Part 614: Theatrical Guides – Julius Cahn
While looking for information about the theatre architect J. M. Wood’s first theatre deign in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I came across a new theatre guide published in the 1880s. This was the fifth late-nineteenth-century theatrical guide that I have encountered over the past five years.
In 2014 I was sitting at Anoka-Ramsey Community College waiting for my daughter to finish her SAT testing. While connected to the college’s guest Wi-Fi, I was searching for information about Sosman & Landis installations. After clicking several newspaper article links, I came across an interesting pdf for an entire book with multiple mentions of Sosman & Landis- “Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide Containing Information of the Leading Theatres and Attractions in America.”
It was the fifth edition for the 1901-1902 theatre season. Sosman & Landis were listed as the scenic artists for several venues across the country, and I began scanning the publication for the mention of other studios and scenic artists. As I examined each entry, I was flabbergasted to see the technical information for a variety of venues, ranging from small town theaters and opera houses to massive metropolitan theaters. Stage measurements included more than I could take in at first glance – the proscenium opening, width of the stage area, depth of the stage, distance between side walls, the distance from the footlights to the curtain line, height to the rigging loft, number of grooves (and if they could be removed), distance between fly girders, depth under the stage, number of traps, number of sets, and if there was a scene room.
There was also information about the illumination, seating capacity, standard ticket pricing, names of managers, stage carpenters, scenic artists, electricians, orchestra leaders, attorneys, and many other professionals or service providers. And there was more…local hotels, newspapers, program publishers, who provided bill posters, recommended railways, transfer companies, and marketing information. The guide included transportation maps, timetables, recognized holidays, populations and drawing communities. There were advertisements for a variety of theatrical manufacturers, professionals, performers, touring companies, opera houses, theaters, music academies, auditoriums, decorators, architects, lighting suppliers, theatrical lumber companies, costume suppliers, tailors, theatrical fire insurance companies, wig makers, theatrical flower decorating companies, theatrical companies, scenic studios, scenic artists, hotels, railroads, transfer companies, and a variety of other business, too numerous to list. All told, there were 148 advertisers in the first 1896 publication, complete with pictures of painted scenery!
There is an amazing wealth of information pertaining to our theatre heritage, painting a very clear picture of the intricate network of performance venues for touring companies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. The first publication by Julius Cahn came out for the 1896 season. He registered a copyright in 1895. In his first theatrical guide, the “Greeting,” Chan stated his desire to present “those associated in a general way with the theatrical business… a compendium of information more thorough in its general details and more accurate in its various topics than any work of the kind that has ever before been issued.”
There were other theatrical guides that predated Cahn’s – Harry Miner’s, W. H. Donaldson’s, and Jno. B. Jeffery’s. Each provides a unique snapshot of theatrical activity in North America, from small rural towns to large metropolitan areas from the 1880s to the 1920s. This is a HUGE resource for theatre historians, technicians, and historic theatre owners.
The entries about scenic artists, however, can be a little confusing as the individual listed for a the theater could mean two things. It may suggest the individual or studio responsible for the stock scenery when the theater was built, or it could also pertain to the current artist responsible for scene painting at the venue. There is no clarification, and in some cases, it could mean both, if the scenic artist created the stock scenery for the venue and also worked on site to add new pieces for touring shows.
The publication office for “Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide” was located in New York’s Empire Theatre Building. The Guide’s greeting stated, “Mr. Cahn’s long and active experience in the theatrical business as the Manager of Charles Frohman’s Booking Department, impressed upon him the need of a complete and official Theatrical Guide that would give the managers of theatres throughout the country, the managers of traveling attractions, and other closely interested in their affairs, a complete and exhaustive volume pertaining to the various branches of the business, arranged in a concise and clear manner, so as to make it both valuable and available as a book reference.”
So who was Cahn? He the manager of the Charles Frohman’s Booking Department at the Empire Theatre. Advertisements reported, “Representing all the leading Theatre in America, and always on tour from 20 to 30 of the Leading Attractions of America and England.” In 1896, the same year that Cahn’s first theatrical guide came out, Charles Frohman (1856-1915) co-founded the Theatrical Syndicate with Al Hayman, A. L. Erlanger, Marc Klaw, Samuel F. Nirdlinger, and Frederick Zimmerman, all theatrical managers and/or booking agents. The Syndicate was an organization that controlled the booking of the top theatrical attractions in the United States. The six founders had great influence over theatre throughout the country. Frohman’s chain of theaters crossed the entire country. Frohman and Hayman owned theaters in New York and the surrounding areas. Klaw and Erlanger were booking agents for the majority of major theaters in the southern United States, Nirdlinger and Zimmerman controlled most of the theaters in the Ohio region. In order for the Syndicate to succeed, it needed to form a monopoly, and the six men’s theaters were organized into a national chain. You may understand how Julius Cahn’s Theatrical Guide would have greatly benefited the Theatrical Syndicate, as it was controlled by the head of Frohman’s booking department.
The first issue admitted to “errors,” explaining “Sources of information are sometimes at fault, for which [Cahn] feels confident that due allowances will be made. In some instances towns have been omitted, due to the fact that managers of the theatres in those places did not feel sufficient interest to send the desired information.” I wonder if any omissions may have occurred on purpose.
To be continued…
