memory of his son, the later Dr. Ralph G. Skillen. Both father and sone were charter members of the Pasadena Consistory.“The 73 drops represent some of the finest work of the artists of Sosman & Landis company of Chicago have ever produced, according to Thomas G. Moses, president of the firm, who is in Pasadena to personally supervise the work of installing them. “Each of the drops was especially designed and finished for the Pasadena cathedral. Months were spent in the preparation of then, it is said. About half were painted in the Chicago studios of the company and the reminder finished in this city. While Mr. Moses has watched carefully the painting of the curtains, much credit for their final perfection must go to the assistant and scenic artist, F. B. Fulton. Mr. Fulton believes the scenic work to be some of the finest he has ever produced. The final work of hanging and installing the curtains will be under the supervision of Harry Nail, a member of the Sosman & Landis company. This work demands such expert workmanship that Mr. Nail [sic.] was brought from Chicago so that no mistakes in installation could be made.”
The stage machinery at the Pasadena Scottish Rite installed by Harry E. Naile in 1925. This is the same system that was previously used at the Little Rock Scottish Rite from 1902 to 1923.The Pasadena Scottish Rite theater became known as the Cobb Auditorium in 1935.The original decor at the Pasadena Scottish Rite from 1925.The renovated Pasadena Scottish Rite, ca. 1965.The Pasadena Scottish Rite, c. 2017.
Only if you were standing backstage at the Pasadena Scottish Rite and saw “Little Rock” written all over the back of many of the scenes would you suspect that they scenery was not new. That a good portion of the collection was previously designed and installed at the Little Rock Scottish Rite in Arkansas.
“Little Rock” written on the back of a drop at the Pasadena Scottish Rite.“Little Rock” written on the back of a drop at the Pasadena Scottish Rite.Also included is information about the size, composition, scenic piece, and degree.
When the Scottish Rite in Little Rock purchased new scenery in 1923, their old scenery was returned on credit, applied toward the purchase of new scenery. This used collection was stored and then split between the Miami Scottish Rite and the Pasadena Scottish Rite. When some of the old Little Rock scenery arrived in Pasadena, Moses and Fulton touched up the scenes and then added some drops.Over the decades, the scenery collection was expanded, touched up, and repositioned. A complete remodel of the auditorium took place from 1964-1965, greatly altering the overall aesthetic and proscenium opening that showcased the scenic artworks.https://www.pasadenascottishrite.org/about-us/history/
Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.An example of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
Thomas G. Moses worked with Fitch Fulton on a variety of Scottish Rite scenery projects during 1924 and 1925. One was Pasadena Scottish Rite, a project that offered escape from the cold in Chicago. Moses desperately wanted to spend his winters in California, and the Pasadena Scottish Rite project ensured a few months of work in a warm location.
At the end of 1924, Moses wrote, “The last Sunday in the year we spent at the Fultons, where we enjoyed the day. As I had hoped a year ago, we are spending the winter in California and so far we have thoroughly enjoyed it, as we have many winters in the past.”
Even when Moses and Fulton weren’t painting scenery, they enjoyed social gatherings and sketching trips. The two were a generation apart, with Fulton in his 40s and Moses in his 60s. Both were skilled artists and greatly enjoyed plein air painting. Of one excursion, Moses wrote, “Walter, Fulton and I went out for a day’s sketching at Sycamore Rock near Eagle Rock. We had plenty of visitors. I found a vast difference between the far east and California as far as atmosphere is concerned. So, I was not as successful with my sketches as I had hoped to be.”
Later in 1925, Moses wrote, “We all enjoyed the many week-end trips, we took with wonderful lunches and good sketching grounds. Mrs. Fulton looked after the eats and she certainly did not overlook anything, as we were overfed and did not feel like sketching after the meal. We found some very good sketching down in Topanga Canyon, over towards Santa Monica and Flint Cliff. I would like to make an extended sketching trip out here, but I am very much afraid I will never be able to, as business will keep me from it as it has always done in the past. It has been very pleasant out of doors. Some days the sun was so hot that we had to get under a tree – pretty good for January.”
Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.Topanga postcard form the 1920s.
Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University. The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Fitch Fulton drifted in from the west on the 18th of July and we found work for him on designs.”
Fulton became Moses’ right-hand man for the next few years. Moses, Fulton and Harry Naile formed a unique scenic trio that went from one Masonic project to another, completing work secured by Fred R. Megan. Two of their projects included Scottish Rite theaters in Pasadena, California and Fort Scott, Kansas. Fulton was Moses’ painting assistant, friend, and sketching companion. Like many of Moses’ friends living in California, Fulton transitioned from theater to motion pictures by the 1930s. Moses did not.
Today, Fulton is primarily associated with one particular painting – his matte painting of Tara from “Gone With the Wind.” Measuring 36 inches by 31.5 inches, it was used under the films’ opening credits. In 2013, CBS reported on a Hollywood Memorabilia Auction, where Fulton’s painting was sold for $225,000. (https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/hollywood-memorabilia-auction/). Fulton originally gifted the painting to his son, John P. Fulton, inscribing on the lower right corner, “To John from Dad.” His son John P. Fulton ended up in special effects for the motion picture industry, starting out as a cameraman.
Men like the Fitch Fulton bridged the gap between nineteenth-century special effects and twentieth-century special effects. It is no wonder that his son would excel in the planning and engineering of special effects for film, as he grew up watching his father engineer special effects for the stage. The only difference was that one century created illusion for live performance on stage and the other century used the screen. Again, nineteenth-century scenic artists did much more than paint backdrops, they engineered and often constructed stage illusion, spectacles, amusement park rides and other popular entertainment. Those, like Moses, who clung to only producing special effects for the stage continued to struggle. Interestingly, they became more reliant on the integration and sale of draperies.
Fulton is repeatedly mentioned by Moses his memoirs in 1924 and 1925, I am going to include a little history about this interesting individual. Like Moses, he was not only a scenic artist, but also an easel artist and exhibited his work in California. He was a member of the Painters and Sculptors Club, the Artists of the Southwest, Academy of Western Painters, the California Watercolor Society and the California Art Club.
Fitch Burt Fulton was born in Beatrice, Nebraska, on Oct. 10, 1879. He was the son of John Blythe Fulton (1835-1924) and Sarah Phipps Fulton (1835-1902). One of six children, his siblings were Margaret Ann (1859-1951), Thomas B. (1867-1946), William S. (1868-1955), Richard N. (1870-1953) and Jessie Berlin (1873-1912). Fulton’s artistic ambitions were apparent by the 1890s.
On September 30, 1898, “The Tribune” in Beatrice, Nebraska, reported, “Fitch B. Fulton, the young Beatrice designer and engraver, is rapidly coming to the front. He has gotten up some very handsome and artistic designs of late. The young man shows great ability and undoubtedly has a very bright and successful career before him” (page 6). On October 15, 1898, the “Beatrice Daily Express” reported, “The carnival cut on this page is the design of Fitch B. Fulton of this city. It is a credit to Mr. Fulton’s genius and betrays the evidence of a rising young artis.” He continued his artistic studies in Chicago at this time.
Fitch Fulton’s Carnival Cutfor the Beatrice Daily Express, 1898.
In 1899, Fulton returned to his studies in Chicago after holiday break. On March 14, 1899, the “Beatrice Daily Express” reported, “Fitch B. Fulton has gone to Chicago to re-enter the art institute there.” Fulton studied under John Vanderpoel, Frederick W. Freer and J. Francis Smith at the Art Institute. He also studied at the Arts League of New York.
Fulton married Anna Maria Engstrom (1879-1941) in on March 8, 1902, and the two celebrated the birth of a son, John Phipps Fulton (Nov. 4, 1902), and the birth of a daughter, Bernice (July 23, 1905). Bernice was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
On Dec. 16, 1902, the “Beatrice Daily Express” reported, “The Beatrice Book and Stationary Co. has on display in their north show window a number of sketches done in watercolors by Fitch Fulton, a local artist. These simple studies are well excited and show a fidelity to nature that is remarkable. The color is rather subdued but it is the more striking because of the prevalence and effect of the soft tints. At present Mr. Fulton is in Omaha engaged in work of this nature.”
