Thomas G. Moses – Page 37

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 557 – Home for the Holidays, 1906

Part 557: Home for the Holidays, 1906

Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Pitt, Stella and Baby Eleanor arrived home for Christmas.”

During the summer of 1906, “The Oak Park Leaves” reported, “Mr. and Mrs. W. Pitt Moses of Trenton, N.J., are the proud parents of a baby girl, who arrived Sunday, July 29. The father is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Moses of 233 South Euclid avenue” (4 August 1906, page 10).

Tom and Ella had four children: William “Pitt” Moses (1879), Mary “Mamie” Titcomb Moses (1881), Lillian Ella Moses (1886), Thomas “Rupert” Moses (1889). Moses recorded that Pitt and Mamie were the mischievous pair of the four when they were young, keeping his wife Ella on watch every minute.

As the first child to become an adult, Pitt followed in his uncle Frank Moses’ footsteps. In 1900, he moved to Trenton and worked at the gas plant in New Jersey. Three years later, he married Stella Martin of Trenton. Moses’ youngest son, Rupert, entered the theatre manufacturing business with his father. The girls were married and became homemakers. Lillian married George Salzman in 1910. Mamie married William Hanover in 1911. Last, but not least, Rupert married Ula McNeill of Ames, Iowa in 1914.

By 1917, Moses wrote, “Pitt came out for a short visit and for the first time in twenty years, we had only the four children at home for a dinner. They were not allowed to mention their families. We sat each in their accustomed place. We all enjoyed it immensely. It carried us back many years when we were all much younger. I wish we could do it every year.” That same year, Moses wrote, “Stella and the girls arrived on December 22^nd. Pitt came out on the 24^th. We certainly had some family this Christmas – 17 at the table and two in the kitchen, and we had a fine dinner. I had Eugene Hall come to the house and pose us and he got one good negative. Had to use a flash as the light was very poor. I have wanted this for a good many years, and I am pleased to get it, even if it is not as good as a gallery picture.” I would love to find this picture.

Because Rupert and his father worked together, the two families would occasionally share the same home, sharing everything from food to scarlet fever over the years. Although his eldest son Pitt lived far away in Trenton, New Jersey, Moses passed along fatherly advice across the miles in the form of letters.

In 1931, Moses wrote to his eldest son,

“My dear Pitt.

Many thanks for your letter of congratulations and expression of your love. I am very thankful to know and receive both of them. As the 75 years bear down on me I often wonder if my life has been worthwhile to myself and others. While I have been partly successful in many ways. I have failed to reach the goal I set for myself fifty odd years ago. But the domestic side of my life has been a very happy one in choosing a wonderful mate, and who has not only been a good mother to our four healthy children, but a good help in sifting out many financial difficulties that are bound to come in our lives.”

1931 letter to William “Pitt” Moses from his father Thomas G. Moses

Fortunately for us, John H. Rothgeb (University of Texas) corresponded with many of Moses’ descendants, by gathering copies of letters written by Moses near the end of his life. At the time, Rothgeb was researching the life of Moses, as well as the history of the Sosman & Landis studio. This was during the 1970s and early 1980s. He left an enormous wealth of information in the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas. Rothgeb was the second generation to identify the significance of Masonic scenery. The first generation was James “Jim” Maronek, a Chicago scenic artist who collected many Sosman & Landis artifacts during the 1960s. He even held the first exhibit placing Masonic scenery within the context of theatre history; this was during the early 1960s.

The third generation of scenic artists to study Moses and Masonic scenery was Lance Brockman at the University of Minnesota, hence how I became the fourth generation. Early in my undergraduate career I created an index for Moses’ typed memoirs and scrapbook for Brockman as a class project. I was also the assistant to the curator (Brockman) for the Theatre of the Fraternity exhibit in 1996. This was when I wrote letters to all known descendants of Thomas G. Moses.

During this same time, I came in contact with another student and friend of Maronek, one who became the paint charge at Chicago’s Lyric Opera. Like me, Brian Traynor became fascinated with Moses and his contemporaries. He actively collected materials and other information pertaining to historical scenic art. I have remained in contact with Traynor over the years and we have become friends. He is an amazing source of information and artifacts relating to the Chicago scenic art scene, while remaining a professional scenic artist. Traynor was also the one who contacted me about the Scottish Rite collection in Peoria, Illinois, when the Valley was getting rid of it. We worked together in search of a new home, but when no university or museum was willing to receive the donation, I rented a truck and took it home.

