In 2018, I visited the Scottish Rite theater in Salina, Kansas. It was on my return trip from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although I had documented the Salina collection before, I want to see the current condition of the deteriorating drops.
The Salina Scottish Rite theater was part of a 1920s Masonic building boom. Many Scottish Rite theaters with existing scenery collections enlarged their facilities and purchased new collections, trading in their old scenery for credit on a new purchase. These used scenery collections were then resold to other Scottish Rite theaters for a fraction of the original cost. In other cases, the Masons brokered their own used scenery deal, transferring scenery from one theater to another. That was the case with the 1908 McAlester scenery collection. The Salina Masons purchased the used scenery collection from the McAlester Scottish Rite. The collection was originally painted at the Sosman & Landis Studio. Here is the cathedral setting; one of the more complex scenes. For more information about Scottish Rite scenery and theaters, visit www.drypigment.com and use the keyword search function
Scenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908Scenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908Scenery by Sosman & Landis with original shipping label for McAlester, OklahomaScenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908Scenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908Scenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908Scenery by Sosman & Landis, 1908
In 1921 Thomas G. Moses landed the scenery contract for the Tacoma Scottish Rite. Of the project, he wrote, “It took some work to close the Tacoma job at $6,400.00. Will come back to do the work myself.” He was to start the Tacoma Scottish Rite project at the beginning of December 1921, but he had to put out a few fires before leaving Chicago that winter. Moses wrote, “I should have been back in Tacoma December 1st. I have written them on the cause of my delay.”
He had a very short period of time to accomplish a lot of tasks in the main studio before leaving town, and there were stops to make along the way. Too much to do in too little time; a theme that I am certainly familiar with these days. Moses and his wife did not leave Chicago until Dec. 13, spending a full day in Kansas City before continuing onto Los Angeles. Then there was another stop in San Francisco, where Moses took the boat across the bay and headed east to Stockton. He hoped to close another contract, but had no such luck.
Of his side trip to Stockton, Moses wrote, “Took the boat back again and left for the north the same day. We had a very pleasant trip. Found a lot of snow in the north on our arrival in Tacoma. We found our apartment all ready for us and it is very cozy.” He was in town to paint scenery for the Scottish Rite Theatre, but also planned on doing a little oil painting in his spare time. Moses, continued, “I found we needed another room for a studio, which I got, and it is going to be a good asset to my picture painting. The most glorious view of the mountain at sunrise, noon, sunset and an hour after sunset. I have finally got to work and while it is going to be a long job, I will enjoy doing it, and incidentally getting some good sketches of the mountain.”
His stay in Tacoma with Ella must have been a wonderful break from both travel and responsibilities associated Sosman & Landis. It was a new project, a new year, and he was surrounded by beautiful scenery. One of his favorite compositions to paint was the nearby Mount Rainier. In 1889, he recorded his first glimpse of the mountain, also known as Mount Shasta, writing, “My first view of Mt. Shasta I shall never forget. It was sunset and all the foreground and middle distance was in shadow. Made a rapid pencil sketch and have since painted it in watercolor and oil, with some success.”
Of his drop curtain from 1889, Moses wrote, “As I look at it now, it is hard to realize that I painted it 33 years ago. The scene is in Rome, “Temple of Minerva.” It has a richness of color that we are not able to get now on account of the inferiority quality of the colors. I found my old palette, which gave me a rather uncanny chill, to think that after so many years, it should be waiting for my return.”
