Society Event – Drypigment.net

In 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A big ball at the North Side Armory, given by Mrs. Howard Linn gave us a hard job to put up, and we just did that and nothing else.”

Mrs. Howard Linn was in charge of the “Bal Surprise” in 1920. From the “Chicago Tribune,” 31 Jan. 1920, page 3.

This was another Chicago Studios project supervised by Moses before his return to Sosman & Landis in April 2020.

Mrs. Howard Linn was a well-known Chicago socialite, residing at 55 Cedar Street. Linn was involved with many public charity endeavors, social pageants, and social organizations. In 1920 Linn was the chairman of the committee in charge of the Junior League ball held on January 30, 1920, at the Second Field Artillery armory on Chicago avenue and the lake. The feature of the ball was a pageant, announced in the “Chicago tribune” on January 3, 1920 (page 15). This was the event that Moses was referring to in his memoirs.

From From the “Chicago Tribune,” 3 Jan. 1920, page 4.

On Jan. 25, 1920, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “The ‘Bal Surprise’ to be given on Friday evening by the Junior League will be a sort of grand finale to the most brilliant social season Chicago has had in many a year. Mrs. Howard Linn is in charge of the arrangements for the ball, which gives promise of being one of the most interesting affairs ever given here. The feature of the evening will be ‘tableau vivants,’ in which a number of well-known matrons and maids will take part. Herman Rosee, Randal Davey, Allan Philbrick, and Mr. Norton of the Art Institute are assisting Mrs. Linn with the tableaux, the costumes, and the decorations of the First Artillery armory, where the ball is to be held. Mrs. J. Andrews King is co-chairman with Mrs. Linn, and the chairmen of the subcommittees are as follows: Ushers, Miss Edith Cummings; tickets, Miss Caryl Dunham; refreshments, Mrs. Frederick C. Letts; program, Mrs. Lowel Chapin; music, Miss Emily Bisell; decorations, Mrs. Barney Goodspeed; costumes, Mr. Thorne Donnelley, and boxes, Mrs. Frank Hibbard.”

On the day after the ball, the “Chicago Tribune” reported, “’Bal Surprise’ Nets $12,000 for Charity” (Jan. 31, 1920, page 3). The article continued, “If it had not been for the modern dress of the guests at the Junior League ‘Bal Surprise’ last night, one would have imagined one’s self at a ball in a medieval castle. The first artillery armory, the scene of last night’s revel, is of medieval architecture and the members of the league, who acted as hostess, were gowned in the picturesque modes of those days long ago. In long trained gowns with basques and tall pointed square headdresses, they looked as if they had stepped out of the frames of old paintings of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. They were divided into two groups, the ushers, whose duty it was to see that everyone present enjoyed the party to the utmost, and the cushion bearers, who between dances flung gaily colored cushions on the floor so that the guests might be seated during the ‘tableaux vivants,’ which were the ‘piece de resistance’ of the affair.

“The tableaux, seven in number, were shown in a larger gilt frame which was hung at the end of the ballroom behind curtains of star dotted midnight blue. Mrs. Howard Linn, chairman of the ball, was assisted in arranging the tableaux by Abram Poole and by several artists from the Art Institute, Randall Davey, Harman Rossé, Allan C. Philbrick and John W. Norton. The backgrounds, which were particularly attractive were painted by these artists and they also assisted Mrs. Thorne Donnelley in designing the costumes. In the first tableau Mrs. John Andrews King and Mrs. Morris L. Johnston, dressed in pastel shaded Grecian robes, posed as figures on a Grecian vase. They were followed by Mrs. Rufus J. Zogbaum, Jr., who, with her lovely auburn hair hanging loose, made a perfect Giorgione Madonna. Preceding the next tableau, in which Miss Polly Carpenter, who is as dainty as a bit of Dresden china, with a figure in an Arras tapestry. James L. Breeze, dressed as a bird vendor with a big hoop on which his wares were perched around his hips, danced a sort of clog dance. He was assisted by Miss Sylvia Shaw and Miss Elizabeth Farwell, dressed as court ladies.

“Mrs. and Mrs. John R. Winterbotham Jr., danced a gavotte as a prelude to the fourth tableaux, in which Mrs. David Adler, attended by an Ethiopian slave, posed as a Van Dyck portrait. Preceding the fifth tableaux, a Chinese screen, Mrs. Mitchell Hoyt sang a Chinese lullaby, accompanied by Miss Louise Thorne on the mandolin. Miss Lucretia Green and Miss Alice Bradely also were in this group. The figure son the screen, which was one of the most interesting of the tableaux, were Miss Mary Rend, Miss Mabel Linn and Mrs. Joseph T. Bowen Jr.

“Mrs. John Root as a figure in a Persian print was next, and last was a Wedgwood plaque in which Mrs. Charles Edward Brown, Mrs. Philip D. Armour III., Miss Gladys High, Miss Lois Kellogg, and Miss Adelaide Pierce posed. Dressed in White robes, with their faces, necks, and arms as white as plaster and their hair covered with white wigs, the group made a base relief against a background of that wonderful Wedgwood blue, one of the most effective and attractive of the pictures.