Without my predecessors, Maronek, Rothgeb, Brockman and Traynor, I would not be able to successfully tell the story of Thomas G. Moses.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 556 – Julian Greer Returns to the Studio in 1906

Part 556: Julian Greer’s Return to the Studio in 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Julian Greer, one of the old paint boys, now an actor, author and manager, visited us for the first time in many years.”

Julian Greer was born in London, England during 1870 and passed away in 1928 at the age of 58. He was a well-known actor, artist and war correspondent. Greer’s life appears to have been shadowed by a series of scandals. His first marriage was to the leading lady of Dillon’s Company, Ida F. Solee in 1891. At the time, Greer was associated with the Frohman company (Los Angeles Ties, 23 June 1891, page 3). In 1896, newspapers reported on his relationship Mrs. William Frederick Holcomb. Wife of an aged physician, she was served papers in a suit for absolute divorce, naming the co-respondent “Julian Greer, an artist” (Washington Republican, Washington, Kansas, 24 June 1896, page 7).

Julian Greer’s one-time love interest. From “Red Cloud Chief,” 24 July 1896, page 6

Greer and Mrs. Humphreys ran away to Europe together. However, by that fall, he was advertising in the London “Era” – “Wanted, juvenile Lady, to look Sixteen; Juvenile light comedian, two young Lady dancers, for minuet. Address, with photo and exact age and height, Julian Greer, 264, Vauxhall-bridge-road” (London, England, 10 Oct. 1896, page 25)

Less than a decade later, Greer was back in America and playing in the production, “The Tie That Binds” by Hal Reid. Advertisements promised, “unlike most melo-dramas, does not depend entirely upon its sensational effects, there being a beautiful story of heart interest running throughout the entire four acts. In addition to many other sterling qualities embodied in the play, Mr. Julian Greer has added a number of high class specialties and gotten together and exceptional strong company of players, making the attraction particularly enticing” (The Morning Call, 8, Feb. 1906, page 4).

Greer was also in the touring production of “Man’s Enemy.” The “Omaha Daily Bee” reported, “For three nights, starting Thursday, Mr. Julian Greer will offer ‘Man’s Enemy,” a big melodramatic production to the patrons of the Krug theater. The play deals with the evils of drink, but contains a very pretty heart story running throughout” (Omaha Daily Bee, 18 March 1906, page 27). The show was billed as “a combination of romantic comedy and tragedy.”

He was also planning another project, one that likely bought him to the Sosman & Landis studio looking for a scenic artist. The “Albuquerque Citizen” reported, “New York Productions for Casino -Summer Theatre to open May 15 with company of sixteen people in cast – on Way from New York now.”

Advertisement for Traction Park Casino, a venue run by Julian Greer’s brother. Ad posted in the “Albuquerque Evening Citizen,” July 1, 1905, page 5

Greer was visiting Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit his brother, Col W. H. Greer, who was president of the Albuquerque Traction Company. Greer was considering the Traction Park Casino as a venue for his show. The newspaper commented that Greer was an actor and painter from New York City Greer (Albuquerque, New Mexico, 7 March 1906, page 5). The remainder of the article is quite interesting.

“Julian Greer is here for the purpose of getting the colonel to accompany him to Omaha, Neb. Where he expected to show his performance of the theatrical company that will open the Traction Park Casino on May 15. The company was organized in New York, of excellent talent, and is now working west, playing at the most important cities en route. The troupe is expected to reach Omaha by the time the colonel and Mr. Julian Greer reach that place by leaving here tonight, which will probably be on Saturday. In speaking of the company and the people who compose it, Mr. Julian Greer said: ‘Nestor Lennon, one of the best known actors of the American stage, and the man who succeeded Nat Goodwin successfully in ‘When We Were Twenty-one;’ Virginia Anderson, only 17, but a woman of charming personality, Maud Adams’ beauty and art, a coming star, is our leading lady. And she is certainly a wonderful young woman. There are many strong characters and specialty people among the sixteen persons, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it is one of the strongest troupes on the road. I am taking the colonel back to Omaha to witness the performance of the company.’”

“‘Oh yes,’ continued Mr. Julian Greer, ‘I expect to return with the company, and we will be here all summer. We hope to reach here in time to open by the middle of May. We carry our own scene painter, a very capable man. Who will furnish scenery for any production we may care to make. Our shows will include the best New York productions, with scenic effects.”

Mr. Julian Greer expressed himself as surprised and pleased with the elegance and adequacy of the Traction Park Casino. He said that it would be a compliment to a city of 100,000.”