Temple of Minerva Drop Curtain for the Tacoma Theatre, 1889-1890
The Temple of Minerva was a popular subject for nineteenth-century scene painters. In 1881, an article in “Building News and Engineering Journal,” listed the Temple of Minerva as one of the many compositions painted by scenic artists, showing their versatility of subject matter. The journal’s article was entitled, “Art on The Stage,” and it appeared in the issue on July 29, 1881. Here is an excerpt with the Temple of Minerva mention:
“Scene Painting is an art by itself. There is no other branch of painting just like it, either in the variety of subjects embraced or in the methods employed. The thorough scenic artist must be equally at home in landscape or marine work, architectural or fresco. He is not permitted to cultivate any particular branch of his art, nor any favorite style. He must be able to produce, at any time, the wild mountainous passes of Switzerland or the flat meadows of Holland; the green lanes of homelike England, or the winding valleys of romantic Spain. In his architectural work he cannot devote himself to the Gothic or the Romanesque, but must be equally master of the Moorish, the Greek, and the Oriental. He may to-day be called upon to paint the Temple of Minerva, and to-morrow the Mosque of Omar; this week the Windsor Hotel, and next week the Palace of Versailles. His art knows no boundaries, and his scope is confined by no limits. The universe must be at his command, and things unseen must live in his imagination. The methods by which he works and many of the materials he employs are altogether different from those employed by the ordinary oil or water-colour painter. They approach more nearly to those of the latter, yet even here certain qualities of the colours used by the scene-painter constitute a sharp dividing line.”
Moses’ Temple of Minerva Drop Curtain for the Tacoma Theater was also featured on the front page of “The Palette & Chisel” Club newsletter in 1917. It accompanied and article entitle, “Thomas G. Moses, All Round Scene Painter. His Work is Known from Coast to Coast.”
Here is the introductory paragraph that says so much about his scene painting work:
“Now this article is about an artist whose work has been viewed by more people that ever entered the Art Institute and the Metropolitan Museum since their doors were first opened….probably. And those people paid good round sums to get in where the artist’s work was displayed. You don’t believe that, now do you? Well, then, when I also tell you that this artist painted stage settings for Booth and Barrett, Thomas Keene, McCullough and all that ranting crew of Shakespearian heavies, you will get the pint, of course. And of course, you will think this is just another one of those anniversary obituaries dedicated to some duck that passed out about the time everyone was singing…well, whatever they were singing when real fur bearing men wore flannel night shirts.
Far from that howsumever, the gallant lad immortalized in this rhetorical garland is cheerfully employed just now in packing his sketching trunk for a paint spree in Zion National Park. And incidentally, going and coming he intends to put on the old corduroys with a brace of big theatrical contracts in Salt Lake City and Oakland, California. That is, this venerable old relic will paint the sets himself, and with Uncle Tom that means about ten hours a day on the paint bridge, and ninety days to each job. Isn’t it sad how fragile and inefficient these old timers are becoming! Tom says it bothers him a right smart now to paint a 45×50 drop in one day. What? Hell, no….FEET!”
When the article was written, Moses was sixty-one years old. Four years later in 1921, he was still working at a breakneck speed and tackling entire stock scenery projects.
In 1921 Thomas G. Moses recorded that he secured a contract with the Omaha Scottish Rite for $2,400.00 worth of work. He later wrote, “I have plenty to do on Masonic models and I am afraid I will have to get some help.” By 1921, the country was experiencing another wave of Scottish Rite Theatre construction. The building of massive Masonic structures and the expansion of existing ones were occurring all across the county.
This also signaled that money was flowing into the Scottish Rite at an almost unprecedented rate, helping fund these endeavors. WWI had paused many Masonic construction projects, as had the Spanish Flu pandemic and had a brief recession. Many Scottish Rite Valleys returned to an investment in membership experience; stages and new degree productions were a significant part of the membership experience.
The story surrounding the original Sosman & Landis scenery for the Omaha Scottish Rite is quite fascinating. In 1914, the “Omaha Daily Bee” described, “The new Scottish Rite Cathedral is a three-story structure, with high basement, built of Bedford granite, with imposing Ionic columns and porticos. The auditorium on the second and third floors where the initiations will take place is an attractive modern theater, with a stage 30×40 feet and a seating capacity of about 1,000. It is tinted in cream and pink decorated panels and has all the arrangements for lighting, stage settings and precautions against fire, of the most up to the minute theater. It has a wardrobe and paraphernalia room adjoining” (1 Nov. 1914, page 25). M. C. Lilley subcontracted the 1914 scenic portion of the project to the Sosman & Landis Studio in Chicago. The firm had also created an earlier set for the previous building. Other Scottish Rite theatre projects in the Sosman & Landis studio that year included Grand Forks and Pittsburgh.
