Studio Listings – Drypigment.net

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Don Carlos DuBois and the Great Western Stage Equipment Co.

By the 1950s, DuBois had returned to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1954 DuBois was noted for painted a stage backdrop depicting “a reproduction of the temple of Aesculapius on the island of Cos, off Asia Minor, where the practice of medicine began with Hippocrates” for the Medical student center at Kansas University’s J. R. Battenfeld Memorial Auditorium in Kansas City. (The Kansas City Times, 5 April 1954, page 14).

DuBois also began working for the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. and painting Masonic scenery. This brings the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. into the storyline.

The Great Western Stage Equipment Company (GWSE Co.) was founded by T. L. Greening, L. J. Adler, and Samuel F. Hann, after Greening resigned from the Twin City Scenic Company. Established in Kansas City, Missouri, during 1925, the first listing that I have located for the firm was published in Topeka’s “The Stage and Screen” (Topeka, Kansas, 30 Nov, 1925, page 5). The GWSE Co. Was listed as providing the scenery for Ted North’s North Players production of “The Only Road” at the Grand Theatre. In 1927 the firm delivered scenery and draperies to the Sedalia Theatre in Sedalia, Missouri (Sedalia Democrat, 30 January, 1927).

From the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection, University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives.

In 1930 there is a new individual is associated with the company, Edgar L. Gossage of Pierce City. He was mentioned in the “Pineville Democrat” as representing the firm when they were awarded the contract for the Pineville High School (Pineville, Missouri, 14 Nov. 1930, page 1). Competitors at the time included Oklahoma City Scenic Co. and John C. Becker Stage Equipment Co. of Chicago.

During the 1930s the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. was located at 817 Holmes St., Kansas City, Mo. The company advertised in 1932 Patterson’s American Educational Directory (Vol. XXIX). This directory is about as significant as “Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide” at the turn of the twentieth century, providing insight into theatrical suppliers, as educational institutions become a major clientele. GWSE Co. advertised alongside American Scenic Studios (Buffalo, NY), B & B Scenic Studio (Cleveland, OH), Beaumont Studios (NYC), Wm. Beck & Sons Co. (Cincinnati, OH); Robt. P. Carsen Scenic Studios (Chicago, IL), Cincinnati Stage Lighting Co. (Cincinnati, OH); Conrad & White Co. (Indianapolis, IN), Archie B. Craig Scenic Studios (South Boston, Mass.), Herfurth Scenic Studios (Cincinnati, OH), Kansas City Scenic Co. (Kansas City, MO), Lee Lash Studios (NY), Novelty Scenic Studios (NYC), Pausback Scenery Co. (Chicago, IL), Queen City Scenic Studios (Buffalo, NY), Rochester Scenic Studio (Rochester, NY), Schell Scenic Studios (Columbus, OH), Schneider Studios, Inc. (NY), Sheck & Co. (Cleveland, OH), Shields Studio (St. Louis, MO), O. L. Story Scenic Co. (Somerville, Boston, Mass.), Tiffin Scenic Studios (Tiffin, OH), Twin City Scenic Co. (Minneapolis, MN), and Wass & Son (Philadelphia, PA). Note the two major studios that led the industry up to WWI are missing from this list – Toomey & Volland (St. Louis) and Sosman & Landis (Chicago). The driving force that kept many studios busy was dramatic productions and school theatricals that also began renting scenery.

Great Western Stage Equipment Co. paint studio.

Very few GWSE Co. projects are mentioned in the newspaper during the 1930s, as schools become their main target; there was really no need to advertise in newspapers during the Depression. Contracted projects announced in the newspaper includes a stage in Great Bend, Kansas (1938), a school in Marysville, Kansas (1938) and a school in Hutchinson, Kansas. New alliances were formed, and during 1938 Phil Thatcher, president of the Thatcher Supply and Equipment Co of Topeka, Kansas, was representing the firm. On behalf of the Great Western Stage Equipment Co, Thatches was bidding on stage equipment (Marysville Advocate, 17 Nov. 1938, page 1).