However, there must have been a change in plans along the way. By April, his brother had turned the entire management of the Traction company over to W. M. Wortman, a manager of amusement parks in Pueblo, Colorado, and El Paso, Texas (Albuquerque Citizen, 7 April, 1906, page 5). That summer, the Casino was be billed as a combination house, playing a diversity of attractions. The Albuquerque Citizen, commented, “the house will probably open May 15, with a large stock company in a repertoire of modern plays, their run will be but a short time, after which they will give way to some other attraction. This plan will be followed out all summer, thus giving a variety of attractions that will relieve the monotony of a stock company for the entire season.” In the end, Wortman proposed to place El Paso, Albuquerque and Las Vegas on a summer vaudeville circuit (Albuquerque Citizen, 2 May 1906, page 8).

Interestingly, Traction Park Casino also hosted number of free attractions that summer, including balloon ascensions, parachute jumps, and a circle swing. Wortman was planning on working closely with Mr. Houston, manager of the local baseball team, assuring, “The base ball sport for the summer will not be neglected.”

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 555 – Streets of Paris at the Chicago Coliseum, 1906

Part 555: Streets of Paris at the Chicago Coliseum, 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “I had a big job in getting the Streets of Paris ready to open, December 5^th, for ten days.”

Ad for Streets of Paris at the Coliseum from the “Chicago Tribune,” 6 Dec 1906, page 16

The Chicago Coliseum where the Streets of Paris charity event was held in 1906.

“Streets of Paris” was a charity event in Chicago established to aid the Passavant Memorial Hospital. In 1906, it ran from Dec. 5 – 7, open daily from 2pm to11pm. Admission for adults was $1.00 for children were 50 cents. This was slightly expensive price, as White City Amusement part admittance was only ten cents. This event, however, was produced by high society in Chicago and intended for high society in Chicago. It catered to the tastes of the wealthy.

Streets of Paris gowns on display, from the “Chicago Tribune,” 7 Dec 1906, page 3

Streets of Paris participant. Photo from the Chicago History Museum

Advertisements reported, “Spectacular Christmas Bazaar and Reproduction of the Champs Elysees and the Rue de la Paix” (Chicago Tribune 8 Dec. 1906, page 16). The boulevards, cafes and shops of Paris were reproduced, including the famous Moulin Rouge.

Streets of Paris article from the “Inter Ocean,” 6 Dec 1906, page 3

Gross receipts after the event were reported as $63,870, with a potential profit of $40,000 going for hospital aid (Chicago Tribune, 10 Dec, 1906, page 9). Of the event, Moses noted that the project brought in $8,750.00 for Sosman & Landis, writing it was “some show” and “a big success in every way.”

Postcard depicting the third Chicago Coliseum

Streets of Paris was held at the third coliseum built in Chicago, each stood successively from the 1860s to the 1980s. Built in 1899, the third Chicago Coliseum hosted the “Streets of Paris.“ It was located at 15th Street and Wabash Avenue. The complex was built by Charles F. Gunther 1837-1920), a German-American confectioner and collector. His background is quite interesting. Moving from Württemberg Germany to Pennsylvania in 1842 at the age of six, his family eventually settled in in Peru, Illinois. Gunther was an ice distributor until the Civil War broke out. He pledged supported the Confederacy, helping transfer troops during the Civil War. He was captured by Union troops in 1862. Returning to Chicago after the war, Gunther was a traveling salesman for a candy manufacturer, selling goods to the southern states. By 1868, he had started his own candy company, learning his trade from European candy makers and specializing in caramel. He soon amassed a fortune after catering to a very wealthy clientele.

Gunther was also a collector of historical artifacts, many now owned by the Chicago History Museum purchased the bulk of his collection in 1920 for $150,000. The collection included the table on which Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union at the Appomattox Court House. Gunther had even purchased Abraham Lincoln’s deathbed. As with many museums of the time, not all artifacts were authentic; he claimed to own the “skin of the serpent” from the Garden of Eden.

By 1889, Gunther purchased Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, built during the Civil War as a Confederate prison. The structure was dismantled, shipped to Chicago on 132 railroad cars, and rebuilt as the Libby Prison War Museum. This was where Gunther displayed Civil War memorabilia and other historical artifacts. By 1898, incoming profits form the museum were declining, and Gunther took advantage of another situation; fire destroyed the second coliseum. Gunther dismantled the Libby Prison Museum and used the building materials for part of the new Chicago Coliseum. A section of the Chicago Coliseum still remained identifiable as Libby Prison.