The Omaha Scottish Rite
This was also the same year that Joseph S. Sosman passed away on August 7,1914, and the board of directors elected Moses as the company’s new president. He recorded, “On the 10th, a stockholders meeting was called, and I was elected president of the Sosman and Landis Company. Arthur Sosman was elected vice-president and P. Lester Landis, secretary and treasurer. It is very strange to me that I had never given this change of the business a thought. I had never thought of Sosman dying.”
This is a horrible turn of events that forever changed the fate of the studio in regard to Masonic contracts. It placed a non-Masonic scenic artist in charge of a scenic studio that specialized in Scottish Rite scenery. Sosman had been the driving force for years, as he was a well-respected Scottish Rite Mason in Chicago, a member of the Oriental Consistory. There was a new problem; Moses was not yet a Mason who understood how to navigate the Fraternity, or how to manage all of the necessary administrative duties at the studio.
In 1921, the Omaha Consistory held its annual session in Omaha from November 14-17 (Bloomfield Monitor, 3 Nov 1921, page 9). An attendance of 1000 members was anticipated, likely prompting the purchase of additional scenery. (Alma Record, 4 Nov. 1921, page 3).
I had the opportunity to visit the Scottish Rite Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska, on June 15, 2018. This was the first of many stops at historic theaters on our way to New Mexico. I was heading to Santa Fe to participate in the book signing event for “The Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple: Freemasonry, Architecture and Theatre” (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2018).
The host for my stop at the Omaha Scottish Rite was Micah Evans, Development Director of the Scottish Rite Foundation of Nebraska. Evans could not have been more accommodating or generous with his time, as I slowly documented all of the scenery painted by Maj. Don Carlos DuBois. I knew I was not going to see the original Sosman & Landis collection from 1914 or the additional scenery ordered in 1921. The Omaha Scottish Rite now uses Masonic scenery that was originally installed at the Scottish Rite Theatre in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1996 the collection was purchased for $40,000, and after all removal, transportation and installation, the tab was approximately $140,000.
The whereabouts of the original Sosman & Landis scenery remain unknown, only a few stage artifacts remain in lobby display cases.
White City Amusement Park, ChicagoWhite City Amusement Park, Chicago
In 1921 Thomas Gibbs Moses wrote: “White City work starts early in May and we had plenty of it.” Chicago’s White City Amusement Park was located at 63rd Street and South Parkway. In many ways it was Chicago’s answer to New York’s Coney Island. Named after the white lights that lined many of its buildings, there were other White Cities built across the country during the first two decades of the twentieth century.
White City Amusement Park at night.
Each amusement park offered ample opportunities for scenic artists and studios. Imitations of popular attractions, were repeated over, and over again, mainstays at each venue. For example, Luna Park’s “A Trip to the Moon” became White City’s “A Trip to Mars.” Most attractions and rides relied heavily upon scenic illusion and scene painting. Every year, Sosman & Landis completed projects for White City attractions across the country. Like grand circus spectacles, it was work that the studio depended upon.
Note the scenic art on the exterior for the Maid of the Mist attraction
Popular features at Chicago’s White City included “A Trip to Mars,” “Fire and Flames (the Chicago Fire),” “The Johnstown Flood,” “the Canals of Venice,” “Temple of Palmistry,” “Catacombs,” “The Third Degree,” “Infant Incubators,” “Midget City,” “Jewell’s Manikins,” and a whole host of other attractions and activities.
Devil’s Gorge attraction at White CityWar of the Worlds attractionFire and Flames attraction at White CityInfant Incubators at White CityMidget City attraction at White City
There was also a vaudeville theater on the grounds, stocked with scenery for vaudeville acts and concerts. Since the park’s opening in 1905, Sosman & Landis produced scenic elements for dozens of projects at the venue, most under the direction of Moses. During the park’s second season in 1906, an open-air amphitheater was erected with a seating capacity of 12,000. That year Soman & Landis delivered scenery for the outdoor spectacle, “The Last Days of Pompeii.” In 1909 Moses again recorded delivering scenery for another massive White City spectacle, “The Fall of Messiah.” From simple signs to outdoor displays, painted elements were in constant demand at White City.