In 1913, the Fultons moved to San Francisco on where he worked on the railroad exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1914. After the world Fair’s work, the Fulton’s loved in Denver for a year before permanently moving to Los Angeles in 1916.
In 1918, Fulton listed that he was working as a scenic artist at the Edwin H. Flagg Scenic Co. in Long beach, California, on his WWI draft registration card. At the time, his physical appearance was described shirt and stout, with black hair and brown eyes. By 1920, the Federal Census listed the Fultons as living next to fellow scenic artist Arthur R. Hurtt and his wife Winnifred (58 and 55 yrs. old, respectively). The Fultons were at 1510 Mowhawk Street and the Hurtt’s at 1518 Mowhawk Street. That year Fulton partnered with J. D. Martin and Wm. T. Martin to establish the J. D. Martin Scenic Co., Los Angeles. It was listed in the Incorporations section of “Southwest Builders and Contractors” (11 Feb 1920, page 30). The listing included: “Capital stock, $25,000; subscribed, $3,000; Directors J. D. Martin and Wm. T. Martin, 215 E. 25th St., and Fitch B. Fulton, 1519 Mohawk St.; Attorney: William Crop, 544 Wesley Roberts Bldg.
In 1922, the Fultons were living at 1545 Columbia in Glendale, California. That year he was credited with painting a landscape for California’s Pageant of Progress and Industrial Exposition. On September 4, 1922, the “Los Angeles Times” reported, “Camping styles for maid who crave to trade their skirts for knickers and steal away with rod and gun to fish and hunt have become distinctly a Los Angeles product. The best examples of this young Diana styles are on display at one of the most unique and effectively decorated booths on the exposition grounds. The Army and Navy camp shows a mountain woodland scene with a scenic background painted by Fitch B. Fulton, who received a gold medal at the Panama Pacific Exposition for the Gould Railway exhibit. He is a member of the California Art Club.” In 1922 Fulton also received applause for his stage settings for “La Golondrina (The Swallow)” at the playhouse in San Gabriel (Los Angeles Evening Express, 9 April 1922, page 16). J. M. Cox was the director.Throughout the 1920s, he continued to primarily work on stage productions. On June 1, 1925, he was credited with the settings for “The Big Top” at the Majestic (Los Angeles Evening Express, 1 June 1925, page 6).
During the 1920s, Fulton became increasing active in art shows. In 1923, he exhibited with the California Watercolor Society. On January 7, 1923, the “Los Angeles Times” reported “Fitch Fulton’s ‘Wedding Dream’ is remarkably decorative in composition and color, it is permeated with delicate and refined beauty, it is a painted Epithalamium.” In 1925, some of Fulton’s painting were included in the first exhibition of the Artland Artists. On Nov. 1, 1925, the “Daily News” listed “Soboba Sycamore” by Fitch B. Fulton as one of the oil paintings on display (page 33). In 1926, Fulton’s artworks were part of the third exhibit of paintings by the L. A. Art Club (Los Angeles Evening Express, 3 September, 1926, page 17). That year, he also was the president of the Painter and Sculptors Club in Los Angeles. He continued to exhibit artworks whenever he could, but held off on a one-man exhibit until 1951. On April 29, 1951, the “Los Angeles Times” announced “Fitch Fulton Impresses.” (page 14). Fitch Fulton, now 62, has long been known here as a good landscape painter. Until his recent retirement from work for motion pictures, however, he was always too busy to prepare an exhibit. So, at 62 Fulton has his first one-man show. It consists of small oil landscapes, very sensitively recording things see by a poetic eye. This exhibit is on until May 7 at the Little Gallery, 626 N. Glendale Ave.” For a glimpse at some of his paintings, visit Mutual Art at https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Fitch-Fulton/41294041B9B9CE70/Artworks
Fitch Fulton painting sold at auction.Fitch Fulton painting sold at auction.Fitch Fulton painting sold at auction.Fitch Fulton painting sold at auction.Fitch Fulton painting sold at auction.