The Chicago Coliseum was an enormous venue. The main hall had a capacity for 12,000 people, with the North Hall seating about 4000. The south section of the building included offices and other smaller exhibition halls. Over the decades, the venue hosted many social, political, and charitable events, as well as trade shows, sport shows and circuses. Staged entertainment included musical concerts and high-class vaudeville. The notorious political fundraiser for the two First Ward alderman, the First Ward Ball, was also held in the coliseum. Other events included several Republican National conventions and Progressive Party National Conventions. From 1901 through 1934, the Coliseum was the continuous home to one of the nation’s earliest and most prestigious auto shows. Sosman & Landis provided scenery for many of these events, especially the annual auto shows.

Floral show at the Chicago Coliseum, 1906

Political convention at the Chicago Coliseum, 1904

In 1971, the Chicago Coliseum was primarily a general-admission venue for rock concerts. That spring the city shut the building due to fire code violations, and it fell into disuse until it 1982 when it was demolished. Part of the Libby facade was salvaged and given to the Chicago History Museum. The coliseum site is now occupied by the Soka Gakkai USA Culture Center.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 554 – Black and White Backdrops

Part 554: Black and White Backdrops

In 1906 Thomas G. Moses wrote that he “did some designs for a Park in Pittsburg.” The project was with his old partner Will F. Hamilton. Moses & Hamilton had operated in New York from 1900-1904.

In regard to Moses’ Pittsburg project, he was referring to Luna Park in Pittsburg created by Frederick Ingersoll. Ingersoll of Ingersoll Construction Company constructed Luna Park in Cleveland, Ohio, and then a second park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; no official relation to the famous Luna Park on Coney Island, just the same name. For Pittsburg and Cleveland, Moses created scenery for old mill attractions and scenery for two small stages. The Ingersoll Construction Company got its start by building roller coasters and other amusement park rides. At one time, Ingersoll owned and operated over forty amusement parks in the United States, Berlin and Mexico City.

What is interesting about the Pittsburg Park design, however, is that Moses recorded it being a monochromatic scene. He wrote, “I did them in black and white, rather effective.”

I have encountered only a few mentions of “the black and white art” in the past, stumbling across buts of information while researching scenic artists who worked in early film and photographic backings.

One example was Harley Merry (see past installments #138-142). Merry’s name was actually Ebenezer J. Britton; he used his birth name as an actor. “Harley Merry” was his scenic artist name. Merry was well-known for a variety of skills, including his talent for painting monochromatic backdrops. An article from 1892 noted this skill: “Harley Merry is another master in the same school in perpetuating the English ideas of water-color. Merry is the greatest painter of monochromes and photographic backgrounds in the country” (“Paint Mimic Scenes, Men Who Have Found Fame in the Wing and Drop Curtains,” Dec, 18, 1892, page 41). As an aside, Merry was the first President of the Protective Alliance of Scenic Painters of America, organized in 1895 – he was a major contributor to the industry in New York.

Merry also specialized in spectacles with scenic realism, which made his transition to producing settings for early film a natural shift. He actually partnered with the Edison Manufacturing Company and was involved in creating scenery for many early film productions, including “Parsifal,” a short film was based on the New York Metropolitan’s Opera that ran for approximately one half hour.

An earlier scenic artist known for his black and white art was William Telbin. In 1902, “The Magazine of Art” commented that Telbin was “a master in black and white art.” The article continued, “We desire now to call to attention to a branch of Mr. Telbin’s work which is not generally known to the public, but which, to our mind, is in its way as important and as beautiful as any of his stage productions. With tempera as his medium he has produced a series of black and white drawings which proclaim him a master in black and white art. For brilliancy of execution, for certainty of effect, sparkle of the touch, and beauty of presentation, these drawings are not easily surpassed. Some of them were reproduced in this magazine in two articles on “Scene Painters and their Work,” published in 1889, and others in a paper on “Iceland,” in 1893. Another series of views in the Mediterranean, more of which are to be published later, are admirable representations of the scenes to be witnessed during the season of the “bora” on the Mediterranean shores. They show Mr. Telbin was a careful and accurate student of nature, with an instinctive feeling for the picturesque allied to an inimitable power and facility of presentation and suggestion.” (Magazine of Art, January 1, 1902, page 371-376).

I have only encountered one black and white backdrop; it was at the St. Louis Scottish Rite. A design for the 10^th degree of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, it was rendered in ivory black and white dry pigment. The backdrop has the same consistent studio labels and marking as the remainder of the collection. At the time of installation, the 1923 scenery has stencils on both stage right and stage left sides of each drop, noting the degree and the line. For example, the Quarry leg drop shows 10 and 59 for 10^th degree on line 59. The backdrop shows 10 and 87 for 10^th degree on line 87. It was not added later, but with the other Toomey & Volland scenery. There was other scenery installed by Volland Studios over the years, in 1945, 1949 and 1954.