1933 high school installation in Quincy, Illinois. From the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection, University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives.

By 1939, the GWSE Co. placed a congratulatory note and advertisement in conjunction with the opening of the Illinois Theatre in Jacksonville, Illinois (Jacksonville Daily Journal, 8 May 1939, page 22). Thomas L. Greening was still with the firm, listed as Treasurer and Manager at 817 Holmes Street. The incorporation date of 1926 was noted in advertisements, offering scenery, electrical, draperies, stage rigging and accessories for schools, colleges, theatres, movies, lodges, churches, pubic auditoriums, outdoor theatres, traveling shows, display rooms, expositions and tent shows.

During the 1940s projects included the Home Theatre in Oklahoma City (1946), the Go-Show theatre in Clinton, Missouri (1947), a school in Tremonton, Utah (1948), and the South School in Neodesha, Kansas (1950). . In Oklahoma City the GWSE Co. received a rather large project for a Cooper Foundation theatre called the Harber (Daily Oklahoman, 1 July 1951, page 69). By 1951, project load once again increased, along with the building boom following WWII. The country was investing in education and entertainment; the greatest generation opened their pocketbooks for their children and those who would follow. Positions opened up at the firm, advertising for stenographers, switchboard operators, bookkeepers, men who were mechanically inclined with carpentry skills,

The company’s main focus remained schools and civic centers, with projects in Lake Park, Iowa; Decatur, Illinois; Lubbock, Texas; Totonka, Iowa; Independence, Iowa; Garden City, Kansas; Miami, Oklahoma; Waterloo, Iowa; Moline, Illinois; St. Joseph, Missouri; Davenport, Iowa; Decatur, Illinois; Freeport, Illinois; Rock Island, Illinois; Iola, Kansas; Alton, Illinois; Carbondale, Illinois; Emporia, Kansas; and elsewhere. Frequent competitors during this time were Texas Scenic Co., Texarkana Scenic Co., Northwest Studio, and Metropolitan State Equipment.

In 1956 there was a new division of GWSE Co., Great Western Fabrics, offering half-price remnants for sale. They sold velvets, fine hand prints and assorted fabrics for “pillows and many other uses, advertising “red hot” bargains at 1324-1326 Grand in Kansas City (The Kansas City Times, 26 Sept, 1956, page 46).

From the “Kansas Daily Times,” 26 Sept, 1956, page 46.

It is around this time that DuBois begins working in earnest for the company, focusing on new scenery for Scottish Rite theaters in the Kansas City and the southeast. Fraternal work begins to pour in, but DuBois is nearing the end of his career. Although the scenery for a handful of Scottish Rite theaters represents a lifetime of experience as a scenic artist, isn’t with the company long.

Sketch for a Masonic scene, from the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection, University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives.

Finished piece by Maj. Don Carlos DuBois, representing the Great Western Stage Equipment Co for the Scottish Rite Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri.

DuBois passed away on 26 March 1964, and is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

Then came the big fall for the Great Western Stage Equipment Co. In 1968, Newspapers all over the country announced “Price Fixing Charge Filed.” Here is the article:

“WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Federal Trade Commission Thursday provisionally accepted a consent order prohibiting two Midwestern stage equipment companies from conspiring to fix prices and allocate territories and customers. The order cites Great Western Stage Equipment Co., Inc. of Kansas City Missouri, and its president Edgar L. Gossage, and the Metropolitan State Equipment Co., Inc. of Omaha, Neb., and Donald W. Beck and Carl W. Winter, resident and vice-president respectively. The firms sell, manufacture and install stage curtains, rigging, lighting apparatus and other stage equipment. The complaint charged that all the parties participated in a conspiracy under which Metropolitan and Great Western agreed not to compete with each other in certain areas. It also said Great Western and Gossage had prevented competitors from bidding effectively on proposed projects by manipulating terms and specifications. Under order, Great Western and Gossage are forbidden to prepare terms or specifications of proposed stage equipment projects wit the purpose or effect of denying competitors fair opportunity to submit competitive bids” (The Springfield News-Leader, 21 June 1968, page 14).