Scenic studios accepted all kinds of projects to keep the shop doors open. They relied heavily upon a diverse clientele and a range of projects. In short, this diversification meant they could weather many storms, and survive economic downturns. War, pandemics, and other disasters may postpone theatre projects, but it did not necessary leave scenic artists without work. Legitimate theater was just one of many clients for a scenic artist. Amusement park attractions, charity balls, and other non-theatrical projects also required painted panoramas, platforms, props and scenic elements. Scenic studios were uniquely positioned to deliver themed environments for a variety of uses. In some ways, scenic studios followed the itinerant artist approach; accept any painting work that you can gets your hands on. Whether carriage painting, sign painting, ornamental painting, house painting, or drop curtains, all painting was good work.
In regard to White City projects in 1921, it is difficult to determine the exact work that Moses mentions in his memoirs. That year, there were many events held at the amusement park, including a series of professional ball games. However, White City advertisements during the spring of 1921 included a big entertainment at the Terrace Garden. On May 25, 1921, the “Chicago Tribune” published a notice in the Amusements section for “The Garden Follies.” This “Edition De Luxe” was called the “Spring Frolics, a riot of color and flash, beauty, fashion, song and dance” (Chicago Tribune, 25 May 1921, page 19). Advertised as a “a big outdoor feature” it was free to the public. There were both afternoon and evening performances on Saturday, Sunday and Decoration Day. Even Frederick Do Bell was part of the event with advertisements stating, “He’ll Make You Gasp!” Do Bell was a high wire artist, marketed as the “electronic wizard of the high wire.”
Variety acts in an outdoor setting suggest that vaudeville was adapting to the times too, taking their acts to a new level.
In 1921 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Made a side trip to Little
Rock to settle on the Scottish Rite Temple.
I hope to be able to close the contract very soon. I enjoyed the trip as I saw some very
interesting old buildings.” He later returned to Little Rock that summer,
writing, “I spent a week and closed the contract for $9,548.00.” This was a
verbal closure and all preliminary; the final contract would not be signed
until 1923.
Scottish Rite scenery projects were massive and sometimes
took years to land, and months to actually paint. Masonic stock scenery
collections were often more than twice the size of that delivered to a commercial
theater, ranging from 80 to 120 drops with dozens of set pieces. Masons did not
always understand what they were purchasing or receiving, so the numbers went
up and down as specific settings were added or removed during contract negotiations. I am beginning to realize that there were few
Scottish Rite Masons who understood the complexity of what was delivered or how
to effectively use it. During the early twentieth century, the company selling
the product often sent a representative to help stage and run the scenery during
the first Scottish Rite reunion. Masonic stagehands were instructed in the
appropriate handling of drops and the set up for stage effects.
By the time Scottish Rite Valleys purchased a second set of scenery,
often from the same firm, there was no longer training offered with the
installation. In some ways this is understandable; members were familiar with using
painted settings for degree work. However, as time passed much information became
lost in translation. It is like playing a game of telephone with a bunch of
older white men, some hard of hearing; important information gets dropped and
what made sense in the beginning becomes something entirely different. Even the origins of the scenery become a
little murky or completely lost.
Backstage at the Little Rock Scottish Rite, picture in a 1904 Reunion program.
Scenic design by Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio of Chicago, Illinois. This painted setting was designed for a Masonic clientele; the Masons used theatre as an instructional tool for members. Scottish Rite theaters were constructed to produced dramatic productions, teaching a specific lessons, similar to a morality play.
