Camouflage Painting – Drypigment.net

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 983 – Camouflage Artists, the American Camoufleurs of 1918

Yesterday’s post concerned studio founder Gerald V. Cannon and his recruiting of scenic artists for the war department in 1918. He was part of a countrywide plan to mobilize scenic artists to paint camouflage for war purposes. WWI signaled a new era of concealing military vehicles and weapons with paint. Some artists’ ideas included sky to blend with the horizon and fake waves on a traditionally gray battleship. Other artists specialized in dazzling camouflage, or a disruptive pattern that concealed the outline and form of a camouflaged object. WWI camouflage artists designed patterns that would make it more difficult to figure out a ship’s size, speed, distance and direction. Each country approached camouflage from a slightly different angle, relying on artists to create effective camouflage painting.

British warships used dazzling camouflage, an approach developed by Norman Wilkinson.

Dazzle-ships used a disruptive pattern that concealed the outline and form of the camouflaged object.

A French tank painted with a camouflage pattern. Image posted at warhistoryonline.com.

On April 4, 1918, “The Courier” reported, “Many American artists, following the sacrifice of their brothers across the sea have enlisted in this extraordinary service and joined the ranks of camoufleurs to help win the war. Appraised of the secrets of their European brothers and possessing no small genius of their own, our American camoufleurs are at work in Europe to fool the Hun as he has never been fooled before, and their secret is not yet out” (Asheboro, NC, 4 April 1918, page 7).

From the “Tampa Tribune, 27 Jan, 1918 page 36.

The was an interesting article published in “Trench and Camp” on Feb. 9, 1918, that I am including in today’s post entitled, “The ‘Real’ Camouflage’” (Fort Riley, Kansas, page 2):

“At first, camouflage was the clumsy emulation of nature. Boughs of trees, the thatch of houses and the beams of deserted buildings were used to shelter guns. But soon the fields were swept so clean that every tree became suspicious and every wreck of a house was bombarded by artillery and bombed by aviators.

Then came the camouflage that made the word familiar with a new and finely-descriptive word. Sign-painters and house-daubers were called to paint canvas in the colors of the earth. As this proved successful, scenic artists were assigned the task. Artists’ corps were mobilized and the work thoroughly organized until, final, it became practicable for an artillery officer to procure any camouflage he might desire upon a few hours’ notice.

All this called for counter-efforts, as interesting and as ingenious as the camouflage itself. How was an aviator to tell whether the ground below them was a deserted field or was canvas and framework concealing hundreds of guns? How could the artillerist known when he was wasting shell on a mound of earth of was shattering guns that had been the death of thousands? Something could be learned, of course, by careful observation and by ceaseless scrutiny of the front. Gradually, however, the armies have come to rely for the penetration of camouflage on the work of the aviators and of the mathematicians who study shell trajectories.

As the system is now developed, all armies have trained aviators who go up regularly with convoying battle planes to take pictures of the enemy positions. Their negatives, developed, enlarged and printed, are gone over microscopically by men whose proficiency in reading photographs is positively uncanny. We know it sounds unbelievable but here is an example of what numerous British map readers can do with these photographs: an aviator may come back with a picture taken at 20,000 feet. On the print the map readers know there is a hidden battery. They search for it vainly. At length they see on the print, by the aid of powerful magnifying glasses and infinitely small tracks. By following the course of these tracks, trained men figure that horses from the battery have been led to water, and they know that where the tracks end, elsewhere that by the watercourse, a battery may be concealed. They report. Guns are trained accordingly. The next day’s photograph may show a ruined battery. It seems a fairy tale, does it not, that the tracks of horses will show on a photograph taken from an aeroplane which is itself a scarcely discernible spot in the heavens?