In the 1970s there are only a few mentions of the company. In 1976, the Great Western Stage Equipment company advertised for a drapery workroom supervisor (Kansas City Times, 15 Feb 1976, page 65). They placed an ad for a seamstress at their Great Western Textiles division that same year (Kansas City Times, 20 Feb 1976, page 22). Then news about the company went silent until the 1990s, when it was mentioned again in the touring exhibit, “Theatre of the Fraternity,” featuring Masonic designs produced by the company as part of an exhibit about Scottish Rite theatre.

Prof Emeritus C. Lance Brockman assisted in the acquisition of the Great Western Stage Equipment Company collection for the University of Minnesota Performing Arts Archives. This is the first collection that I catalogued as a recipient of an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program grant. The Great Western Stage Equipment Co. collection primarily contains Masonic designs. However, there are many commercial theatre designs with a Great Western Stage Equipment Co. stamp in the Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, also in the Performing Arts Archives.

Here is a link to the GWSE Co. online collection:

https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections&sort=&q=Great+Western+Stage+Equipment+Co.+Collection

Back to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses in 1916 tomorrow.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 857 – Dealers in Theatrical Goods and Dye Scenery, 1913

While looking for information about scenery delivered by Sosman & Landis in 1913, I stumbled across an interesting publication – “How to Enter Vaudeville” written by the Frederic LaDelle that same year. The content of the book covers a lot of ground, providing an interesting snap shot of the production process and terminology in 1913. There was also a guide to theatre manufacturers, suppliers, and services. The “Dealers in Theatrical Goods,” however, only four studios were listed under “Theatrical Scenery.” I don’t know if this speaks to Frederic LaDelle’s limited connections or if other scenic studios perceived this publication as lacking importance.

The four dealers in theatrical goods were listed in the following order:

1. John C. Becker, 143 Southport Ave., Chicago, Ill.

2. Manning Studio, Rochester, N.Y.

3. Eugene Cox, 1528 Van Buren St. Chicago, Ill

4. W. Crosbie Gill, Warrick’s Theatre, N.Y.

N J. Pausback purchased advertisement space in the book, yet was not listed as a theatrical dealer in the directory. The add was worth mentioning.

N. J. Pausback’s advertisement in “How to Enter Vaudeville.

Here is Pausback’s 1913 ad on “How to Enter Vaudeville:”

“DYE SCENERY! Papier mache properties and stage effects. The best scenery for vaudeville performers is that which is known as ‘Dye Scenery.’ “It is brighter in color and can be folded and packed into trunks and traveling cases without the slightest injury to the scene itself. Dye scenery is also lighter in weight than the old kind and is therefore an important item in reducing excess baggage expense which amounts to considerable in the course of the season. Many acts make good on scenery and stage setting alone, and in such acts as Japanese, Chinese, Western Cowboy, Indian and in fact all impersonations of race or nationality, the scenery should be best. Write me a letter stating your requirements, and the nature of your act and I will submit you a rough sketch and quote you a satisfactory price on your work. N. J. PAUSBACK, Theatrical Contractor 6539 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.”

I have continually explored the production of dye scenery in many past posts over he past few years, but it is worth repeating at this particular juncture in the life and times of Thomas G. Moses.