Quarry scene produced by Toomey & Volland for the Scottish Rite in St. Louis, Missouri. The scene was painted with ivory black and white pigment in 1923.

Painted detail of Quarry scene at the Scottish Rte in St. Louis, Missouri, 1923.

Brocken netting detail from Quarry scene at the Scottish Rite in St.. Louis, Missouri.

The original backdrop design is also monochromatic, and is now part of the Volland Studio collection in the St. Louis Scottish Rite library. The collection was gifted to the St. Louis Scottish Rite Valley by Volland Studio some years back. Although I photographically documented the entire Volland collection during my visit, it will take years to fully process and decipher the information that I gathered there.

Design for quarry scene by Toomey & Volland, 1923.

Charcoal markings on the backside of the Quarry leg drop note that the size is 25 feet high by 51 feet wide. Additional masking likely accompanied the scene technical specifications provided by the Valley comment that the proscenium opening is 98 feet wide. There are 164 lines, placed on 2-inch centers. We cold not lower many of the lines during my visit due to tags with warning for specific lines and jammed cables. Sadly, the current drop inventory that the Masons reference also has missing information for many lines.

Quarry scene by Toomey & Volland for the Scottish Rite in St. Louis, Missouri. The charcoal writing notes the project number 4933, the Quarry Leg and size of 25 x 51. 59 is the line number.

Standard Toomey & Volland studio stencil noting degree (10) and line number of 1923 scenery by Toomey & Volland. Leg drop is on line 59 and backdrop is on line 87.

This collection will not last for long and is already a threat to those below. Pipe pockets replaced wooden battens and they are all failing, with many pipes tenuously hanging by shreds of fabric; yes, the stage is rented out for many events. If anyone from the St. Louis area can begin a very detailed documentation of the stage scenery and rigging now is the time. It will take days if not weeks to do. For a stage that boasted to be 4 feet bigger than the Hippodrome stage, this is one that definitely needs to be recorded.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 552 – Thomas G. Moses and Chicago’s White City, 1906

Part 552: Thomas G. Moses and Chicago’s White City, 1906

Postcard picturing White City Amusement Park

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses recorded that he worked on some scenic shows for “White City.” White City was also known as “White City Amusement Park.” Inspired in part by the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, It was named after the white lights that lined many of its buildings. The amusement park’s “Electric Tower” was a steel structure outlined in electric lights that could be seen fifteen miles away.

Postcard showing electric tower at White City Amusement Park

The park opened on May 26, 1905 and lasted until 1933. The amusement park was on a fourteen-acre former cornfield, located at 63rd Street and South Parkway (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive), in the Greater Grand Crossing and Woodlawn community areas. Admission was ten cents, and the park was open rain or shine.

List of attractions at White City Amusement Park. From “The Chicago Tribune,” 4 Aug 1906, page 5

Advertisements in Chicago newspapers listed a variety of popular attractions at the park. Even the Goodyear Blimp was first assembled at the park. Moses wrote that he worked on a variety of attractions that included “One big show. A Trip to Mars.” Other park attractions included “Fire and Flames (the Chicago Fire),” “The Johnstown Flood,” “the Canals of Venice [water ride],” “Temple of Palmistry,” “Catacombs,” “The Third Degree,”[?] “Famous Cow and Lunch,”[??] “Infant Incubators,” “Midget City,” “Jewell’s Manikins,” Big Otto’s trained wild animal show, a Gypsy camp, “Hale’s Tours of the World,” “Automatic Vaudeville,” a vaudeville theatre, a roller coaster, small Ferris wheel, flying airships, Lindy Loop, Seaplane, Jim Key, a Japanese Booth, a Japanese ball game, a roller rink, penny arcade, a scenic railway, an electric theater, a model laundry, a the “Fun Factory,” electric cooking exhibit, photograph gallery, the House of a Thousand and One Troubles (fun house), “Figure 8,” “Shoot the Chutes,” “The Kilties” (a Canadian band that played Scottish music), a miniature railway, and “Kellar’s Blue Room.” After the park opened, one ride malfunctioned; a visitor was killed and two others injured. Then the park’s roller coaster encountered problems, injuring another twelve patrons.