Cut drop design by Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio. Holak Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
Here is the link to the cut drop design on the scenery collections database: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll116:1585?facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections&page=2&q=masonic
Backdrop design by Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studio. Holak Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
Here is the link to the backdrop design on the scenery collections database: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll116:2115?facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections&page=2&q=masonic
The backdrop and cut drop design are part of the Holak Collection, Performing Arts Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries. The Holak Collection, Twin City Scenic Co. Collection, Northwest Studios Collection and Great Western Stage Equipment Co. Collection are all part of an online searchable database. Here is the link to the database with over 3000 images of historic designs produced by American scenic studios: https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/search?facet_field=collection_name_s&facets%5Bcollection_name_s%5D%5B%5D=Scenic+Collections
I post a historic scene every day to my FB Group Dry Pigment and my FB Page Wendy Rae Waszut-Barrett.
Painted detail from cut drop design.Painted detail from cut drop design.Painted detail from cut drop design.Painted detail from backdrop design.Painted detail from backdrop design.Painted detail from backdrop design.
In 1921, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Mitchell of
Mitchell and Halbach has engaged my services for Dallas, Texas, for the new
Majestic Theatre.”
The Majestic Theatre in Dallas, Texas.
To clarify, a well-known interior decorating firm subcontracted some of the work for the new Majestic Theatre in Dallas to Thomas G. Moses, representing Sosman & Landis. Since the establishment of Soman & Landis, the firm delivered stage scenery and painted décor for a variety of venues. This does not mean that Moses was credited for any of the Majestic Theatre painting as a subcontractor.
Since the late nineteenth century, Mitchell and Halbach were
well known interior decorators and furnishers, located at 1715 S. Michigan Ave.
in Chicago, Illinois. In 1921 they advertised as “specialists in high class
interior decorations and furnishings for public and private buildings. Moses had even hired Mitchell & Halbach
to decorate the rooms in his own home.
Later in 1921 Moses specified his contribution to the
Majestic Theatre in Dallas, writing, “I was successful with the asbestos
curtain, and then went on to the wall decorations, which were very interesting
and finally the playroom which was doubly interesting.” Moses remained in the
south for nine weeks, working on the Majestic Theatre, Dallas Shrine scenery, and negotiating future
contracts with the Scottish Rite in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Asbestos curtain painted by Thomas G. Moses, representing Sosman & Landis, that was subcontracted by Mitchell & Halback for the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, Texas, 1921.
Moses was accompanied by his wife Ella [Madam] when they
headed south that February, writing, “On the 15th I started for
Dallas, where I arrived the next day, late in the afternoon. I was pleased to get this work as it was away
from the extreme cold weather and a novel adventure for the Madam and myself.”
Later that spring, Moses wrote, “Made a side trip to Little
Rock to settle on the Scottish Rite Temple.
I hope to be able to close the contract very soon. I enjoyed the trip as I saw some very
interesting old buildings. On my return
to Dallas, it didn’t take me long to complete the work.
Of Moses’ Majestic Theatre painting, advertisements
announced, “In the vast auditorium that seats 3,000, a Roman Garden has been
reproduced in detail. Overhead a sunset sinks to rest, sending the flaming
amber tinted farewell to a sky that heralds the night with its millions of
twinkling stars. One every side, seen over flower-covered walls, is a vision of
‘Gods Out-of-Doors, cloud-kissed hills with dormant Vesuvius rising on the distance to greet them”
(Corsica Daily Sun, 1 April 1921, page 10).
Dallas Majestic Theatre advertisement published in the “Corsicana Sun,” 1 April 1921, page 10.
The Majestic Theatre in Dallas
opened on April 11, 1921. It was advertised as the “New 2 Million Dollar Peak
on the Dallas Sky-line” (Corsicana Daily Sun, 1 April 1921, page 10). This was
the flagship of Karl St. John Hoblitzelle’s Interstate Amusement Company chain
of theaters. Replacing Hoblitzelle’s previous Majestic Theatre from 1905 that
burned to the ground in 1916. Located at the corner of Commerce and St. Paul
streets, the five-story building boasted 20,000 square feet and was also home
to business offices for Hoblitzelle. The Renaissance Revival structure was
designed by John Eberson.” Later in 1921, Moses would write, “Did two
watercolors for Mr. Hoblitzelle, which I trust will be pleasing to him and his
wife.” Moses frequently gifted fine art paintings to his theatre clients. It
was a personal thank you for the work and added credibility to the artistic
works for the stage.