During the first decade of the twentieth century, much traveling scenery was created with aniline dye, allowing drops to be easily folded and packed in a trunk (for additional information, see past posts # 548-550). This process ensured that the painted composition would not crack or dust off during transit and repeated use. Dye drops were lighter and far easier to handle, perfect for tent shows, midway amusements, circuses, and vaudeville troupes. The vibrant colors also worked well for certain stage effects, such as sunsets and stained glass. All you needed to do was mix the dye with a binder, such as gum arabic. The right mixture provided maximum adhesion and minimal bleeding of color. However, just like any chemistry project, you had to get the binder/water/dye ratios correct or it was a big bleeding mess. Dyes were also used for inking the drawing. It was a wonderful and versatile “go-to” product for painting and staining.

Dye drop at the Theatre Museum in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Painted detail of dye drop at the Theatre Museum in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Dry pigment was also used in place of dyes, applied in a series of thin glazes. Many of the dry colors remained quite vibrant, even when watered down, but were not comparable to certain anilines. The earliest translucencies for the stage were simply produced with a thin glaze of dry pigment, but dry pigment glazes could not hold a candle to aniline dyes in terms of vibrancy.

In the past, I have examined dye drop collections at historic theaters. For example, in Madison, Wisconsin, all of their drops are dye drops, with the majority are kept off stage in a nearby storage room, as there are more drops than lines. Now kept in plastic tubs, each drop is easily accessible to immediately hang for a degree (for more information about this particular installation, see past post #107). There are also several lovely examples of dye drops on display at the theater museum in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. This museum purports that scenic artist Jesse Cox invented the diamond dye process for theatre drops, instigating the immediate popularity of dye drops for touring vaudeville acts and tent shows. Whether or not Cox was the first to popularize dye drops in immaterial, but the increased resulted in dye drop ads, such as Pausback’s in “How to Enter Vaudeville.”

Dye drop at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin.

In addition to vaudeville and tent shows, many circus spectacles also used dye scenery. In 1906, Thomas G. Moses created a dye canopy for Al Ringling (see past post #548). Moses describes how dye work was still vulnerable to water, causing Ringling to greatly chastise him after one particularly sever rain storm. Just because a backdrop was painted in dye did not mean that it could not be water damaged. A dye drop simply helped the painted composition stand up to excessive wear and tear, it did not make it water proof; an application of paraffin helped waterproof canvas outdoors.

Over the years, dye drops have made their way into various performing arts collections. The historic examples greatly range in both size and quality. However, it is the brilliance of color that often remains, bringing to mind the spirit an energy that characterized many touring shows that left their mark on small Midwestern towns. I will continue down the dye drop road and Jesse Cox’s perceived role in this history tomorrow.

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…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar: Part 778 – Scenic Studios and a New Drop Curtain 1911

When Western Scenery Co. made an appearance in Lincoln, Nebraska, during 1911, the “Lincoln Herald” reported, “In the past 10 years the subject of scenery painting has attracted the attention of the most skillful painters in the world. The demand is for a much higher grade of artistic painting especially in localities where artwork is appreciated. Lincoln is fortunate in having Western Scenery Co., formerly of Chicago, located here, at 2042 O Street under the management of Mr. C. L. Dodson” (March 3, 1911).

A year earlier, the business directory section of the “New York Dramatic Mirror” listed ten scenic studios: H. P. Knight Scenic Studios (New York), Sosman & Landis Great Scene Painting Studio (Chicago), M. Armbruster & Sons (Columbus), Ormston Scenic Construction Co. (New York), the O. H. Story Scenic Co. (Boston), Inc., P. Dodd Ackerman Scenic Studio (New York), Schell’s Scenic Studio (Columbus, Ohio), the Myer’s Company, Inc., Scenic Studio (Steubenville, Ohio), Howard Tuttle (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), H. Fredericks (New York), and the C. Wash. Valentine Scenic Studios (Brooklyn, NY). Individual advertisements included Edward Fourneir (Minneapolis, MN), W. H. McConnell (Minneapolis), and H. Maurice Tuttle (Milwaukee).