Postcard depicting fire and flames attraction at White City Amusement Park

Postcard depicting Infant Incubators building at White City Amusement Park

Postcard depicting scenic railway attraction at White City Amusement Park

Postcard depicting Midget City attraction at White City Amusement Park

During the park’s second summer of operation, the White City Construction Company also secured a plot of land measuring 665×500 feet that adjoined the south end of the amusement park. In this area, an open air amphitheater was erected with a seating capacity of 12,000 (Inter Ocean, 15 June 1906, page 6).

By July 1, 1906, the “Inter Ocean” reported, “The principal new attraction at the park this week will be a big revival of the “Last Days of Pompeii” on a block of ground adjoining the White City. Five hundred gorgeously costumed embryo Roman and Egyptian citizens, gladiators, guards, charioteers, musicians, priests, priestesses, choir boys, Pompeian dignitaries, dancing girls, flower girls, etc. will tonight be put through the paces of a final dress rehearsal for Pain’s big spectacle. The initial performance of a ten week’s engagement will be given in the vast new White City amphitheater tomorrow night, and General Manager H. B. Thearle is positive in his assurances of a smooth and finished opening.

Advertisement for Pain’s Pompeii at White City Amusement Park. From the “Inter Ocean,” 1 July 1906, page 26

The scenic representation of doomed Pompeii represents the fated city that perished in the first century of the Christian era. The scenery used in this production covers and area of five acres of ground, but so deceptive is the perspective that it is said it appears to spread over many times that space.

The scene opens with a fete day in the ancient city, and for upward an hour the audience is entertained with a production of the sports and feats of the hippodrome, chariot races, ballets, aerial and acrobatic performers, pageants, etc. The tragic dramatic episodes of the spectacle are shown in pantomime. The fetes are interrupted by he terrific eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of the city by the earthquake, bringing into action all the skill and ingenious of Pain’s artists. Following these scenes, there is presented an exhibition of fireworks. For the accommodation of patrons, a downtown ticket office will be opened at Lyon & Healy’s tomorrow morning and maintained throughout the season” (page 26).

The Daily Herald described, “These fascinating and thrilling midsummer night shows of the famous Pain have for 27 years been the one big night attraction at fashionable Manhattan Beach New York, also for the same length of time at Alexandria Palace, London. The production given at White City, surpasses anything ever seen in the open air amusement line in this country. As known to most readers, Pain’s “Last Days of Pompeii” is a thrilling realistic reenactment of the greatest catastrophe in the world’s history; the awful destruction of an ancient city and its people by earthquakes and volcano eruption…So thrillingly realistic is the effect, that the onlooker will find it hard to realize he has been gazing only upon a startling scene of mimic destruction instead of a terrible reality” (Chicago, 29 June 1906, page 1).

The spectacle was advertised as a “most stupendous, thrilling and beautiful open-air spectacle in the world – a $100,000 production.” The theme surrounding the destruction of this ancient city razed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was especially poignant; the great Volcano erupted again during April of 1906. This disaster occurred the same month as the San Francisco earthquake and fire. For many, it may have seemed like the end of the world.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 547 – The New Auditorium at the Immaculate Conception Academy, 1906

Part 547: The New Auditorium at the Immaculate Conception Academy, 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses recorded that Sosman & Landis provided scenery for “a big contract for Davenport, Iowa.” He was referring to the new auditorium at the Immaculate Conception Academy. This was the Catholic girls’ high school established by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1859. In 1906, a new building joined the main building on the north, replacing the old frame conservatory building. Located at Eighth and Main streets, the new three-story brick building included an auditorium, conservatory of music and gymnasium.

Immaculate Conception Academy in Davenport, Iowa.

The Quad-City Times,” reported, “The superbly appointed hall, with its stage equaling in width that of the Burtis Opera house and beautiful scenery, painted by the firm Sosman & Landis, of Chicago, delighted the eyes of the patrons of the institution” (Davenport, Iowa, 17 May 1906, page 9). For the opening, the seating hall of the new hall was “taxed to the utmost” with a crowd of 600 or more.

On May 13, the “Quad City Times” noted, “There will be a very fine entertainment given at the Immaculate Conception, on Main Street, Wednesday evening, May 16, for the benefit of the furnishing of the new auditorium. The pupils of the academy and the sisters have gone to much trouble to make this one of the best entertainments ever given, and all who attend will be amply repaid. The staging for the classical drama, ‘Margaret of Anjou,’ which will be given, is very fine, the scenic painting having been done by Sosman & Landis Scenic company of Chicago, and the chief artist put his best efforts in the work, feeling a personal interest in its success, as his wife is a graduate of the Immaculate Conception academy” (13 May 1906, page 12). “The sisters in their choice of scenery for the stage, have secured the best that is available, and the effects in stage setting in the production last evening were beautiful. Sosman & Landis of Chicago painted the scenes” (The Daily Times, 17 May 1906, page 7). There new scenery installation included a garden scene, a fancy interior, two parlors, and other scenes that were installed after the opening. The fancy interior was used as a royal house in France for their first production.

