In 1920 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “My models for the Shrine got
us a good contract in Helena, Montana, something over $11,000.00.”
This was the Algeria Mosque for the Ancient Arabic Order of
the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also known as the Algeria Shrine Temple. Designed
by George S. Carsley and Charles S. Haire, the building included a 17-story
minuet. When the structure was completed, local newspapers announced that 3,500
individuals could fit in the auditorium (Glasgow Courier, 8 April 1921, page
2).
The Shrine Temple, also known as the Algeria Mosque, in Helena, Montana.Helena Shrine Temple, the Algeria Mosque.
On Dec. 10, 1920, the “Glasgow Courier” reported, “Algeria
Temple is planning one of its most important ceremonials next March, when the
new mosque will be dedicated, and it is expected the officers of the imperial
council will be present. In addition, invitations will be sent to many of the
leading Shriners in North America. The date for the ceremonial will be
announced later. It is understood a large class will be on hand for the trip
over the sands at that time” (page 1).
From the “Conrad Independent,” 20 May 1920, page 9
The cornerstone laying ceremony was planned for June 19,
1920, immediately after the four-day Scottish Rite Reunion. On April 8, 1921,
special trains carrying Shriners arrived in Helena for the dedication of the building
(“Independent-Record,” 26 March 1921, page 9). The “Glasgow Courier” reported,
“Chicago, Sioux City, Spokane, Omaha and St. Paul are sending large
delegations. Great Falls, Billings, Butte, Miles City and Missoula are planning
for special pullman loads of stockmen, businessmen and bankers. The Helena
commercial club, which is in charge of local arrangements is expecting to take
care of 1500 people” (April 8, 1921, page 2).
On April 9, the “Butte Miner” reported, “With more than
3,000 out of town members of the Mystic Shrine in attendance, the new temple of
the Algeria Shrine (Helena) was dedicated today. Imperial Potentate Ellis Lewis
Garretson was here from Tacoma, Wash., and officiated at the dedicatory
ceremonies. A large class was initiated into the order at a ceremonial last
night when the new temple was used for initiation for the first time” (April 9,
1921, page 1).
The building changed hands after extensive damage caused from an earthquake in 1935. As Shriners were unable to fund the necessary repairs, the city purchased the building by 1938.
In 1939 a fire station was added to the structure and the building became home to government departments until 1979. The Algerian Temple is now known as the Helena Civic Center. For more information about the space, visit “Helena As She Was” – http://www.helenahistory.org/civic_center.htm
In 1920 Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“The Madam and I have concluded to go to California this summer, so we started
to make our plans, going in August.”
“We left for the West August 19th. As I have written the trip up very fully in
my travelogues, I will not repeat it here.
Arrived home on September 28th, having been gone forty days,
it was certainly some trip.” This was Moses’ “summer vacation” before really
settling in at the Sosman & Landis main studio. Although Moses’ desired to
move west, his strong ties to Chicago kept him tethered in the Midwest. Later
in life, Moses would spend an increasing amount of time in California, joining
the Pasadena Scottish Rite and frequently landing scenery contracts along the
Pacific Coast.
Moses was one of many scenic artists across the country who
migrated west as employment opportunities continued to skyrocket; they followed
the work. The scenic art business was
rapidly changing as the demand for painted scenery continued to decline in many
areas. However, California continued to offer new opportunities that ranged
from parade floats and circus shows to legitimate theater and film sets. In
addition to an abundance of work, the temperate climate was ideal. Many Chicago
scenic artists moved to the west coast, after apprenticing in Chicago. One
California contemporary of Moses was O. L. Fest. Only four years older than
Moses, he began working as a scenic artist in Chicago and then moved to San
Francisco by the late 1870s. Fest became a mainstay at the Tivoli Theater, a
venue where Moses’ mentioned stopping to visit friends.
In 1920, the “San Francisco Examiner” announced Fest’s passing:
“Scenic artist at Tivoli Dies. Oscar L. Fest Widely known
among theatrical people passes away at 67” (6 March 1920, page 4). The article
continued, “Oscar L. fest, for more than twenty years the chief scenic artist
at the old Tivoli Opera House, died yesterday at his home, 1616 Turk st., after
a lingering illness. Fest arrived in this country from Germany when 9 months
old. His work as a scenic artist was a feature of the Tivoli operas, and his
yearly transformation scenes at Christmas were much admired by early-day
theatre-goers.
“He was a life member of Cleveland Lodge, No 211, F. &
A. A., and of Golden Gate Camp No. 64, Woodmen of the World. A widow [Minnie]
and two daughters, Helen A. and Mattie Lois Fest, survive. Funeral services
will be held this afternoon from the undertaking parlors of Theodore Dierke
& Co., 901 Divisadero st., Interment will be private.”
“The San Francisco Chronicle” added, “Fest is well
remembered by those who attended the performances at the old Tivoli Opera house
a generation ago and up to the time of the 1906 fire, where he was a scenic
artist, and his Christmas season transformations were considered wonderful” (7
March 1920, page 12.)