But there were there were thousands of instances where neither horse tracks nor any other evidence of camouflage could be seen. Then it was that the British and French devised a trick which may now be described, inasmuch as it has been discovered by Germans. It occurred to a clever aviator that perhaps the Germans might be painting their camouflage with the naked eye and might not be using effects that would withstand a color screen. Accordingly some of the aviators made observations with different color screens before their lenses and were delighted to find that, in accordance with laws familiar to all photographers, the yellows or the greens had been “filtered out.” The result showed plainly where the German guns were hidden and led to an eye-opening bombardment. It was some days before the Germans found out what was happening and why their faithful camouflage had suddenly become so useless. But when they discovered the reason, the Germans very promptly countered by a device as simple as that British were employing: where an artist desired to get a general yellow effect on camouflage, he merely put on yellow glasses. The color that then appeared yellow to him was hideous to the naked eye, but it defied the color screen of the camera. This accounts for the curious futurist color effects scene in photographs of camouflaged tanks.

Now both sides paint and photograph through color screens, and a new method of camouflage will have to be developed.”

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 982 – Scenic Artists and WWI Camouflage, 1918

A while back I explored the career of Gerald V. Cannon, of Joy and Cannon Scenic Studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. Although the life of the firm was brief, each co-founder certainly made his mark on the world. At the time that I was researching Cannon’s life, I stumbled across multiple references to his military career and work for the US marines. Cannon organized the first unit to specialize in the brand new art of camouflage in 1918. He gathered together a group of scenic artists and once they learned the painting procedure, they were split up among the services. Cannon chose the marines.

Artists were tasked with painting large camouflage canopies during WWI.

Here is a 1918 article about Cannon’s project that I came across this week:

On February 27, 1918, the “Los Angeles Evening Express” reported “Scenic Artists to Mobilize as U. S. Aid in World Conflict” (page 12). Here is the article:

“Scenic artists in Southern California theaters are included in a country-wide plan to mobilize all of their craft in this country for war purposes. The scheme is being worked out by G. V. Cannon – appropriate name – of St. Paul, Minn., and is understood to have the sanction of the war department. The plan is explained in the following letter from Mr. Cannon, which has been received by attaches of local theaters:

‘The English and French governments have organized the artists of the countries, especially the scenic artists, to work in naval yards, as well as in the fields with regular army, for the purpose of painting large tarpaulins and canvas covers to mask field guns, and they grasped the value of the scenic artist, with his experience, with his wide experience and talent and reproduction and color. They have taken these artists with their various color schemes and composition to completely mask a series of field guns, or paint the sides of a battleship in nature’s true colors and the ocean and waves, so that it has completely baffled the enemy’s submarines to as near as half mile, and, at that distance, in many cases, they have made such poor targets that the submarine has had to maneuver around until it was detected and fired upon. This plan applies to transports on which the American government will have to spend every effort available to guard the loves of its men. Another feature of painting boats is in the painting of a huge wave on the bow of a battleship, this is being the chief method of judging the speed that a boat is traveling. This gives the enemy the impression that the boa is traveling at half speed. There are possibilities too numerous to mention on the value of scenic backgrounds, or fooling the enemy with paint. This plan is being put up to the war department by some of our leading artists and naval men. Among some of the nation’s leading advocates is Joe Cannon, former speaker of the house representatives, who in past years was a decorator and who realizes the value of the work. He is at present working in our interests as a personal favor to myself. So let us hear from all scenic artists who are interested in helping Uncle Sam down the Kaiser, by sending their name, address and age along with past experience and ability to me. – G. V. Cannon, 378 South Wabasha street, St. Paul, Minn.’”

In 1950, Cannon was featured in the “Star Tribune” article, “Minnesota’s ‘Little Marine’ Just Keeps Growing” (5 Nov. 1950, page 21). I am also including this article in its entirety for context.

From the “Star Tribune,” 5 Nov. 1950, page 21.

“There’s a line in one of the censored verse of ‘Mademoiselle From Armentieres’ which goes ‘The little marine he grew and grew.’

The boys hereabouts seem to think that if a line ever applied to anybody in real life, it applies to Jerry Cannon.