Dallas Majestic Theatre advertisement published in the “Dallas Express,” 8 Oct 1921, page 7.
On October 13, 1921, the “Corsicana Daily Sun” reported, “When Fair visitors go to Dallas this year there will be one place they will all want to go – The New Majestic of Dallas, For to come to Dallas and fail to see this palatial show house would be like going to Rome and forgetting to visit the Vatican. The New Majestic of Dallas is conceded to be the peer of all playhouses in the world for it possesses a Majesticland. A playground that is all of 90 feet long and 50 wide- containing all manner of toys, animals, merry go rounds, slides, etc. Mary Garden the famous diva of the Chicago Symphony Opera Co. declared that even she – in her plans and ambitions for an ideal playhouse never dreamed of such innovation and theatredom as Majesticland. But Majesticland is the only one of the many perfect details of this beautiful theatre. Throughout it is an example of the highest art. Patterned after the beautiful decorations of Louis Sixteenth it stands alone in its simple elegance of beauty n in the entire southwest” (page 10).
Advertisements stated, “The ancients never thought of going to Rome without visiting the Coliseum. No one thinks of going to Paris without visiting the Louvre. No one thinks of going to Washington, D.C. without seeing the Capitol Building and White House. Correspondingly – on one thinks of going to Dallas without visiting the New Majestic Theatre – the Greatest Amusement Institution in America” (Dallas Express, 8 Oct. 1921, page 7).
The “Scenic Artists” column in “The Billboard” that year reported, “Thos. G. Moses, art director for the Sosman & Landis Studios, is at Dallas, Tex., painting the new curtain and mural gardens in the new Majestic Theater now under construction. Mr. Moses states that this new Dallas House is one of the most wonderful in the country, having a number of unique features that make it interesting.” This article was clipped by Moses and placed in his scrapbook. There is no exact date or page number.
Sosman & Landis provided scenery for the show “Polly and Her Pals” in 1920. On Nov. 22, 1920, the “The Item” reported:
“Polly and Her Pals.
“Musical comedy has improved wonderfully in the past
few years, but ‘Polly and Her Pals,’ the George M. Gatts production is the
biggest step forward from an artistic musical standpoint, that musical comedy
has seen in many months. The book was written by John P. Mulgrew, the author of
many celebrated Broadway successes. The scenery is the work of Sosman & Landis,
Gowns by Madames Hickson and Orange. It was staged by Virgil Bennett. Musical
comedy depends on first a good book and then a good score, and in Hampton
Durand, George M. Gatts secured a composer internationally famous. In ‘Polly
and Her Pals’ will be found lilting airs from the pen of Mr. Harry Hume, and
include ‘Underneath a Southern Moon,’ ‘In that Quaint Old Town of Algiers,’
‘Little Miss Chatterbox,’ ‘A Wonder What Father saw at the Seashore,’
‘Different Eyes,’ ‘That Typical Topical Tune,’ ‘The Polar Bear Shiver,’ ‘An Old
Fashioned Bride,’ and ‘What a Wonderful Girl You Are.’” (Sumter, South
Carolina, 22 Nov. 1920, page 6).
Like Gatts’ “Katzenjammer Kids” production, “Polly and
Her Pals” was based on an American comic strip by cartoonish Cliff Sterett.