Oscar Louis Fest was born 10 August 1852 in Breslau, Germany.
His parents, John and Helena “Ellen” Fest, emigrated to the United States,
sailing aboard the Mathilde, from Bremen, in 1853. In Syracuse, Fest’s father
became a naturalized citizen on 29 Sept. 1858. The family was still residing in
Syracuse, according to the 1860 US census. By 1870, the Fests were living in
Chicago. At the age of 18, Oscar L. Fest was listed as a painter in the 1870 US
Federal Census. His father was employed as a cooper. On May 6, 1874, Fest
married Minnie Burkhart in Cook County, Illinois.
By 1877, Fest was listed in the San Francisco Directory as a scenic artist, residing at 548 ½ Tehama. At the time, he was listed with the Grand Opera House.
By 1879, the directory listed Fest was working for the Adelphi Theatre. The earliest mention of Fest at the Tivoli was in 1883. That year, “The San Francisco Examiner” reported, “The new drop-curtain, ‘The Spanish Mail” painted by Oscar L. fest, will be used during the run of the piece, which judging from the manner of its first presentation and the applause that welcomed each successive scene, will be a long period” (27 Feb 1883, page 3). In 1889 Moses recorded visiting fellow scenic artists at the Tivoli Theatre, including Bill Porter. In 1891 the San Francisco Directory still listed Fest at the Tivoli.
Fest’s 1896 passport application noted that the artist was 56
years old with a height of 5’-9.” His physical description listed brown eyes, iron
gray hair, a square and high forehead, straight nose and “ordinary” mouth and
chin.
At the end of March 1920, Moses
delivered Atlantic City Boardwalk scenery to the St. Louis Coliseum for a local
charity event. At the time, he was working for Chicago Scenic Studios, having
left both Sosman & Landis and New York Studios in Sept. 1918 and Sept, 1919
respectively.
By the spring of 1920, Moses
wrote, “On the 20th of April, I signed an agreement to return to
Sosman and Landis Company to draw $6,500.00 for the first year and my stock
returned to me, which means I will have a chance to get more if I can make the
business pay.”
He was returning to a dying
company, one that would close within three years. He wrote. “I have painted a
large autumn canvas for the Sosman and Landis Company office, as the offices
are going to be very nice.”
There were also a few events
leading up to his return. Just before he recorded his decision of a return to
Sosman & Landis, Moses wrote, “My head aches all the time – not severe, but
a dull ache that is very annoying.” The headaches were likely from his 1918
head injury. That year, he wrote, “October 10th, I was knocked down
by a boy on a bicycle in Oak Park. It
was dark and I did not see the wheel. It
was thought by the doctor that I had fractured my skull. It was a couple of months before I recovered.” Moses didn’t take the time to let the injury
properly heal and was on the road again too soon. The headaches continued to plague him for the
next few years.
Moses was also having problems
with his teeth, something that doctors also thought may be contributing to his
headaches. Later in 1920 he wrote, “Had an X-ray taken of my teeth and found
them awfully bad, so I had to get busy and have them all extracted, excepting
six lower ones. It was some job. Not as much of a shock as I expected.” A few
months later, Moses wrote, “My headache still continues and there seems to be
no help for it. No one seems to know the
cause, now that my teeth are all out, which everyone thought would be the
remedy.”
But there was another dynamic at
play before his return to Sosman & Landis.
That spring Moses wrote, “Mr.
Hunt arrived from New York and remained for a few days, then left for
California where he will remain several weeks.
I interceded for Parker, formerly of Sosman and Landis with Mr. Hunt,
and I think he will engage him to go to New York City.” Now this statement
caught me by surprise. Moses had signed a one year contract with Chicago
Studios during the fall of 1919, after having left the employ of David H. Hunt
at New York Studios. Did he go back, and was New York Studios still considered
the eastern affiliate of Sosman & Landis?
By early spring 1920, Moses wrote, “We are having a hard
time to keep a man in the office. Nobody
seems to please Mr. Hunt.” So, Moses was working with Hunt during the early
spring of 1920, yet not associated with Sosman & Landis, but there was also
no mention of Chicago Studios who he accepted a one-year agreement with from
fall 1919 to fall 1920. After Moses’ returned to Sosman & Landis, Hunt is
still in the picture. That summer, Moses wrote, ““Mr. Hunt sent Mr. Leo Staler
on from New York to take my place and while he tried to be very nice about it,
there was something about his attitude that didn’t ring true.” Mr. Hunt was
also involved with Sosman & Landis finances, as Moses mentioned him in
August 1920: “Mr. Hunt promised to send me a check for $700.00 on the 15th
of August. I had to go without it, and
received it in Colorado Springs after I had made all the arrangements for money
to go with. We left for the West August
19th.”
The honeymoon phase of Moses’
return to Sosman & Landis had already worn off by summer. By the end of May
Moses wrote, “The haggling and wrangling in the studio and office is certainly
getting the best of me, and I will be glad when time comes for me to migrate to
Clinton Street.”