More sedately, he’s Gerald V. Cannon, a scenic artist by profession who still makes up an occasional Marine Corps float or a spectacular sign. Its come to be a habit through 33 years of association with the corps.

Cannon will be present at the corps 175^th anniversary dinner Friday night at the Nicollet hotel. Governor Youngdahl, Mayors Hoyer of Minneapolis and Delaney of St. Paul and various other functionaries also will attend, along with wives and mothers of marines now in service.

He now is national service officer for the Marine Corps league, the only veterans’ organization incorporated by act of congress. He is also state service officer under the auspices of the department of veteran’s affairs.

In that job, he is but carrying on a practice built up on his own time between two wars. Cannon was a marine in World War I. Prior to that he had been called upon to organize the first unit to specialize in the brand new art of camouflage. Cannon gathered together a half gross of scenic artists. When they had learned what they had to know, they were split up among the services. Cannon chose the marines and began an extra-curricular career from which he never since has been separated for long.

After the war he helped found three marine groups, each of which perished through inaction. But Cannon made it his business to keep in touch with marines and marine veterans and to pull what wires were necessary to help them.

He became a sort of special in veterans’ rights and made up for his small stature by fast talk and aggressiveness.

When World War II came along, Cannon had retired from the reserve as a captain with 100 per cent disability because of a heart condition. He went right back in, as a staff sergeant attached to the When Cannon enlisted in WWI he listed a health concern, there was foul-up; he got orders to report to Parris Island for boot training. A few days nearly did him in. Representative Melvin Maas rescued him by getting the orders changed and Cannon was shipped back to Minneapolis.

During the subsequent years, he indulged in his hobby of helping out marines and ex-marines. After being discharged he went to the Marine Corps league as a service officer.

His years of association with the marines have been a great help in cutting red tape. On his frequent trips to Washington, Cannon first-names big brass and walks right into offices which would be at least temporarily off-limits to almost anyone else.

Cannon through the years has loaded himself with Marine Corps lore, and documented a good bit of it by collecting relics.

He was a scene designer, for instance, for an Otis Skinner touring company of ‘Kismet.” Among the props was a handsome ivory-handled knife – no stage piece but a real article from Tripoli, dating back to their time the marines made their historic landing there in 1803.

After the tour ended, the knife was presented to Canon. He now keeps its tip sheathed in tape because it’s supposed to be made of poisoned steel.

The knife gave him some anxious moments a few years ago, when he was running a restaurant in the Midway district and had it on display with other relics.

Someone broke into the place and took, among other things, the knife. Both because it was a valuable souvenir and a dangerous weapon as well, Cannon left no stone unturned to get it back.

At length he and the police tracked it down. A bunch of kids were playing with it, using it in a game of cops and robbers. (The knife will be on display at the State Theater when the movie ‘Tripoli,’ depicting the Tripoli incident opens there Friday. The timing of the picture and the dinner is purely coincidental.”

An avid collector, Cannon often picked up books and relics in his travels as a scenic artist. In an old history of the Civil war he found a penciled map indicating a gunroom at old Fort Jackson, at the mouth of the Mississippi, had been sealed up.

He got a government commission to open it and dug through three feet of cement. In the room he found many rare pieces including a dozen large lamps. One of them, given him by the government adorns his home at Cleveland Avenue and Ramsey county road B. The house is li furnished with similar items.

Among them are a couple of hand-wrought nails from the home of Betsy Ross. A marine happened to be guarding the place when Cannon visited as it was being repaired, and a wink from one marine to another seems to mean something.

Busy as he has been, Cannon foresees an even busier time ahead. For one thing, veterans are in a peculiar position, as far as their rights are concerned; while theoretically convened by provisions involving ‘hazardous duty’ or ‘simulated warfare,’ the United States is not actually at was. This, he thinks, will affect claims coming out of Korea.