Debuting as “Positive Polly” on Dec. 4, 1912, the comic strip’s title was changed
to “Polly and Her Pals” by Jan. 17, 1913. “Polly and Her Pals” was the first
single feature with the same characters to run six days a week and as a Sunday
page (Hamilton Evening Journal, 21 Nov. 1925, page 24). The cartoon told the adventures
of Polly, Delicia, Aunt Maggie, Ashur, Ma, Pa, the valet Neewah and the family
Puss. Raleigh’s “News and Observer” reported, “The plot of Polly and Her Pals
is the same that has been featured in the conventional musical comedy since the
invention of that form of entertainment. The first act drags, as the first act
of most such comedies do, but toward the finish a lot of pep is injected into
the proceedings that leaves one with the impression that ‘Polly and Her Pals’
isn’t halfway bad. While it can’t be said that Polly and Her Pals ranks with
the best attractions of musical comedy of the season, there is no doubt about
the fact that the motto of the cast is ‘We strive to please,’ and that is at
least something in favor of the production” (9 Nov. 1920, page 7).
Jean Irwin played the title role of Polly, with Clyde
T. Kerr as the love interest, Francis Lieb, the ambassador from Hitchy Koo. Johnny
Philliber and Clara Coleman played Pa and Ma Perkins.
“Polly and Her Pals” featured scenery by Sosman & Landis Scene Painting Studios. From the “Courier News,” 29 Dec 1920, page 13.From the “Harrisburg Telegraph,” 16 Sept 1920, page 16.From the “Courier News,” 31 Dec 1920, page 14.From the “News and Observer,” 9 Nov 1920, page 7.From the “Orlando Sentinel,” 1 Dec 1920, page 12.“Polly and Her Pals” comic strip in the “Courier-Journal,” Louisville, Kentucky, 20 Sept., page 11.“Polly and Her Pals” comic strip in the “Dayton News,” 20 April 1920, page 15.
After a two-week break, I am back to the life and times of Thomas
G. Moses. To recap, in 1918 Moses resigned as the president of Sosman &
Landis. He initially worked for New York Studios and then left to join Chicago
Studios. However, both were short lived, as by the spring of 1920, Moses was
back at Sosman & Landis. We he returned to the studio, Moses agreed to only
an annual contract. The same spring that Moses returned, Sosman & Landis Scene
Painting Studio was credited with scenery for the Redpath Chautauqua’s
production of “H. M. S. Pinafore.”
From the “Morrison Gazette,” 20 May 1920, page 4.
Annual Chautauqua events, or tent shows, were held in cities
across the country during the spring and summer, featuring programs with all
types of entertainment that ranged from popular Broadway shows and orchestra
concerts to magicians and lecturers. During its peak, some 12,000 communities
hosted a Chautauqua. The Redpath Chautauqua was massive circuit with hundreds
of shows and thousands of entertainers. Although there were many Chautauqua
agencies that contracted entertainers and lecturers, one of the most notable was
the Redpath agency.
From the “Watchman and Southron,” 24 April 1920, page 3.
The “Newberry Weekly” included a picture of the 1920 Redpath
Chautauqua production with the caption, “A feature of the coming Redpath Chautauqua
here will be the presentation of a complete production of the famous Gilbert
and Sullivan light opera ‘Pinafore,’ with special lighting and scenic effects,
the scenery having been built especially for the Redpath production by Sosman
& Landis, noted scenic artists of Chicago” (Newberry, South Carolina, May
4, 1920, page 3).
From the “Newberry Weekly,” Newberry, SC, 4 May 1920, page 3.
The “Bedford Daily” reported, “Three seasons ago the Redpath
management presented a complete production of ‘The Mikado; which was so
enthusiastically received that Chautauqua patrons have ever since been asking
for another Gilbert and Sullivan opera”(5 June 1920, page 2). “The Mikado”
production had also boasted scenery by Sosman & Landis. In 1917, a company
of thirty, selected in part from the Chicago Grand Opera Company, had performed
“The Mikado.” For more information about the Redpath Chautauqua Circuit and “The
Mikado” tour, see past post 967 (https://drypigment.net2020/04/21/tales-from-a-scenic-artist-and-scholar-part-967-the-redpath-chautauquas-mikado-1917/).
