In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Closed a contract at Pittsburg for some new drapery at the Shrine.” Moses was referring to the new Shrine Temple in Pittsburg, Kansas. The Mirza Temple featured an auditorium and galleries with a seating capacity of 2,500.
The Mirza Shrine building in Pittsburg, Kansas, 1924.The building is now known as the Pittsburg Memorial Auditorium.
On August 25, 1924, the “Parsons Daily Sun” included a picture of the new building and announced, “Mirza Mosque As It Nears Completion” (page 6). The article described, “The mosque of Mirza Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Pittsburg which is being built by the Shriners of southeast Kansas, over which the temple has jurisdiction is nearing completion. The structure is being erected at a cost of over $400,000, of which the Shriners in Parsons pledged a generous amount. The building of the mosque started about a year ago and it is expected the formal opening will take place sometime this fall. The structure is three stories high, covers a half block square is built of dark red brick and trimmed with Carthage building stone. When competed it will have adequate facilities for all the Shrine activities. The auditorium will seat between 2500 and 2600 and the stage, is large enough to care for the elaborate ceremonials of the Shrines. The city of Pittsburg will have access to the various community affairs.” The article went on to state that there were about 3,000 Shriners in the district which includes southeastern Kansas. Mirza Temple also had a 52-piece band whose members came from all over the area, including Iola, Parsons and Coffeyville. By the late 1920s, Mirza Temple also had a group named the “Agitatin’ Annies,” a woman’s auxiliary of the Shrine that performed and marched in parades.
The Mirza Shrine Circus TrainThe Mirza Shrine’s Agitatin’ Annies, c. 1929Illustrations of the Mirza Shrine were published in regional newspapers.Detail of the entrance still used today.
On November 13, 1925, the “Chanute Weekly Tribune” included a picture of the new building with the description, “the above building has a frontage of 167 feet on Pine and 142 feet on Fifth Street in Pittsburg. In its interior is an auditorium for conferring the Shrine work, also for entertainments, including the productions of the largest theatrical companies on the road. The most wonderful electrical effects produced in great theatres of New York City can be reproduced by the Temple equipment. Various offices, patrol and band rooms, dining hall accommodating 1500 people, dancing floor, kitchens, etc. are also in the building” (page 6).
The Patrol for the Mirza Shrine, c. 1929The Mirza Shrine drew members from Iola, Kansas.
On November 27, 1925, the “Chanute Weekly Tribune” reported, “Many Chanute Shriners sojourned to Pittsburg yesterday to attend the dedication of Mirza Temple’s new mosque, costing half a million dollars. The dedication ceremonial was held at 10 o’clock in the morning and in the afternoon a class of 114 novices began their pilgrimage over the burning sands at the largest ceremonial session ever held by Mirza Temple” (page 4).
For the past year, I have slowly plugged along on the Tabor Opera House scenery project. In addition to two site visits, I tracked down a massive amount of information pertaining to the individuals and scenic studios that produced scenery for the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, and the Tabor Grand Opera House in Denver, Colorado. Both were built by silver magnate Horace Tabor in 1879 and 1881, respectively. The story of the Tabor Opera House is intertwined with the success of a boom town, a passionate love triangle, and the establishment of the Silver Circuit. Tabor and his opera houses have repeatedly been the topic for both fictional and non-fictional accounts, even inspiring the 1932 movie “Silver Dollar.” Tabor’s second wife was the famed beauty featured in the 1958 opera by Douglas Moore and John Latouche, “The Ballad of Baby Doe”(http://usopera.com/operas/ballad.html).
The Tabor Opera House in Leadville was planned by someone who did not understand theatre architecture nor the basic logistics. Horace Tabor was simply a patron of the arts with money to burn. Although his opera house opened in November 1879, the auditorium and stage were renovated by August 1882; the acoustics and stage machinery were an abysmal failure. There were more structural changes for the building two decades later when the building was purchased by Leadville’s Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E.). Tabor lost his fortune in the early 1890s, and the building changed hands before the Elks purchased it in 1901.
The Tabor Opera House in Leadville, c. 1879-1882The Elks Opera House (renovated Tabor Opera House) after 1902.
By the way, the founder of the Elks (actor Charles Vivian) died in Leadville and his funeral was held at the Tabor Opera House.