Moses must have migrated to the
main studio on Clinton Street after returning from his summer vacation, August
19-Sept. 28. Upon his return, he wrote, “ It took me a few days before I was in
the harness again, and working just the same as I did before I left two years
ago. Landis and I got out after business
within a few days after my arrival and succeeded in landing a few good
ones. I started to do some painting but
it did not last long, as I had too much other business to do. I found the conditions altogether different
from what I supposed them to be – too much overhead. It will be awfully hard to keep up the output
to balance it all.”
Sosman & Landis had flailed about for two years during Moses’ absence. Although he had returned, it was too late to resuscitate the dying company. He was trying to make the best out of a bad situation. But he was also returning home. His scenic career really started in the Clinton Street studio in 1880. He was there were Sosman and Landis built the space. He would be there when the firm left the space in 1923 too. Good or bad, it was everything familiar to him. At the end of 1920, Moses wrote, “I am pretty well satisfied with the result of this year’s work and I feel that changing back to Clinton Street was the best thing for me to do, as I really belong there, as my money will always be there unless the business is sold.” I have to wonder if he had any idea that the business would be sold in under three short years. He was 64 years old at the time.
Sosman & Landis also manufactured stage hardware until the 1920s.
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “New models for an Indian
decoration to be used in a Rock Island theatre.
Of course, a movie. These were
accepted by the owners and I know we can get something very effective out of
it.”
The Rock Island Theater has been one of the more difficult
venues to track down, especially since there are multiple theaters named “Rock
Island.” Does “Rock Island Theater” designate the name, location, or both name
and location? There was an Illinois Theatre in Rock Island, Illinois.
If Moses installed the scenery at the Rock Island Theater in Venice, Illinois, it was possibly the same one noted at Cinematreasures.com, stating, “The Rock Island Theatre was operating as an African-American theatre between 1948 until at least 1955.” Here is the link: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/56291 It makes me wonder if the venue also opened as an African-American theatre.
In 1921, “The Julius Cahn-Gus Hill Theatrical Guide and
Moving Picture Directory” included an “Index to Colored Theatres.” The beginning
of the section notes:
“The following lists have been compiled within the past six
month from information obtained in many ways. Since there has been no previous
effort to list either attractions or houses the task has been rather difficult.
The Guide is greatly indebted to M. C. Maxwell, former manager of the Liberty
Theatre, Alexandria, La.’ The T.O.B.A.; the Comet Film Exchange of
Philadelphia, the Micheaux Pictures Corporation and to Jackson of the Billboard
for their kindly co-operation in collecting the necessary information. We make
no pretense that the lists are complete, nor do we assure absolute freedom from
inaccuracies, We do, however, present these results of painstaking effort with
a view of serving the profession as much as it is possible with the information
at hand, and with the object of encouraging additions and corrections that will
make possible a complete and accurate tabulation of the theatrical interests of
the group. Owners, managers and artists alike will be performing a distinct
service to themselves by filing addresses and description of their interests
with Julius Cahn-Gus Hill Theatrical Guide and Moving Picture Directory, thus
enabling us to properly answer the many professional inquiries that come to us
in your interest. List of theatres dependent upon colored patronage, either
owned or operated for the race; with Negro population of cities where 1920
census were available, character of ownership and type of house, so far as has
been ascertained:
KEY-W means white; O means ownership; C means colored; M
means management; V means plays vaudeville or road shows; E means equipped for
shows, but operated at present with pictures only; P means pictures only; D
means drama.”
The Julius Cahn-Gus Hill Theatrical Guide and Moving Picture Supplement, 1921
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“The Madam and I enjoyed Mrs. Fiske in “Nell of New Orleans” at Powers. She was very fine.”
Mrs. Minnie Maddern Fiske
starred as Aunt Nelly in “Nell O’ New Orleans.” Each act of the play was set in
the garden of Miss Nell’s home in New Orleans. The second act was the same
setting illuminated for the Mardi Gras at a dinner party. The final scene
showed the same setting the morning after a violent storm. Some wonderful historic
photos of Fiske are available at “Early History of Theatre in Seattle” – here
is the link: http://seattletheatrehistory.org/collections/people/minnie-maddern-fiske
Mrs. Fiske from the Seattle Theatre History site.
The show was quite popular in
1920 and 1921, both in North America and overseas. In England, it was Miss
Irene Vanbrugh who played the part of Miss Nelly in this Creole drama.
In 1921, the “London Times”
described the “Nell O’ New Orleans plot line (Feb 16, 1921, page 8): “This is a
play of atmosphere and the players know it and see that you don’t forget it.
They are liquidly and meticulously Creole. Their Creole idioms seem to melt in
the mouth. The dishes on the table, they tell you, are carefully prepared à
la Créole. They have coloured people to wait on then and coloured people to
sing them ‘off.’ The scene is laid in an old garden ‘on’ St. Charles-street in
New Orleans. You hear of ‘bayous.’