The men who appeal to him for help, however, are confident of his ability. The little marine, they think, grew until he knows as much about the Marine Corps and its procedures as anybody up or down the line.”

I have explored the Gerald V. Cannon of Joy & Cannon studios in the past. For more information, see past posts 797-800.

Studio stencil for Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. on the back of a picture sheet at Triune Lodge in St. Paul, Minnesota.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 800 – Boyd P. Joy, President of Universal Scenic Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota.

For the past few posts, I have explored the appearance of Joy & Cannon Scenic Co., established by Boyd P. Joy and Gerald V. Cannon in 1916. Joy founded a second studio only two years later – Universal Scenic Studio. At the time, Cannon was enlisted in the U. S. marine Corps as their first camouflage artist, therefore Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. lay dormant, but it had not yet closed it doors. Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. would sporadically continue business after the war and appear in various newspapers throughout the 1920s.

In regard to Universal Scenic Studio, the firm was first founded in South Dakota, but moved to Minnesota by 1920, appearing in city directories. By 1928, Joy moved Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

An interesting article was published in the “Argus-Leader” on March 22, 1919: “Sioux Falls has an organization which is making a real contribution to making the theater of today different from the theater when it began. There wasn’t any scenery and the nobles who had seats slept through the plays; the rest of the populace stood up and used its imagination. The scenic artist of today has made possible the attractive drop curtains and varied rear and side drops which make for half the attractions of today. And the Universal Scenic Studio of Sioux Falls, on East Tenth Street, under the direction of Boyd P. Joy, is providing for this section of the northwest products of the best experience of a man who was for a number of years connected with the best studios of New York and since coming west a few years ago has become one of the recognized leaders in scenic art production. This institution is working with the National Engraving company, under the same management, with the engraving department continuing the work of Mr. Worsick and Mr. Williams, under the direction of W. P. Hamilton, formerly of the Chicago Evening Post engraving department and for 16 years connected successfully with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, News-Tribune, and Des Moines Register and Leader. The first big work the new company is anticipating is in the line of soldier souvenir books. The company reports 60 men in the field now collecting data and photos for these booklets. The building is being enlarged and within 90 days the managers claim they will have an up-to-date electrotyping plant in operation which will give employment to a number of people who will become permanent residents of Sioux Falls, and work with the new equipment being introduced to produce the best in art, with Sioux Falls the center of development.”

Boy P. Joy, picture in the 1919 “Argus-Leader” article

After Sioux Falls, Joy returned to St. Paul and was listed the president of Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. in the St. Paul City Directory. He then moved to Milwaukee, still functioning as the president of Universal Scenic Studio. A catalog from the Milwaukee branch of the Universal Scenic Studio was found among the personal belongings of Victor J. Hubal, Sr. Hubal worked for both Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. and Universal Scenic Studio in St. Paul. Lance Brockman copied catalogue during the 1980s. I am including photographs of Brockman’s copy today. Although some of the images are poor, it provides a good glimpse into Universal Scenic Studio, Inc., Milwaukee.

Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “scene building department.”

Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “scene painting department.”

Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “drapery department.”

The prologue of the Milwaukee Universal Scenic Studio catalog states, “We make no effort here to give you a great number of illustration of various designs for stage scenes and sets; these may be had on request. We aim to cover the stage equipment field from the time it decided to build a stage, until it is completed, equipped and ready for use – and to this end we offer in the following pages some important suggestions for the correct construction of a properly built stage and methods of installation stage equipment.”

The second paragraph of the catalog’s Prologue addresses “Service,” stating, “An important part of any business is its service to the buying public. Ours includes the making of specifications covering stage scenery and operating equipment to fit your individual stage and its special requirements. We make no charge for this service. It is yours at request.”

In terms of “Prices,” the catalog notes, “All stage scenery is made to fit the individual requirements of and stage and price depends on size, materials and design. By mailing us the enclosed blank properly filled out, you will enable us to quote intelligently and definitely on your requirements.”