Of the auditorium, the newspaper reported, “The whole top story is given over to the spacious entertainment hall which for nicety of arrangements in regard to acoustics and scenic equipment and for seating an audience, except for the professional play houses, stands unexcelled in the tri-cities and will compare favorably with the auditoriums of an institution of its size. The body of the house is an inclined plane, thus permitting and unobstructed view of the stage, no mater where one is seated” (Quad City Times, 22 May 1906, page 7). The “Daily Times,” provided additional information about the auditorium, reporting, “From the rear of the room to the foot of the stage there is a pitch of some five feet, and the stage floor is four feet above the lowest point in the auditorium (17 May 1906, page 7).

There were 535 opera seats “of the latest pattern, complimenting” the walls that were painted in dark green with gold and white accents. The newspaper noted that “The stage is a model of its kind. Equal to that of the Burtis opera house in width, 58 feet, with a corresponding depth, with electric footlights and are lights, it presents fitting conditions for the presentation of any amateur theatricals or the conducting of any school exercises. The main curtain and other scenery, which equipment is complete in every respect is hard to be surpassed in artistic workmanship, as their chief artist requested that the entire work be entrusted to him as his wife is a former graduate of the academy.”

The same year that Immaculate Conception Academy’s Hall was built, the Burtis Opera House was remodeled, also by involving Sosman & Landis. Local newspapers reported that F. W. Chamberlin & Charles T. Kindt were to purchase the theater originally constructed by J. J. Burtis (1811-1883) in 1867. Burtis built the 1600-seat opera house in Detroit 1867. “The Daily Times” reported , “Theater will be completely remodeled from stage to foyer” (Davenport, Iowa, 16 March 1906, page 6). Manager Kindt, was quoted saying, “The Burtis will be completely remodeled. In fact, when it is improved, it will be practically a new theatre. Everything that is in it will be removed, and it will be fitted up in modern shape throughout.”

Interior of the Burtis Opera House, 1910. This set appears to be for a magic show.

Changes included altering the size of the proscenium, although the boxes were to remain (The Daily Times, 24 March 1906, page 12).

Clamberlin, Kindt & Co, formed in 1894, and began managing the Burtis Opera House (Quad City Times, 10 Dec. 1906, page 10). The firm continued to expand, controlling over 25 theatres on the Illinois-Iowa circuit. Their theatres were located in Marshalltown, Rock Island, Ft. Madison, Burlington, Oskaloosa, Davenport, Galesburg, Monmouth, Muscatine, Rockford, Grinnell, Keokuk, Kewanee, Creston, Sedalia, Quincy, Peoria, Boone, Joliet, Elgine, Waterloo. Chamberlain passed away by the end of the 1906, a severe blow to Kindt and the company. That same month J. R. Lane, C.T. Kindt and Isaac Deutsch purchased the Burtis property, consisting of the Burtis Opera House and Kimball House for $55,000 (The Dispatch, Moline, Illinois, 13 Dec 1906, page 4).

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 546 – The Majestic Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Part 546: The Majestic Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses and his family traveled to Colorado for a month-long sketching trip. After the trip, Moses wrote, “On my return I did a lot of work for Grand Rapids, Michigan, Majestic. I closed the contract for the society stunt.”

Interior of the Majestic Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before it became a movie house.

In 1906, Grand Rapids, Michigan, had a population of 110,000 people. The Majestic Theatre had been opened since November 23, 1903. The venue was listed in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide (1907-1908) and managed Orin Stair. Orin and E. D. Stair were the proprietors for this first-floor theater. Illuminated by electricity (110 volt, Edison system), the seating capacity was 1,754. The width of the proscenium measured 42 feet wide by 31 feet high. The depth of the stage from the footlights to the back wall was 40’-6”, with the distance from the curtain line to the footlights measuring 6 feet. The distance between the side walls was 72 feet, and the height from the stage to the rigging loft was 65 feet. A fly gallery was positioned at 26 feet above the stage and the depth under the stage was 9 feet. The stage had 4 traps and an adjacent scene room.