“So you are fully persuaded to be
in Louisiana, where, it appears, anything may happen. For instance Aunt
(pronounced ant) Nelly may come back from Paris with a fine stock of swear
words to show that she is skittish and a stick to indicate that she is not so
young as when Georges Durand broke off his engagement (in 1886), and she may
tease the life out of that unhappy Georges Durand by suddenly putting on her
old 1886 frock and looking maddeningly bewitching in it. Indeed, she overcomes
more than her enemies. She fascinates Durand fils as well as Durand pére,
and drived off at midnight with the youngster, giving out that she is going to
marry him, although but a minute ago he was engaged to her niece Delphine. But
she returns cramped and weary from that trip next morning (after driving into
innumerable bayous) to bring the young couple together again and to bestow her
own hand upon the sulky Georges Durand. There are many more details in this odd
story, but need not trouble about them because in Louisiana is in the
atmosphere and the liquid, lisping Creole idiom.
“At least, that would be our
main interest, if it were not that Aunt Nelly is played by Miss Irene Vanbrugh,
and played with an attraction that far surpasses that of any atmosphere or
idiom whatever. Her vivacity, her sparkle, her roguery, her spirit of fun are
quite irresistible, Whether she is hobbling with her stick as the mature aunt
(and dropping inadvertent damns into her reticule) or reverting to the skittish
matron of 1886, or returning from her innocent escapade with aching feet and
sides pinched by her corset, or saying, as the mot de la fin ((when
Georges Durand has asked is she came back from Paris to marry him), ‘I’m damned
if I know him,’ she is the incomparable artist that we know. The house,
delighted at the outset to see her back on her old stage, was more than
delighted to find that she had come back with all her old art and her old
charm. Mr. Hallard and Mr. Faber contribute conscientiously to the Creole
atmosphere. Miss Helen Spencer and Mt. Jack Hobbs are pleasant enough as a
young couple. But the audience clamoured for their enchantress, Miss Irene, and
would not go away until she had made a little speech of thanks.”
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A good order from Ingersoll for a lot of park work was very welcome. I started it at once so as to be ready on him.”
Thomas G. Moses first worked for Frederick Ingersoll in 1905.
That year, Ingersoll was involved with the construction of a new amusement park in Atlantic City, Rendezvous Park (Intelligencer Journal, 25 May 1920, 15). Rendezvous was built at a cost of $2,000,000 in 1921 by the Boardwalk Company. The property site was located in the heart of the big hotel district, near Ambassador, the Marlborough-Blenheim, and the Traymore. It had a frontage on the Boardwalk of 150 feet and a depth of 648 feet. The Pennsylvania Railroad unloaded passenger trains near the front entrance of the park, while the Reading and interurban lines were located only a black away.
Ingersoll Engineering & Constructing Co. was responsible for building Rendezvous Park.
Advertisements during the planning and construction of the
park reported, “The construction will be handled by the Ingersoll Engineering
& Construction Company, famous throughout the land for its work in this
field. Notable examples of the craftsmanship of Ingersoll builders are to be
found in all the greater American amusement parks including Riverview, Chicago;
Euclid Beach, Cleveland; Kennywood, Pittsburgh; Chester, Cincinnati; White
City, Chicago; Rever Beach, Boston; Hanlon’s Point, Toronto; Belle Isle Bridge
Approach, Detroit; Idora, Oakland, Cal.; Venice, Los Angeles; Forest Park
Highlands, St. Louis; Lakeside, Denver; Savin Rock, New Haven; and a great many
other places throughout the country” (Pittsburgh Press, 24 May 1920, page 7).
Here is a great article on Rendezvous Park: http://lostamusementparks.napha.org/Articles/NewJersey/RendezvousPark.html
Frederick Ingersoll (1876 –
1927) was an American inventor, designer, builder and entrepreneur. He created
the world’s first chain of amusement parks. Ingersoll, was also known as “the
father of the American roller coaster” (Des Moines Register, October 24, 1927,
page 1). One of five brothers, Ingersoll started out as a designer, with
Ingersoll Construction Company initially focusing on the “figure eight”
coaster, scenic railways and Shoot-the-Chutes.
Moses first recorded working for
Ingersoll in 1905. That year he wrote, “I had to go to Cleveland to put in a
lot of old mill scenery at Luna Park” (see past post #493). Cleveland’s Luna
Park operated from1905 to 1929. The park was located on a 35-acre site, bounded
by Woodland Avenue, Woodhill, Mt. Caramel, and East 110th Street.
Ingersoll opened other Luna Parks across the country; all were independent from
Frederick Thompson’s original Luna Park on Coney Island. However, Ingersoll
replicated many of the famous attractions from Coney Island, such as the Old
Mill ride, Fire and Flames, Coasting the Gorge, Trip to the Moon, miniature
railways, the Circle Swing and Infant Incubators.