When the Elks acquired the Tabor Opera House (then known as the Weston Opera House), they completely renovated the auditorium and stage. Part of the renovation included adding a fly loft and purchasing all new scenery from the Kansas City Scenic Co. The Kansas City Scenic Co. subcontracted some of their project to the Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio of Chicago. Sosman & Landis delivered at least two of the interior settings and a ceiling panel.
Between 1879 and 1902 new scenery was delivered multiple times as the venue transitioned from a wing-and-shutter scenery to a fly drops, box sets and folding wings. Scenic artists included decorative artist James E. Lamphere (C. A. Treat, Denver), T. Frank Cox (well-known theater architect and founder of Cox Bros. Great Southern Studio, New Orleans) and Henry E. Burcky (well-known scenic artist of Hooley’s Theatre in Chicago and the 1881 Cincinnati Opera Festival).
Tree profile by Frank Cox, 1888.Signature and date on back of tree profile by Frank Cox, 1888.Cut Shutter by T. Frank Cox, 1888.Moving painted shutters by T. Frank Cox.
When the nineteenth-century scenery was replaced with new scenery in 1902, the old scenery was simply stored in the attic. Over the years a few pieces were lowered to the floor, but it was an arduous task to transfer it from the attic to the stage floor, so much remained untouched. Until 2020, much of the scenery remained stacked along one attic wall, patiently waiting under piles of dust and debris.
Piles of nineteenth-century scenery were once stored in the attic of the Tabor Opera House. Photograph from June 19, 2018.
I was hired in 2020 to document and evaluate the Tabor Opera House scenery collections. My task was to conduct a historical analysis of the collection, evaluate the condition of individual artifacts, provide replacement estimates, and create a collections care management program. At the time, I believed there were about 50 pieces on the stage and about 30 pieces in the attic. I was very, very wrong, and grossly underestimated the amount. I could not never have anticipated the size or scope of the collections. The sheer numbers surprised everyone.
A small section of flats stacked against the back wall of the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado.
To date, the documented stage artifacts comprise fourteen unique theatre collections, spanning from 1879-1902. There are over 250 individually painted compositions, as many pieces are double-painted. Nineteenth-century scenery once stored in the attic was designed for a wing-and-shutter system. The twentieth-century scenery was designed for a more modern stage with a fly loft. I have never encountered so much scenery delivered to one place, specifically one small opera house in the mountains. Even when the scenery was damaged over the years, it wasn’t discarded. We uncovered dozens of painted scraps and little broken bits, just tucked away, out of sight, out of mind.
The packed stage before all of the attic scenery was lowered to the stage floor.
I have completed two of three phases, as there are still piles of undocumented scenery scattered throughout the building, stored above attic rafters and elsewhere. The first phase of the project (February 2020) focused on the twentieth-century scenery and the second phase (September 2020) focused on the nineteenth-century scenery in the attic. The third phase will happen sometime this year and include a “rounding up” of the remaining artifacts. They just keep popping up all over the place.
The historical analysis of the fourteen Tabor Opera House collections is 440 pages long. I wrote the text in a conversational format to help communicate information to both the Board of Directors and architects. I included fun facts and stories for moments of levity, sharing the lives and careers of the many individuals involved with the stage from 1879-1902. I wanted these artifacts to personally impact those without a thorough understanding of technical theatre or theatre history. The title of my tome is “A Theatre Time Capsule: Scenic Collections at the Tabor Opera House.” My work places the collections and each artifact within a historical context, both nationally and internationally. This 440-page document does not include the individual conditions reports, replacement appraisals, recommendations or collections care program. That was a whole separate headache. When everything is put together, my work is just shy of 1300 pages. I am dreading making a hard copy of everything next month.
A stray piece documented in the Tabor Opera House attic, June 2018.That same stage artifact cleaned and lowered to the stage floor in September 2020.Nineteenth-century stage setting delivered to the Tabor Opera House.Twentieth-century scene delivered to the Tabor Opera House.
The scope of the collection is the broadest that I have ever encountered, not just in regard to the scenery, but also in regard to stage hardware. Yes, there is water damage, punctures, abrasions, poor repairs, alterations and the like, but much of the scenery is between 119 and 142 years old, so with that in mind, the scenery is in remarkable shape and all salvageable.