There were many other scenic studios at the time not listed in the “New York Dramatic Mirror,” such as Toomey & Volland, Lee Lash, and New York Studios. Keep in mind that by 1910, Sosman & Landis studio was celebrating three decades of business, having installed stock scenery collections in thousands of theaters nationwide. During the period from 1880 to 1894 alone, they had delivered stock scenery collections to 4000 theaters nationwide.

Although scenic art production was nearing its peak in the United States, change was in the air. The same year that the Sosman & Landis shops were manufacturing hundreds of painted scenes in Chicago, a new type of drop curtain arrived at the Blackstone Theatre. One January 13, 1911, the “Fremont Tribune” of Fremont, Kansas, reported, “The new Blackstone theater in Chicago possesses the finest stage curtain in the United States, if not the world. It is a solid piece of imported tapestry and cost $15,ooo without including the duty” (page 5). $15,000 in 1911 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $404, 436.32 in 2019. The article continued, “There are only two other theaters in the world that have curtains of the same kind, and neither of these, it is said, is a fine a piece of work as Blackstone’s. One of these curtains is at Milan [Italy] and the other in [Moscow] Russia. No Paris playhouse has such a curtain, and there is none in England. The curtain was woven especially at Aubusson, near Paris. It is the largest single piece of tapestry ever imported into this country, measuring 30 ½ by 42 feet.”

Postcard depicting the Blackstone Theatre

Image of the $15,000 tapestry drop curtain, from “Fine Arts Journal,” Vol. 24, No. 4, pp.280-281

The work began in the studio of M. Lemaille in Montmartre, Paris, two years prior to delivery. From a small cartoon, a full sign-painting was created for the tapestry artisans. The actual weaving did not commence until June 1910 at Aubusson. The tapestry was a partial reproduction of a famous tapestry owned by Napoleon that depicted a group of young people dancing on the green in the time of Louis XII.

The April 1911 publication of “Fine Arts Journal” included the article “A $15,000 Tapestry Drop Curtain” (Vol. 24, No. 4, pp.280-281). The Blackstone Theatre was credited as being “the most modern and the handsomest playhouse in America,” erected by Chicago businessmen at a cost of $500,000 in Hubbard Place between Michigan Boulevard and Wabash Avenue and adjoining the Blackstone Hotel. Charles Frohman, Klaw and Erlanger were the lessees with Harry J. Power as manager and Augustus Pitou, Jr. as business manager.

It was William J. Sinclair, director of the Hasselgren Studios, who conceived the idea of having a drop curtain of tapestry. Hasselgren Studios was a furniture company and celebrated interior-decorating firm that operated between 1911 and 1937 in Chicago. The firm was famous for their fine art work in mansions, hired for decorating. The artistic staff included scenic artists who painted ceiling murals on canvas that were shipped and hung in distant locales. They were also well known for their Oriental rugs, too, many of which were woven in Persia and would take years to complete. (Quad City Times, 24 May 1953, page 4). The company went bankrupt in the 1920s, with much of the stock being sold to John A. Colby and Sons. The order for the Tapestry drop curtain was placed over two years before delivery and necessitated a full-sized “cartoon” for the design. The piece was completed only a month before its arrival in the United States and the duty was noted as “a small fortune.”

Hasselgren Studios advertisement in the “Chicago Tribune,” Feb 12, 1911, page 21

Hasselgren Studios advertisement from the “Chicago Tribune,” Jan 31, 1915, page 44

What should be contemplated after thinking of this substantial purchase is the significance of the proscenium opening. Although the auditorium was ornately decorated with Ivory, dull gold and green, the “Fine Arts Journal” explained that the color scheme was “specifically designed to harmonize with and display the beautiful tapestry drop curtain.” As in many cases with previously painted drops curtains, the entire auditorium functioned as a frame for the artwork hanging in the proscenium. The architectural elements were simply supportive to whatever was suspended in the focal point of the auditorium – the proscenium.

To be continued…