Advertisement for Ingersoll’s Luna Park in Pittsburgh. From the “Pittsburgh Press,”18 June 1905, page 34.Shoot-the-Chutes in Luna Park
In 1906, Moses briefly partnered
with Will Hamilton to produce scenery for attractions at Ingersoll’s Luna Park
in Pittsburgh. He wrote, “Did some
designs for a Park in Pittsburg for my old partner Hamilton. I did them in
black and white, rather effective” (see past post #554).
During Ingersoll’s lifetime, he
owned and operated 44 amusement parks. However, it was not an easy ride. In
1908, Ingersoll declared bankruptcy and was forced to sell Luna Park in
Cleveland. By 1911, the “Boston Globe” announced, “Frederick Ingersoll, well
known throughout the country as an amusement proprietor, filed a voluntary
petition in bankruptcy in the U.S. district court today. His assets are three suits of clothes valued
at $75 and liabilities are $179,668.94” (June 8, 1911, page 17). He never
really bounced by from the financial instabilities associated with his
amusement parks.
Tragically, Ingersoll took his
own life in 1927. Newspapers across the
country reported that Ingersoll was found dead in a concession stand at Krug
Park, Omaha. Articles reported that the
doors and windows were tightly closed, and an open gas jet filled the room with
its fumes. The county coroner convinced that death was self-inflicted, held no
inquest and Ingersoll’s suicidal act was attributed to ill health.
On April 28, 2019, the “Akron
Beacon Journal” reported, “A historical marker dedicated Saturday in a ceremony
by the Heinz History Center, American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) and the
Pennsylvania Historical Society & Museum Commission notes the contributions
of coaster builder and amusement park entrepreneur Frederick Ingersoll.” Here
is a link to the rest of the article:https://www.newspapers.com/image/589458591/?terms=%22Frederick%2BIngersoll%22
In
1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “My Sundays are all taken up with my oil work in
my home studio, and I seem to have a more thorough understanding of the real
nature of oils. I have always hammered
into the oil, same as I do with temper, I have so little time for this work
that I get a bit discouraged.”
Moses’ refernce to “temper” was distemper, or tempera
painting. Dry pigments are made usable for painting by “tempering” them with a
binding medium. As defined by Encylopedia Britannica: “The
word tempera originally came from the verb temper, ‘to bring to
a desired consistency.’ Therefore, tempera painting uses pigment ground in
a water-miscible medium.” However, the
binding medium can vary. For example, egg can be used in tempera painting; here
are directions for egg tempera: http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/tempera.html
Dry pigment colors with dry hide glue in the center.Pigment powder before it is turned into a paste.Hide glue granules before water is introduced and it is heated to a liquid, then diluted for painting.
19th and 20th century scenic artists used tempera painting
for the stage, just with a different binder. They used animal glue (hoof and
hide) instead of egg for stage paintings. The diluted animal glue provided a
matte finish that worked well under the glare of stage lights, unlike other paints.
Arriving in slabs or granules, water was added to the dried glue and then
diluted prior to mixing with dry pigment paste. Like egg, once binder was added
to the pigment there was a limited shelf life; the binder can quickly rot.
Ideally, a scenic artist mixed fresh size every day.
My palette of dry pigment paste. The size water (diluted hide glue) is mixed with the paste on a palette when I paint.
Moses’ 1920 diary entry is his first commentary between oil and
temper painting. Tempera was his preferred medium of choice; second nature as it
was also used in the scenic studio.
His skill on the studio paint frame with the medium carried
over to his fine art easel. By 1932, Moses wrote, “I should like nothing better
than to be able to spend all my time on these tempera pictures which I painted
from pencil sketches that are taken from all over the country.”
Keep in mind that Moses’ was a
member of several fine art groups, including in Palette & Chisel Club
(Chicago), Salmagundi Club (New York) and the Laguna Beach Art Association
(California). He worked in various artistic media that included watercolor,
oil, pen and ink, graphite and temper. Moses also had several art exhibitions
over the years, with the most notable one occurring in Chicago during the fall
of 1913.
In 1913, Moses wrote, “November
3rd, I got all my framed pictures; oil, watercolor, pen and ink and
lead pencil…. A great many of the members didn’t expect to see so many or as
good pictures as I had the pleasure of showing there. The amount of the sale went far ahead of what
I thought it would. It was pretty good
for me, and up to this date it was the most ever sold at the one show. I had 77 pictures on the walls, oil, water,
temper, pen and ink, and pencil. Maine
to California. That made it quite
interesting. I received some very
flattering newspaper notices. Mama and
Rupert were responsible for the show, as I would have never gotten it up
myself. We opened with a reception,
which was well attended.”
By 1930, Moses wrote, “Have made
several trips on Saturdays to the mountains for oil sketches and have been
partly successful. Owing to the high
winds, it is too hard to anchor my easel and umbrella. I find I would rather work in distemper. Not so mussy when I come to pack up.” Understandable
as tempera painting uses water for clean-up, and does not require carrying a
solvent.