I will keep you posted once third final phase is complete.
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, “Dave Adam’s funeral on June 24th. Rupert and I went in his car. Dave was a fine fellow and was only 40 years of age. He had made quite a hit with his pictures.” Adam specialized in portrait painting and taught at the Art Institute of Chicago.
David L. Adams, 1922
David L. Adam died on June 20, 1924 and was buried four days later at the Irving Park Blvd. Cemetery. On June 21, 1924, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “David L. Adam, Artist Dies After Operation” (page 8). The obituary notice described, “David L. Adam. 40 years old, former president of the Palette and Chisel club, 1012 North Dearborn street, and widely known as an artist, died at the Columbus hospital yesterday afternoon following an operation. The funeral will be held Tuesday from the undertaking rooms of C. Kraupse, 3905 Lincoln avenue.”
David Livingston Adam was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 8, 1883. He was the son of William Palaue Adam (b. 1846) and Isabella Kilpatrick (b. 1849) Adams. Born in 1884, he was one of four children born to the couple. His brother, William Jr., was born in 1881, his sister Mary in 1882, and his sister Isabella in 1885. The family emigrated from Scotland in 1897, settling in Chicago where William Sr., William Jr. and David all worked as artists. The 1900 census listed their occupation as “copyist and artist.” That year, the family was living at 5926 Ontario Street.
Prior to his arrival in America, David had studied at the Glasgow School of art with Jean Delville and M. Greiffenhagen. In America, Adam continued his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and was active in the Palette & Chisel Club. This was where he became close friends with Moses. He and Moses selected the final site for the club’s summer home at Fox Lake. In Moses’ scrapbook there was an article from the mid-1920s entitled, “The Camp Tradition Draws Members to Fox Lake.” The article noted the selection of the club’s summer location: “The present site was elected by Tom Moses and the late Dave Adam, and their choice was immediately ratified by the erection of a more pretentious camp building that we have ever before.” The club’s summer quarters at Fox Lake were described on Oct. 2, 1921, in the “Chicago Tribune”- “During the summer months the club maintains a place at Fox Lake for outdoor painting. The ‘Summer Camp,’ as it is called, is the property of the club and comprises a clubhouse of sufficient size to accommodate seventy-five persons. It occupies a site adjacent to the lake.”
In 1921, Adam was president of the Palette and Chisel Club. That year, the Palette and Chisel Club was featured in the “Chicago Tribune” when the club became part of the North Side Colony. In 1921 the Palette & Chisel Club also opened its new quarters on 1012 North Dearborn street. For the opening David L. Adam was listed as the master of the ceremonies (Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct 1921, page 18). As his term was ending at the club, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “At a recent meeting of the Palette and Chisel club Glen Scheffer was elected president for the coming year. He takes the office from David L. Adam, under whose presidency the club has made great strides during the last year. It now has a membership of 200, which it is hoped will be increased by 350 in the near future. Sketch classes are held four nights a week” (12 Feb 1922, page 76). On April 3, 1922, he was interviewed by “the Inquiring Reporter” for the “Chicago Tribune.” When Adam was asked, “What is your best cure for the blues?” at the Palette and Chisel Club, he responded, “I so seldom have had the blues that I hardly know whether they are blue or black or what. Prevention is better than any cure, and I have to do that by having so many outside interests.”
At the time of his death, Adam’s occupation was listed as a teacher, specializing in portraiture at the Art Institute. His is just one more tale of a talent that ended too soon.
Over the years, Moses saw so many artists cut down at their prime. This list included Moses’ first mentor, Louis Malmsha of McVicker’s, and his one-time business partner Walter Burridge. There is something tragic about an artist who dies so early in life, just when the sun is starting to shine. You never see them grow old, their artistic styles shift, or them overcome any of life’s later obstacles. They are frozen in time, always full of promise and potential.
Two painting by David Livingston Adam.Amelia Earhart by David L. Adam, 1919.Painting by David L. Adam, 1923.