“The cardroom, or aviary, so-called because it resembles a monstrous bird cage, was decorated with tropical birds, vines and flowers, bright colored lights and awnings. Mrs. Charles Barney Goodspeed was chairman of the committee in charge of decorating the building.

“Miss Edith Cummings, Miss Elizabeth Martin, and Miss Betty Quick were dressed as heralds and carried horns, with which they summoned the guests to the ballroom of the tableaux…a buffet supper was served during the evening in the lounge.

“The proceeds amounted to about $12,000, and will be devoted to charities to which the league annually contributes, including St. Luke’s hospital, the Visiting Nurse association, the Juvenile Protection association, the Infant Welfare society, Practical Housekeeping centers, the Mary Bartlme club, the Mental Hygiene society, the Legal Aid Society, the United Charities, the Park Ridge Home for Girls, the Fort Sheridan beach fund, and the Fort Sheridan Christmas fund.”

The monetary equivalent of $12,000 in 1920 is $153,836.40 today.

The tableaux backings were produced under the supervision of artists from the Art Institute, including Poole, Davey, Rossé, Philbrick and Norton. Moses and many scenic artists were also members of the Art Institute. My research suggests that the tableaux were produced at Chicago scenic studios, as the scenic artists had paint frames large enough to produce scenery for the event, unlike most fine artists.

From the “Chicago Tribune,” 7 May 1920, page 101.

From the “Chicago Tribune,” 17 Feb. 1920, page 3.

To be continued…

At the beginning of 1920, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “A one night stunt for Mrs. Ryerson at the Congress Hotel Gold Room caused considerable trouble.” Moses was referring to Mrs. Martin Ryerson and the Congress Plaza hotel. The Gold Room hosted many interesting events during 1920. On January 20, there was an opportunity to meet an socialize with performers from the Chicago Grand Opera Company. This is possibly the “one-night stunt” that Moses was referring to in January.

The Congress Hotel was originally called the Auditorium Annex and built in 1893, hosting many visitors attending the World Fair that year. The current website for the venue states, “The original conception was an annex with a façade designed to complement Louis Sullivan’s Auditorium Building across the street, at the time housing a remarkable hotel, theater and office complex. The Auditorium Annex was built by famous hotel developer R.H. Southgate. The first section, or north tower, was designed by Clinton Warren, with Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler serving as consultants. “Peacock Alley,” a celebrated feature of the new hotel, was an underground marble passageway that connected the new annex with the Auditorium Hotel. The south tower, constructed between 1902 and 1907, was designed by renowned architectural firm Holabird and Roche. The South Tower construction included a magnificent banquet hall, now known as the Gold Room, which would become the first hotel ballroom in America to use air-conditioning. Another ballroom, called the Florentine Room, was added to the North Tower in 1909. These two famous public rooms combined with the Elizabethan Room and the Pompeian Room to host Chicago’s elite social events of the day.” Here is the link to this historic Chicago Hotel: https://www.congressplazahotel.com/history

Peacock Alley at the Congress Hotel in Chicago.

In regard to the Ryersons, they of elite society with money to burn and some good deeds to do. On January 8, 1920, the “Chicago Tribune” reported a donation to the Field Museum by Mr. Ryerson (page 1). The donation of 222 stone blocks, comprising Unasankh’s tomb, was described in detail: “36×16 feet, with walls three feet thick…The excavation was performed by Arabs under the supervision of British officials – and 222 stone blocks were crated and shipped to Chicago.” Headlines announced, “Egypt, 2650 B. C., to Chicago, 1920; Story of Tombs.” Museum director, Dr. Frederick J. V. Skiff announced the gifts from Martin A. Ryerson and Edward A, Ayer. The article reported, “Mr. Ayer, the first president of the museum and the chief benefactor of its Egyptology department, learned of the possibility of acquiring the sarcophagi of these ancient dwellers of the Nile, and recently he conferred with Mr. Ryerson. That’s how Messrs. Uter-Neter and Unsankh happened to lose their tombs. Six hundred carloads of exhibits now at the old museum in Jackson park, about 80 per cent of them packed, are now being prepared for transportation to Grant Park.” Mrs. Ryerson was also involved with a series of guest lectures that spring, including Museum talks on Russian Art and Literature.

Mrs. Ryerson pictured on the left, from the “Chicago Tribune,” 21 jan 1920, page 3.

It is important to understand that scenic studios delivered far more than painted settings for commercial theater. They were also an artistic resource for high society, collaborating with wealthy women to produce elaborate and exotic themed social events for various charities. Scenic artists were visionaries for many public spectacles.

To be considered…

Category: Society Event

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1044 – Mrs. Howard Lind and the Bal Surprise, 1920

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1041 – The Gold Room at the Congress Hotel, 1920