Later in 1932 while working in
McAlester, Oklahoma, Moses wrote, “Early in October, I was lucky in finding a
wonderful place to sketch. Kimball organ
man, Coverly by name, used his car and took me to his place, nearly 30 miles
from McAlester. I found a subject from
which I did a large distemper and presented it to the Temple for which they
were highly pleased.”
In
1932, Moses was still working in both oil and tempera, writing, “Have an idea
that I will attempt some oil pictures as well as tempera… I have done quite a
number of tempera 15 x 20 pictures. Hope
to do something with them at the Blackstone Gallery here in Oak Park, where I
will have an exhibit of my oils in the fall… I will get busy at once and get
some of my tempera pictures in the eastern galleries. I have written to galleries and to Pitt in
Trenton; also Washington D.C., Fort Wayne, Indiana, Tacoma, Washington, and
Pasadena, California, all of which are willing to give me space for a
consignment of my water colors or tempera… Have received some very flattering
notices of my tempera pictures that I have sent out. I hope to sell some of them as they seem to
please everyone. But it is awfully hard
for anyone to buy pictures when bread is needed.”
By
the end of 1932, Moses wrote, “At seventy-six years of age, I am just as
capable of painting, and have the proper amount of ‘pep’ to back up my ambition
to turn out some picturesque bits, as I had fully forty years ago. I will not live long enough to realize my
fondest hopes of someday being recognized as a painter in oil, with an equal
amount of ability as I have displayed in scenic painting. I feel that my tempera pictures are
appreciated by all, even the artists. If
I could get the same in my oils, I would be thankful. I will wait for tomorrow
– maybe it will bring me the same plaudits that I have so often received in the
theatre. If not, I will pass on with the
happy thought that I tried my best and lost.
It was a pleasure to have made the effort.”
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A Burton Holmes’ lecture
did not interest us as it should.” This piqued my interest as Moses seldom mentioned
attending educational events.
Burton Holmes (1870-1958)
Elias Burton Holmes (1870-1958) was a well-known American
traveler, photographer, filmmaker, and lecturer. A Chicago-born personality,
Holmes brought his distant travels home to American audiences across the
country. Some of his early twentieth
century trips included South America, Europe, Russia, India, Ethiopia, and Burma.
Burton Holmes1917 Advertisement for Burton Holmes.1917 Advertisement for Burton Holmes.
Advertisement’s for Burton Holmes’
lectures included the caption, “To travel is to possess the world.” A 1917 Paramount
Picture advertisement for Burton Holmes stated, “It isn’t any trick to fill
your theatre now and then with a big star or special splurge in advertising –
but You must be a shrewd and scientific manager to build up your business and
keep your house filled and your expenses low. You can do this by demanding a
star short reel. A star short reel is one with advertising possibilities, a
nationally known name that draws a few new people to your house – not the kind
that come to any picture house, but the kind who haven’t been going to
pictures, the kind that have read Burton Holmes books or traveled. These
pictures bring the limousines to your theatre door.” Other advertisements
questioned, “Why fool along with just a scenic when you can have a personally
conducted travelogue by the world-famous traveler BURTON HOLMES. You can
advertise the name and attract business. A ‘star’ single reel is a
priceless compared to the ordinary type. Make every picture ‘do its bit.’
Fillers cost you big money – good pictures are cheap. Satisfy and build
with this great series.”
In 1920, Burton Holmes
Travelogues included colored views and moving pictures of his trip to Europe in
1919. By this time his lecture series
included “Battlefields of France,” “Allies on the Rhine, and the Russian
Empire’s Fall and Rise of the Bolshevists.
In 1920, “The Boston Globe” described
“Allies on the Rhine,” reporting, “Last summer Mr. Holmes motored through the
lovely Rhine Valley and also up the even more sweetly picturesque valley of the
Moselle. Of course, the three cities which are the centers of Allied occupation
receive especial notice on his screen – Mayence occupied by the French, Coblenz
by “the Yanks’ and Cologne by the British. The comparison of the methods of
control utilized by these three military forces is in itself a most interesting
study, but besides this, the country and its people, especially the Prussians,
give Mr. Holms a wealth of pictures and much serious thought” (25 Jan. 1920,
page 58).
In 2004, 200 reels of Holmes’s documentary footage were
discovered in an abandoned storage unit. They are now housed in the George
Eastman House Film Museum. Here is a 3.44 minute promo for Holmes
educational series posted to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYW-Szvbh1c
In February 1920, Thomas G.
Moses wrote, “Went to St. Louis and closed the deal for $3,000.00 for the
boardwalk show.” Upon his return to Chicago, he wrote, “I started a model for
the board-walk show for a St. Louis party.
They want to put it up at the St. Louis Coliseum.” At the time Moses was
working at the Chicago Studios and had painted scenery for a similarly themed
event in Chicago. The St. Louis project was planned for the week of April 5 to
14.
On January 21, 1920, the “St.