In 1924, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “…made my way to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to meet Mr. Wehn, Secretary of the Board of Education. We went up into the hills and I made two sketches, which I afterward presented to him.” That spring, newspapers reported, “Jamestown’s School Cost Takes Big Jump” (The Warren Tribune, 8 May 1924, page 12). From 1919-1924, the cost for operating the public schools in Jamestown increased 13 percent. Class sizes were getting bigger as the town expanded. There was a similar situation all over the country as schools were continually planned and built.
Postcard of the Johnstown High School in Pennsylvania
Later in 1924, Moses wrote, “Our work is running to schoolhouses and parochial halls.”
New school buildings meant that there was in increased demand for stage scenery and draperies in these academic facilities. Although the projects were much smaller than touring productions and Masonic projects, these school auditoriums offered a constant stream of work.
Stages were also being outfitted with new equipment and scenery throughout Pennsylvania. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the “Evening News” reported, “New scenery and a new curtain was yesterday set up on the auditorium stage at the High School building. The equipment will be used the first time tomorrow evening for the opening performance of “The Charm School,” the senior class play” (March 26, 1924, page 4).
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.
Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.From the Scenery Collection stored in the Arts Annex of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Northern Illinois University.
In 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “July 30th, I started south to Memphis, where I had to go over into Arkansas to make a sketch in a dismal swamp. Architect Awsumb went with me. I believe everything in the line of insects and reptiles lived in that swamp and had been waiting for us. I made a sketch as quickly as possible and got all other data necessary.”
ArchitectGeorge Awsumb (1880-1959)
Moses was accompanied by the well-known architect George Awsumb (1880-1959). The two worked together on the Memphis Municipal Auditorium that year. I find their trip to an Arkansas swamp fascinating, as they were going on site to gather source material, likely for one of the exterior stage settings at the auditorium. Moses came from a generation of artists who gathered primary source work for both their stage settings and easel art.
Much has been written about Awsumb and his architectural endeavors, but here is a brief synopsis.
George Awsumb was born in Skien, Norway, on July 20, 1880. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1883 when he was three years old. The Awsumbs settled in Whitewater, Wisconsin, where George graduated from the high school in 1898. The family later moved to Eau Claire. He started college studies as an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1901. His interest and studies changed, and he began studying architecture at the University of Illinois in Champaign. After completing a Bachelors in Science by 1906, he began working as a draftsman in Chicago at various architectural offices. By 1913, he founded his own architectural firm and became a member of the Chicago Architectural Club. He won the Club’s traveling scholarship and later became the president in 1919. That same year, he entered a competition with Charles O. Pfeil for the design of the Memphis Municipal Auditorium. On October 26, 1924, the “Leader-Telegram” reported, the designer and architect of the building was George Awsumb, son of Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Awsumb of this city. Mrs. Awsumb is at present visiting her son in Memphis. Mr. Awsumb was also the architect who designed both the city hall here and also the city auditorium.”
Pfeil & Awsumb operated until 1929, when Awsumb broke away and founded another firm under his own name. Eventually, his firm became Awsumn & Sons. Here is the link to the Awsumb Architectural Collection in the Digital Archive of the Memphis Public Libraries: https://memphislibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p13039coll1/id/220/rec/1
We all experience those unique moments in life that fuel our artistic passions. We may be 18 or 80, but that moment is unforgettable and guides our path. At the University of Minnesota, I went from performance to painting in the blink of an eye. Historic scenery brought focus to my chaotic aspirations.
I first attended USITT as an undergraduate in 1989. That year the conference was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The USITT Expo floor contained a potpourri of historic scenery and models that had been recently acquired by the School of Theatre and Dance at Northern Illinois University. This was during the same time that Lance Brockman was acquiring several historic design collections for the University of Minnesota, including the Twin City Scenic Co. collection, the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. Collection and Holak Collection.
Wendy Waszut at USITT in 1989.Wendy Waszut at USITT in 1989.Painted detailfrom the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.