At the end of the Universal Scenic Studios catalog, the “Epilogue” includes a personal note from Boyd P. Joy, president of Universal Scenic Studio, Inc. of Milwaukee.

“We have endeavored to make clear to you in the preceding pages – First, the importance of lighting – next, the desirability of properly equipping your stage with curtains and scenery that is well designed, well made and correctly installed, secured from a firm well and favorably known, that has a background of experience and a plant capable of producing the very best obtainable in this line.

We sincerely trust your trip through our studio – following the various processes of the work from raw lumber to the finished product delivered and installed – has been worth while and that we may have helped even in the smallest way to clear up some lack of knowledge on your part as to what “Stage Scenery” is all about. When we have done this we are repaid for our effort, but let us not drop each other here. Remember we are anxious to help if we may and we solicit your future inquiry and giving you of our most courteous consideration and prompt response.

Thank you, Universal Scenic Studio, Inc.

Boyd P. Joy

President”

Universal Scenic Studio consistently appears in various articles over the next few decades, surviving the Great Depression. They were often rewarded contracts after submitting the lowest bid, completing with many other scenic studios at the time, including the Twin City Scenic Co. of Minneapolis. Whether is was scenery and stage machinery for city halls, public schools, opera houses, vaudeville theaters, or fraternal buildings, Universal Scenic Studio managed to stay in the game. Tomorrow, I will examine a Masonic job completed by Universal Scenic Studios for Leavenworth, Kansas.

An advertisement curtain created by Universal Scenic Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota that was recently discovered during the spring of 2018.

To be concluded…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 799 – Gerald V. Cannon of Joy & Cannon Scenic Co.

Boyd P. Joy and Gerald V. Cannon founded Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. The studio first appeared in St. Paul Directories in 1916. Yesterday, I explored the life of Joy. Today, I look at the life of G. V. Cannon, who was not only a scenic artist, but also the first camouflage artist of the United States Marine Corps. He held the world record for this work during his lifetime and was recognized for it.

I have uncovered very little about the Cannon’s early life. By 1915, however, he was living at 4144 38^th Ave S. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Much may have to do with the itinerant life of many scenic artists.

On Dec. 22, 1917, the “Dickinson Press” mentioned Joy & Cannon in the article “Stage Scenery is installed in New Rialto Theatre” (Stark City, ND Dec 22, 1917). The article reported, “The stage scenery and effects have been put in place in the new Rialto theatre during the past week of the personal supervision of the artist who painted the curtains, G. N. [sic.] Cannon of the Joy & Cannon Scenic Co., St. Paul. The drop curtains are as follows: Asbestos, advertising front curtain, street scene, rose garden scene, wood scene, parlor and kitchen curtains. The scenic work has been done in the new modern art, stippled urban effects, lately inaugurated in the scenic work of large theatres in the east. The effect is very odd, but highly pleasing to the eye.” This is the earliest mention that I have encountered to date about the contemporary spattering technique. I find it interesting that it was called “stippling” at the time.

Gerald V. Cannon featured in the “Star Tribune,” 5 Nov. 1950, page 21

Shortly after the Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. opened, Cannon on another project for the U.S. Government during WWI. I came across and article that I find absolutely fascinating about not only Cannon, but also mentioned the history of camouflage painting. In 1950, the “Star Tribune” published an article on Gerald V. Cannon entitled, “Minnesota’s ‘Little Marine’ Just Keeps Growing” (5 Nov. 1950, page 21). I am posting the article in its entirety as it has great significance within the history of American scenic art.

“There’s a line in one of the censored verse of ‘Mademoiselle From Armentieres’ which goes ‘The little marine he grew and grew.’

The boys hereabouts seem to think that if a line ever applied to anybody in real life, it applies to Jerry Cannon.

More sedately, he’s Gerald V. Cannon, a scenic artist by profession who still makes up an occasional marine corps float or a spectacular sign. Its come to be a habit through 33 years of association with the corps.