Louis Star and Times” announced, “For the first time since the world has been
free of war and rumors of war St. Louis society women and girls are planning a
great bazaar to be given at the Coliseum Easter Week…The entertainment will be
in the form of an ‘Atlantic City Board Walk,’ something on the order of a
recent bazaar given in Chicago. It will resemble the fashion show given at the
Coliseum a year or so before America entered the war in 1917 and will be the
first large affair disassociated from war charities of our own on other nations
since 1915” (page 11).
Of the Coliseum decorations, the
article continued, “The interior of the great edifice will be draped to
represent Atlantic City – with seas on one side, the boardwalk in the center
and the booths and shops on the other side. There will be every sort of
amusement afforded in the booths. Visitors may stroll in the fashionable parade
up and down the bard walk or may ride in the chairs, which will be imported for
the occasion from Atlantic City.”
The show was for the benefit of
the teachers’ endowment funds at Washington University and Smith and Bryn Mawr
Colleges. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch”
noted, “An effort is being made through various means in all parts if the
country to raise $4,000,000 for Smith College and $2,000,000 each for Bryn Mawr
and Washington University. In the interest of this movement the ‘Board Walk’
entertainment has been given in a number of large cities. It is said to have
netted more than $90,000 for the fund in Chicago recently” (20 April 1920, page
3).
Moses was intimately involved
with the Chicago board walk, having also painted a large panorama for the
event. Of his board walk design for St. Louis, the article continued,
“Everything which can be accomplished with artificial scenery has been done to
transform the interior of the Coliseum into a duplication of Atlantic City’s
famous Board Walk. A canvas curtain of blue, representing the sky has been
suspended all around the hall so as to cut off the view of tiers of seats and
in front of the boxes there will be a setting representing the ocean. The board
walk extending from one end of the arena to the other will be 42 feet wide,
with sand on either side to simulate a beach.”
One week before the event, the
“St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported the arrival of scenic decorations for the
Coliseum: “Three carloads of scenery will be required for the boardwalk
spectacle to be given at the Coliseum next week for the benefit of the salary
endowment fund for Washington University, Smith and Bryn Mawr College. The
scenery, which represents the board walk at Atlantic City, arrived yesterday
from Chicago. Fifteen carloads of sand will be used for the ‘beach.’ A number
of pretty girls in bathing costumes will decorate the beach” (28 March 1920,
page 56).
the St. Louis Board Walk Show parade, from the “St. Louis Star and Times,” 5 April 1920, page 3
The event began on April 5 with
a large Atlantic City board walk parade, consisting of thirty-five autos and
floats that traveled through business streets. The “St. Louis Star” reported,
“The walk itself is 42 feet long, and is flanked on each side with sand, to
represent a beach. There will be a restaurant, amusement featured and a dance
pavilion in addition to the shops” (page 3). The “St Louis Post-Dispatch”
announced, “Carnival Crowd Fills Shops at Board Walk. Even most out-of-way
booths at Coliseum do rushing business and record for one night’s receipts is
apparently broken” (11 April, page 3). The newspaper article described, “Those
who attended for the first time were surprised at the beauty of the show as a
spectacle. The scores of girls in quaint and fetching costumes, the gay
coloring of the shops and the artistic displays in some of them, the very
largeness of the show, were impressive to many who saw it for the first time.
The largest source of revenue
was from the advanced ticket sales of 28,000 tickets totaling $12,000. Program
advertisement space bringing in an additional $9,200. On April 18, 1920, the
“St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported “Board Walk Receipts Count Passes $74,000.”
It was the candy shop that ended up taking in the most money, $3,602.0” (page
3).
In the end it was successful,
but quite a noisy affair. One reporter wrote, “But one thing that was
everywhere – pervasive, baffling, unescapable- was noise. A band at each end of
the place and an orchestra in the basement; the megaphone bellowing of amateur
ballyhoo men; the constant querulous chorus of girls selling ice cream,
flowers, face powder, toy balloons and chances on every kind of character of
commodity form pearl necklace to a prize heifer, combined to make a veritable
babel” (St. Louis Star, April 18, 1920).
In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Binghamton, New York, work came in during February and proved to be a good
contract.” He was referring to the
Strand Theatre on Chenago street in Binghamton, New York. When the theater
opened that spring, the “Press and Sun-Bulletin” reported, “In the decorations some
of some of the best artists in the country have been employed…The asbestos curtain
is decorated to harmonize with the rest of the house. The drop curtain, of
blue, is hand-painted to correspond in tone with the draperies. The scenery is
all of the newest and latest design” (6 March 1920, page 12). A picture of the
asbestos curtain was pictured alongside the article about the new theater.
Asbestos curtain at the Strand Theater by Thomas G. Moses, 1920.The Strand Theater in Binghamton, New York, 1920.