All the while, he kept working as a scenic artist, completing projects for a variety of studios and under his own name. In 1927, Fulton was credited with the scenic design for the “Devil’s Plum Tree” (San Francisco Examiner, 11 Sept. 1927, page 52.). J. D. Martin Studios in Hollywood executed Fulton’s designs. By the 1930s, Fulton transitioned to the motion pictures and was associated with the visual effects for “The Enchanted Cottage” (1945), “Citizen Cane” (1941), and “Gone with the Wind” (1939). He was listed as part of the technical staff for “Mighty Joe Young” (1949), credited with special effects for the film. Again, this is no surprise as Fulton was already familiar with engineering special effects for the stage.
Fitch Fulton is credited with special effects for “Mighty Joe Young.”Fitch Fulton is credited with special effects for “Mighty Joe Young.”
He lost his wife Anna just as his film career was starting to gather momentum in 1941. On April 7, 1941, their hometown newspaper reported, “A message was received here yesterday announcing the death of Mrs. F. B. Fulton, formerly of Beatrice, which occurred at Glendale, Calif., where she had resided since leaving this city. She has been in failing health for a year or more. Surviving are her husband, who has long been connected with the scenic department of the movie colony in Hollywood, one son John, who is also with the movies as a production representative and a daughter, Bernice. (Beatrice Daily Sun, page 1).
Fulton soon remarried the next year. On May 8, 1942, he was wedded to Mary Ann “Mamie” Davlin Fulton (1890-1994). Mary is quite interesting in her own right, as she was the first woman in the United States and Canada to become a freight router. A native of Plankington, South Dakota, she spent most of her adult life in Los Angeles, where she attended Heald Business College. This was Mary’s second marriage too. She long out lived Fitch, passing away in 1995 at the age of 104.
The grave of Fitch and Mary Fulton
He died on Feb. 23, 1955 in Glendale, California and is buried at Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California. His obituary was published in the “Los Angeles Times” on Feb. 25, 1955. It noted, “Mr. Fulton, who first came to California in 1913, was a designer and artist. He leaves his widow Maryl; a daughter Mrs. Krutchfield Ahair, Santa Barbara; a son, John P. Fulton, North Hollywood, and four grandchildren.”
I cannot end this post without a brief mention of Fulton’s daughter and son. Both of the Fulton children were artistically gifted. When Bernice married in 1932, the “San Bernardino Country Sun” reported, “Miss Fulton has been a teacher in the art department of the Belmont high school, Los Angeles, for five years, being a graduate of U. C. L. A. and also studies in Europe. Her father was the artist painting the curtain in the municipal auditorium in San Bernardino.”
Her brother, John P. Fulton, directed his artistic abilities toward the film industry. In 1930, John P. was listed as a Cinematographer in the motion picture industry, living at 1168 ½ on Hampshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.
A decade later, John P. was listed as a cameraman in the 1940 census. By 1947, his draft registration card listed his employer as Universal Pictures Corp, Universal City. At the time, John was living with Bernice at 1521 Kings Rd. Hollywood, California. There is a great amount of information out there about Fitch’s son, especially blog posts. Here is a link to
Sadly, John passed away only a decade after his father. In 1965, he contracted a rare infection while working on a film in Madrid, Spain (“The Battle of Britain”), and passed away in an English hospital.
Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
Examples of historic scenic art from the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
The Scenic Collection includes elements from the settings of 90 operas, with approximately 900 backdrops and borders and more than 2200 framed scenic units. The stage settings illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932. In addition to the scenery there are 3 dimensional units including furniture and properties. Furthermore, the collection is supported by an extraordinary archive of production notebooks, property lists, inventories, expense records, performance time sheets, correspondence, original photographs of the sets, selected costumes, and opera stars of the period, ground plans and blueprints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.
Unfortunately, some of the scenery has been damaged since initial documentation. The roof leaks and flooding is a problem due to non-working sump pumps.