In that job, he is but carrying on a practice built up on his own time between two wars. Cannon was a marine in World War I. Prior to that, he had been called upon to organize the first unit to specialize in the brand new art of camouflage. Cannon gathered together a half gross of scenic artists. When they had learned what they had to know, they were split up among the services. Cannon chose the marines and began an extra-curricular career from which he never since has been separated for long.

He became a sort of special in veterans’ rights and made up for his small stature by fast talk and aggressiveness.

When World War II came along, Cannon had retired from the reserve as a captain with 100 per cent disability because of a heart condition. He went right back in, as a staff sergeant attached to the Minneapolis marine office. Through a foul-up, he got orders to report to Parris Island for boot training. A few days nearly did him in. Representative Melvin Maas rescued him by getting the orders changed and Cannon was shipped back to Minneapolis.

During the subsequent years, he indulged in his hobby of helping out marines and ex-marines. After being discharged he went to the Marine Corps league as a service officer.

Cannon through the years has loaded himself with marine corps lore, and documented a good bit of it by collecting relics.

After the tour ended, the knife was presented to Canon. He now keeps its tip sheathed in tape because it’s supposed to be made of poisoned steel.

The knife gave him some anxious moments a few years ago, when he was running a restaurant in the Midway district and had it on display with other relics.

Someone broke into the place and took, among other things, the knife. Both because it was a valuable souvenir and a dangerous weapon as well, Cannon left no stone unturned to get it back.

At length he and the police tracked it down. A bunch of kids were playing with it, using it in a game of cops and robbers. (The knife will be on display at the State theater when the movie ‘Tripoli,’ depicting the Tripoli incident opens there Friday. The timing of the picture and the dinner is purely coincidental.”

He got a government commission to open it and dug through three feet of cement. In the room he found many rare pieces including a dozen large lamps. One of them, given him by the government adorns his home at Cleveland avenue and Ramsey county road B. The house is li furnished with similar items.

The men who appeal to him for help, however, are confident of his ability. The little marine, they think, grew until he knows as much about the marine corps and its procedures as anybody up or down the line.”

If you unfamiliar with the hymn of the U. S. Marine Corps, is the oldest official song in the U.S. Armed Forces. Here is a link to a wonderful version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2pFKyOO-7U The music for Marine’s Hymn originally came from the March section of Offenbach’s “Genevieve de Brabant.” When, or who, added the lyrics for the “Marine’s Hymn” to Offenbach’s music remains unknown. The first version of the song was copyrighted, published. and distributed in 1919 by “The Leatherneck,” a Marine Corps magazine printed in Quantico, Virginia.

The 1929 lyrics:

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
On the land as on the sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of United States Marine.

Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in ev’ry clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job
The United States Marines

Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 797 – Victor J. Hubal and the Joy & Cannon Scenic Studio in St. Paul, MN

Victor J. Hubal (1888-1872) was a scenic artists and member of United Scenic Artists Local 350. He worked as a Chicago-based scenic artist during the early twentieth century before moving to Minnesota. In 1912, he was working at Sosman & Landis where he likely received most of his scenic art training.

Hubal worked for at least three Minnesota-based scenic studios during his career in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” – Twin City Scenic Co. (Minneapolis), Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. (St. Paul) and Universal Scenic Studio (St. Paul). In terms of the Twin City Scenic Co., many of the stage designs are now part of the Performing Arts Collection at the University of Minnesota Libraries, including on identified as Hubal’s. Lance Brockman curated the 1987 University Art Museum exhibit “Popular Entertainment 1895-1925: The Twin City Scenic Collection.” It is a wonderful resource with essays by several people that look at multiple aspects of popular entertainment and the painted aesthetic. The catalogue is still available through Amazon.com and other used bookstore cites. I strongly encourage anyone interested in theatre history or scenic art to add this book to your collection. Here is link to a few used copies on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0938713019/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Design by Victor J. Hubal in the Twin City Scenic Co. Collection at the University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives.