Local headlines announced,
“Theater Built in Record Time Despite Delays. Contractor Badgley Erects Strand
in About Seven Months of Actual Work. Best Materials Are Used. Binghamton’s New
Playhouse Is Absolutely Fireproof, Declares Builder” (“Press and Sun-Bulletin,”
6 March 1920, page 13). The article continued, “Work on the Strand Theater,
Binghamton’s new playhouse, which will be opened on Monday, was begun on May
20, 1919, under the direction of A. E. Badgley, who has since had full charge
of its construction.
“Inasmuch as the [work] was
interrupted entirely for a month and partially for two weeks more by the
contractor’s inability to get deliveries of steel, the theater was actually
completed in approximately seven months’ working time. This constitutes a
record of which both Mr. Badgley and the members of the company are rather
proud.
“The celerity with which the
work was done becomes even more surprising when it is realized that a large
part of it had to be performed in the face of the most severe weather
conditions in many years. Cold wave followed cold wave, but the builders early
got the building enclosed and thereafter work proceeded almost as fast as it
would have in Summer.
“The long wait occasioned by
the none delivery of steel came in September and October and was due to
conditions prevalent throughout the country. The contractor obtained his steel
rather than more quickly than he had first expected, and the work thereafter
went with a rush. But for the unavoidable delay the theater could have been
opened by Christmas.
“Mr. Badgley said today that
none but the best materials, steel, brick and concrete, were used in the
building, and that it is absolutely fireproof.
An unusual feature is that no
posts have been used anywhere in the auditorium. The balcony is supported by
steel girders weighing18 and 20 tons, leaving a clear space everywhere in the
auditorium.
“The seating capacity is given
by the management as approximately 1,600.
“The ground dimensions of the
theater are 134 by 60 feet and the height from the floor to the dome is 50
feet. The stage opening is 32 feet and the height to the top of the proscenium
arch, 26 feet. The stage is ample in size for the most elaborate vaudeville
offerings.
“In the construction of the
building there was an unusual freedom from delays sometimes caused by error in
the plans and the things overlooked. Aside from the delay arising from the
difficulty in obtaining steel, everything went with great smoothness.
“Names of Builders. The
following men and concerns furnished materials and workmanship for the theater:
Contractor in charge of construction, A. E. Badgkey, Stone Opera House
building; plumbing, Robert J. Malane, State Street; heating plant, Runyan &
Ogden, Commericial Avenue; cement, J. W. Ballard company, Jarvis Street;
draperies, Sisson Brothers-Welden company, Court Street.”
I am pausing to comment on the
draperies credited to the Sisson Brother-Welden Company. The draperies mentioned
were for the rest of the building and not the stage. Sisson Brother-Welden
company was a local dry goods and supply store, not a theatrical manufacturing
firm.
Sisson Brothers Welden Company was a local store, not a theatrical manufacturing firm capable of producing painted scenes for the stage.
The article continued: “carpets
and furniture, Sanitary Bedding and Furniture company, Chenago Street; roofing,
Binghamton Slag Roofing company, State Street; signs, Georger F. Ullman
company, State Street; hardware, Crocker & Ogden, Court Street; tinning,
Sullivan & Brothers, State Street’ plaster work, Maltby & company,
Corning; X-Ray Reflector company, 31 West 46th street, New York
City; automatic ticket sellers and cash registers. Automatic Ticket Selling and
Cash Resgister company, 1737 Broadway, New York City; organ, Kimball Organ
Company, Chicago; decorating, Gustave Brandt company, Chicago.”
Interesting that there is no
individual note for the scenery and stage machinery, especially as the asbestos
curtain my Moses was pictured alongside the article. However, the Strand
primarily featured photoplays. The article concluded with, “The photoplays will
be supplied by the following companies, Goldwyn Distributing Company, 200 Peral
Street, Buffalo; Famous players-Laskey Corporation, 215 Franklin Street,
Buffalo; Select Pictures Corporation, Franklin street, Buffalo; United Artists,
29 Seventh Avenue, New York City; First National Exhibitors, Inc., Franklin
Street, Buffalo.”
Of particular interest to me
was the X-Ray lighting system. On March 6, the “Binghamton Press” reported, “The
lighting effect are obtained by means of the latest X-Ray system, used at
present in only a few theaters in the United States. All the lights are
concealed in ‘coves’ and are controlled by a dimming system so that they cannot
only be dimmed or made to blaze brilliantly at will, but also to shed light of
any color desired…On the ceiling are panels shaded in light fine delicate
colors, and reaching entirely across the theater, above the proscenium arch, is
a striking mural painting. This, like the other paintings, is lighted with
battery of X-Ray lights in front of the balcony rail, making it stand out
prominently. The dome, also beautifully decorated, is lighted with X-Ray lights
which many be manipulated to create any color effect desired.”
X-Ray lights in front of the balcony rail at the Strand Theater in Binghamton, New York, 1920.
For future film features, the
article continued, “The projection room is the back of the balcony and entirely
out of the way. It is equipped with two of the latest Simplex projecting
machines. These will be operated with direct current, which assures steady and
flickerless pictures.”