The scenery on display at USITT was a very small sample of a much larger collection that was documented by Alexander F. Adducci in the 1980s. He painstakingly photographed each artifact with a crew of students and produced an exceptional slide collection. The slides were initially used as a teaching resource. Adducci was listed as the curator for “A Collection of Late 19th and Early 20th Century Scenic Art, Containing 3100 Color Images, Documenting a Rich Period of American and European Scene Painting and Opera Design.” The slide collections sold by the University of Northern Illinois were purchased by a variety of academic institutions and archives throughout the country in the late twentieth-century. Many of the slides now sit in their archival sleeves, carefully protected and often inaccessible. They remain untouched. Here is the link to the slide collection at the University of Minnesota: https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/9/resources/1907
This collection ignited my own spark, a spark that continued to be kindled by dry pigment and barrels of size water. At the time, I did not truly understand the historical or cultural significance of the collection, only seeing the beauty of the brushwork. It is only now that I recognize the international significance of this collection. As the slide inventory states,”Housed 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. These sets illustrate an exceptional range of production styles between 1889 and 1932, reflecting the influence of Realism, Romanticism, Impressionism, Modernism and Art Nouveau in scene painting. 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 blue prints, painters elevations and renderings, original costume and set design drawings, and 120 exquisitely painted and detailed ¼” scale maquettes of the settings.”
Backdrop from the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.Backdrop detail from the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.Painted detail from the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.From the Scenery Collection at USITT in 1989.
In an odd twist of fate, the Scenery Collection popped back onto my radar a few years ago while attending another USITT conference in Fort Lauderdale. I have since reacquainted myself with the collection as its future is in peril.I am going to start sharing images of these extraordinary artifacts, now housed in a leaking warehouse with an uncertain future. Although these precious pieces have been quarantined for quite some time, they deserve another moment under the spotlights. I will be working with Dave Doherty, and we will bring every nook and cranny of this collection to you online. Here are a few photos from when the scenery was featured at USITT in 1989.
In the spring of 1924 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I have had a fearful cough for several months, begins to be chronic and running about in a car is not helping it very much.” For quite some time Moses had been suffering from both headaches and difficulty breathing.
Between securing contracts and competing projects, Moses was running himself ragged. Constantly being on the go was starting to take a toll. Between the spring of 1924 and the spring of 1925, Moses secured and completed a staggering amount of projects all over the country. At this same time, his health began to worsen. As many of us are prone to do, he ignored the warning signs and just kept plugging along. The breaking point occurred in California that April.
Moses and Fitch Fulton arrived in San Jose on March 27, 1925. He wrote, “Fulton and I got busy immediately, got a good start and pounded away pretty steadily until April 18th when my trouble that had been growing for the past four years came to a climax, and it was a case of life or death. Dr. Moore and Fulton got me to the San Jose Hospital on a Saturday night after an unsuccessful attempt to relieve me of my trouble.
The San Jose Hospital
“It took two nurses to keep me alive. When morning came, an operation had to be performed. Madam arrived from Los Angeles in the afternoon, several hours after the operation. I very soon recovered from the shock and while it was necessary to be kept quiet, the Madam was with me every minute, only going to the hotel at night. The day nurse, Vera Schultz, was a good strong girl, and delighted in taking me out in a wheelchair as the weather was fine. I enjoyed being out of doors, the hospital was very good and nicely situated in the city limits. I was in good condition by May 1st and I was taken again to the operating room for the second serious operation, which was successful, after which came the battle for strength. The weather became unsettled and gloomy, which did not help me very much. What I was obliged to go through in the hands of the doctor and the nurses was worse than the operation. All through my illness, I had to keep work going and had to ask the Madam to see that the salaries were paid and the work at the Consistory did not stop. It was opened on time and we were through on April 27th, a few days before my second operation. The members of the studio were very kind to me and my room was filled with flowers; the studio boys did not forget me. I here realized what brotherly love meant…On May 30th, I was allowed to go back to the hotel. I was very weak and could hardly walk. The Madam and I went to Santa Cruz for a week, stopping at the Casa Del Rey Hotel, which was very fine in every way. I made several sketches on the beach and fed the sea gulls. It was wonderful to be able to get out in the sunlight and drink in the pure air after such a long siege in the hospital.” And then he went back to work, picked up the pace and just kept plugging along – again. But this was a bit of a wake-up call for Moses. He would recall that his hospital experience dominated his entire California time that year, with projects being completed either “before or after the taking.”
As Moses celebrated his birthday that summer, he wrote, “The 21st of July was my 69th birthday, and I believe I have a great deal to be thankful for, as my health is one hundred per cent better than a year ago, and we have a good business – there is nothing more to be wished for.”