The other two Minnesota-based studios that Hubal worked for are less known. I’ll start with the obscure and short-lived firm, Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. of St. Paul. I have encountered this particular studio a few times over the past five years and the history of each studio founder is quite fascinating.

While researching Hubal, I discovered his WWI draft registration. He listed his occupation as a “scenic artist” and in regard to his employment status the draft card noted “not employed at present.” However, there was one sentence scribbled below this entry that caught my eye – “Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. in St. Paul.”

Advertisement for Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. in Joy & Cannon in the Opera House reporter, 1916, page 5

Here is the tale of why that studio name was so familiar to me, as it is one more link in the chain of American theatre history that circles back to Masonic scenery.

In 2015, I reconnected with the current steward of St. Paul’s Historic Triune Lodge Building, Kit Cusick. Cusick has tirelessly worked on the preserviation of this building for quite some time. I visited the Triune Lodge building while working as the Curatorial Director for the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center. My trip was to take pictures of a specific lodge room stencil for possible use at the Heritage Center. I first encountered the lodge room stencil when working on the 1996 touring exhibit, “Theatre of the Fraternity: Staging the Ritual Space of the Scottish Rite, 1896-1929.” My 2015 recommendation to replicate and use the stencil fizzled like many other things in Bloomington, and although my relationship with the Minnesota Masonic Charities ended, my relationship with Cusick did not. During another trip Triune Lodge, I looked at the stage area and encountered a Masonic roll drop with a Joy & Cannon stencil. Coincidentally, my discovery was 100 years after Hubal listed the studio on his draft card.

Historic Triune Lodge in St. Paul, Minnesota

“Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. Metropolitan Opera House, St. Paul, Minn” was stenciled on the back of a picture sheet in the lodge room. This suggests that Joy & Cannon were renting the paint frame at the Metropolitan Opera House, and using that space as their studio.

Triune Lodge picture sheet stencil – Joy & Cannon Scenic Co.

The lodge’s picture sheet included a white center for projections that was circular in shape. Vaudeville houses, lodge rooms, social halls and early cinemas used similar designs before defaulting to solely white screens. A comparable picture sheet was installed at the Minneapolis Scottish Rite Theater for glass slide projections during degree work. For projections and early films, vibrantly painted draperies, frames and architectural ornamentation surrounded the white center. One way to brighten up a black and white film, especially when the general public is used to colorful scenic illusion on the stage!

Joy & Cannon picture sheet at Triune Lodge, St. Paul, MN

Twin City Scenic Co. picture sheet at the Minneapolis Scottish Rite

Being completely unfamiliar with the history of Joy & Cannon, I immediately emailed Lance Brockman. On January 16, 2018 he responded: “This is (Boyd) Joy and Cannon Studios. There were as many as 5-6 at one time in the Twin Cities (teens and twenties). I first learned about them from Vic Hubal’s materials that his son shared with me. There was a catalog amongst his memorial stuff. As I was told by Bill Brown [Twin City Scenic Co.] that most of the studios were start-ups from disgruntled employees. They would strike out on their own and come back once they had lost sufficient money. Twin City Scenic Co. would intentionally bid projects under cost just to achieve those results.”

The paint bridge for Joy & Cannon Scenic Co. pictured in their catalog.

I filed this little bit of studio information away and went on my merry way. Brockman’s response gave me a few markers when combing through various databases online this week. First of all, having a visual and detail-oriented memory is an asset – except when it comes to looking for my car keys or purse where I seem to forget all pertinent details. However, once in a while that cartoon lamp lights up over my head lights up over my head. That happened when I saw “Joy & Cannon” on the draft card for Hubal.

Joy & Cannon was a scenic studio that appeared during 1916 and had a sporadic existence, as the founders filtered in an out of a few business entities and projects during the First World War.