By 1920, Sosman & Landis contracts ran the gamut, from tent
shows to charity balls. Although Moses returned in April, he and his wife left
for a 40-day western vacation that summer. Of his trip, he wrote, “We left for
the West August 19th…Arrived home on September 28th,
having been gone forty days, it was certainly some trip… It took me a few days
before I was I 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 I was very well pleased to learn that from September 1st,
we made a profit of $12,000.00 before January 1st. I am afraid we will use it all up before
spring.”
He would remain on annual contract. In 1921 wrote, “we had a
director’s meeting and it was settled that I remain at $8,000.00 a year.” The
monetary equivalent of an $8,000 annual salary in 1920 is approximately $103,000.00
today.
In 1920 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “June and July found us tied
up with a lot of repaint stuff for the Junior Orpheum, all over the country,
and there was some awful stuff sent in to be repainted, while there was some
that was really good.” Junior Orpheum theaters were the Orpheum Circuit’s
“popular-priced” vaudeville houses.
There are a few things to consider about Moses’ diary entry.
The first is that stage settings were never meant to last. Repainting backdrops
and flats were a common occurrence when theaters could not afford to purchase a
new scene, or entire stock scenery collection. Due to the nature of the paints,
the scenery did not just receive another coat of paint. The tempera paint was
scrubbed down, effectively removed to leave a slightly stained piece of fabric
that was ready for a new coat of paint.
Painted scenery was a major investment for any performance venue
at the time. Scenic studio catalogues even offered the refurbishing of old
flats and fabric as an alternative to purchasing new. From 1889 to 1894, Sosman
& Landis catalogues included a “Special Notice.” The section noted, “When
there is already a stock of Scenery on the stage, and it is desired to add some
new scenes and wings, we can easily make them to fit the frames of present
scenery, and they may be mounted on the backs of other ‘flats’ and ‘wings.’ We
can do this work for you much better, and we think cheaper than you can have an
artist do it on stage, and it will save you considerable trouble. If you intend
putting any new Scenery this coming season, we hope we will hear from you, and
we will try and make it to your interest to at least give us a trial order.” At
the time, the firm advertised they had already supplied 1700 opera house,
theaters and halls in the United States and Canada with stock scenery. By 1894,
Sosman & Landis catalogues announced, “Over 4,000 places of amusement are
to-day using scenery made by our firm.” By 1904, it was close to 6,000.
The Junior Orpheum Circuit was just one more client who opted
to repaint existing stock scenery collections for upcoming touring shows and a
variety of vaudeville acts.
Of the Junior Orpheum Circuit, the “Los Angeles Evening
Express” interviewed Martin Beck, managing director of the Orpheum Circuit on
April 9, 1920 (page 29). He explained the theater chain in seven cities that
will be grouped under the name of the “Junior Orpheum” circuit. In the
interview Beck stated, “In naming the theaters that are to make up the Junior
Orpheum circuit, we intend calling them after the intersecting streets on which
they are located. Thus, in Kansas City we have named that theater the
Fourteenth-Main, and the one in Minneapolis has been called the Ninth-Hennepin.
The Los Angeles theater will be known as the Hill and the name of the other
street on which it will be situated. It is impossible to give the exact
location of the Los Angeles theater at the present time, as the full title of
the property has not been acquired.”
Mort H. Singer was the manager of the Orpheum Circuit. He
explained, “By the establishment of the Junior Orpheum we will be able to book
more and better material for the regular Orpheum system of theaters which has
always been far above the best of any vaudeville circuit. Contract will be made
for an entire year, and the acts will play first the regular Orpheum Circuit
and then double back on the Junior Orpheum circuit, thus maintaining the same
high-class performance on the Junior circuit and in the regular Orpheum
theater. There will be no reserved seats in the Junior Orpheum theaters, and
the admission charged will be at popular process. Patrons will be assured of
more than three hours of high-class entertainment.” This reminded my of second
run dollar theaters; same show, a little later, and a lot cheaper. Really quite brilliant from a business sense.
You are able to extend the run of a show, and have a secondary venue simply
based on volume.
Moses had previously worked with both Beck and Singer, so
the Junior Orpheum selecting Sosman & Landis to refurbish all of their existing
stock scenery is not a surprise at all.