Joy & Cannon was still being advertised in the Film Yearbook of 1922-1923, which surprised me, after looking at dozens of city directories and cross checking the employment of the two founders. By this time, Cannon was known for his camouflage painting for the United States Marine Crops. And Joy was president of Universal Scenic Studio.

During the second and third decades of the twentieth century scenic studios popped up like daisies across the country. It is hard to convey the scope of painted illusion produced for a variety of entertainments at the time, or those who founded scenic studios.

Here is a list of scenic studios listed in the 1922-1923 Film Yearbook: Acme Scenic Artists Studios (Chicago), Armbruster and Sons (Columbus), Atlanta Scenic Co. (Atlanta), Baker & Lockwood (Kansas City), J. H. Beaumont Velvet Scenery Studios (Kansas City), The Wm. Beck & Sons Co. (Cincinnati), Wm. Bradley Studios (NYC), Wm. Campf Studio (NYC), Cox Scene Painting Studio (Philadelphia), Geo. Davis Scenic Studio, (Philadelphia), Enkeboll Art Co. (Omaha), Excelsior Studios & Theatre Supply Co. (Kalamazoo), Fabric Studios (Chicago), Fetters & Fisher (Philadelphia), Fredericks Scenic Studio (NYC), Gates and Morang (NYC), Hamilton Studios (NYC), D. C. Humphreys Co. (Philadelphia), Irwin & Sparks Scenic Studio (Philadelphia), Joy & Cannon Scenic Studio (St. Paul), Kahn & Bowman (NYC), Kansas City Scenic Co. (Kansas City), King Scenic Co. (Dallas), J. B. La Touche (Clearfield, Iowa), Lee Lash Studios (NYC), Law Scenic Studios (NYC), Jos. P. McHugh & Son (NYC), Manhattan Scenic Studios (NYC), Herbert L. Messmore Co. (NYC), Murray Hill Scenic Studios (NYC), New York Studios (NYC), Frank Platzer Studio (NYC), Theo. Reising & Co. (NYC), St. Louis Float & Scenic Co. (St. Louis), Schells Scenic Studio (Columbus), Jno. A. Servas Studio (Rochester, NY), D. Sheek & Co. (Cleveland), Star Scenic Studio, Inc. (Omaha), O.L. Story Scenic Studio (Boston), Allan J. Turner Studio (NYC), Twin City Scenic Co. (Minneapolis). Universal Scenic Artists Studios (Chicago), Werbe Scenic Studio (Kansas City), and Young Bros. (NYC).

This list is only a small portion of studios in the United States during the early 1920s, yet paints a picture of how rapidly the industry was growing in the post-WWI period. Consider that some the major studios were not even mentioned in the Film Yearbook of 1922-1923, such as Toomey & Volland (St. Louis) or Sosman & Landis (Chicago). These well-known giants of the industry had enjoyed a secure position for decades of experience and a dedicated clientele. When they came into existence, there was more work than providers and the competition was friendly. The balance begins to shift by the 1920s, even before the great depression. In many cases, disgruntled employees started their own studio, hoping to retain a greater percentage of their profits for their work. Many were short-lived, as their previous employers targeted the same work and were prepared to take a loss. It was a loss they could afford while crushing the new competition.

But there was also a shift in the industry as the demand for painted scenes began to diminish. The call for fabric draperies and settings ushered in a new era. This combined with the popularity of film caused many studios to falter and eventually close. Even the largest scenic studios were not immune to the industry shift. Joy & Cannon Scenic Studio, as well as many other small firms, appeared at a time when they would encounter a series of challenges, most beyond their control. Embracing the new trends and technologies was the only way to weather the storm. As I continue with the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in the pre- and post-WWI era, the company faltered because of their focus on painted scenery and inability to embrace change. As company president, Moses placed all of his bets on the wrong horse.

Tomorrow, I look at the lives of Boyd Phelps Joy and Gerald V. Cannon, scenic artists and founders of Joy & Cannon Scenic Studio.

To be continued…