By 1915 the theater became a movie house; it was operated by the Butterfield Theaters chain from 1929 until July 1974. Fortunately for the Majestic, live theater returned in 1979 when the Civic Theatre Company took over the space. Www.cinematreasures.org reports, “It is one of the oldest community theaters in the country. With more than 6,000 season ticket holders, it is the largest community theater in the state of Michigan and the second largest in the United States. During a single season the theater reaches almost 100,000 people. Each season there are a mix of main stage productions, two productions for children, and various other special events around the community. The theater is currently under the leadership of twelve professional staffers and more than thirty guest artists, and numerous local volunteers.”

The renovated auditorium of the Majestic Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Majestic Theatre is just one of the thousands that Moses created painted settings for during his sixty-year career. Multiply his productivity by the thousands of scenic artists that came both before and after him. Only a very small percentage of an historical scenic art remains hanging in historic theaters. Often the only remaining drop from an original collection is the fire curtain. This is what makes Masonic scenery collections so important. Scottish Rite theaters are like time capsules, housing numerous examples of scenic art. Sadly, these collections are often in jeopardy as membership perceives them as solely “old and worn out backings,” and not “large-scale artworks created by nationally recognized artists.”

If you know of a historic theater, please do not hesitate to plan a visit with your camera and document whatever you can – especially before it is renovated. You may be the last person to document the backstage area, stage machinery and scenery for that venue. Share your images with the local community and your colleagues. It is only an awareness and understanding of this cultural treasure that may help its future preservation for subsequent generations. That is my main reason for posting two things every day: an installment about the life and times of Thomas G. Moses and a painted setting from a historic theater. It is all disappearing so quickly.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 545 – Thomas G. Moses’ Annual Colorado Sketching Trip, 1906

Part 545: Thomas G. Moses’ Annual Colorado Sketching Trip, 1906

In 1906, “The Oak Park Leaves” reported, “Thomas G. Moses, the artist, with his wife and daughter Lillian starts next week for Colorado, where he will do a month’s sketching. He will make colored sketches in the Garden of the Gods, Ute Pass, Ruxton’s creek, Cripple Creek, Silver Plume and Georgetown, and expects to get some brilliant studies, as the color in Colorado is said to be as strong as Arizona and New Mexico” (7 July 1906, page 20).

Scene from Garden of the Gods, west of Colorado Springs, Colorado

Scene from Garden of the Gods, west of Colorado Springs

For those unfamiliar with this region of the United States, Garden of the Gods is located in Colorado at the foot of Pike’s Peak, west of Colorado Springs. The area is known for its massive rock formations; they appear to be bursting through the earth’s surface. It is magical to see brilliant orange-red rock against a bright blue sky. My husband and I first drove through the area with our infant daughter Isabelle during the spring of 1998. We even celebrated her first birthday in Colorado Springs. While returning from our trip to USITT in Long Beach, California, we dawdled to Colorado Springs, veering off on unpaved roads to sightsee at every opportunity. Clouds of red dust rise up when the wind sweeps through an area, enhancing the foreign appearance of the rocky outcrops. Garden of the Gods is a sacred place for many people, and has inspired artists for generations. It is the color, the light and the contrast that people want to capture. Driving along the dusty roads, we had to replace the air filter in our car by the time we reached the town with an automotive store, as the small red particles clog everything.

After Moses sketched Garden of the Gods, he continued along Ute Pass, Ruxton’s creek near Manitou, Cripple Creek, Silver Plume and Georgetown. The Ute’s name for the pass was “El Puerto del Sierra Almagre,” which means “Doorway to the Red Earth Mountains.” The buffalo trail along through the pass was initially used to transport salt from Bayou Salade, the salt valley of South Park, to trade in Santa Fe and Taos. By the 1860s, Ute trail became a wagon road to transport people and goods to mining towns, such as Leadville.

A section of the Ute Pass trail still being used during 1912

Abandoned railroad tracks that were once used to transport goods and people to mining towns in Colorado

The pass skirts along the north side of Pikes Peak through Fountain Creek canyon. West of Manitou Springs, the pass climbs 3,000 feet to its summit in Divide, reaching 9,165 feet. Starting in 1888, the Colorado Midland Railway ran tracks through Ute Pass to reach the mining communities in Leadville, Aspen, and Cripple Creek. As Moses and his family toured the area, they stopped at Ruxon’s Creek, Cripple Creek, Silver Plume and Georgetown.

Locomotives once brought goods and people to distant mining towns throughout Colorado

The Midland Colorado Railroad near Elevenmile Canyon in Colorado. Photo by Wm Henry Jackson

Cripple Creek, Colorado, with Pike’s Peak in the distance

Silver Plume, Colorado, when it was a bustling mining community

Of the trip, Moses wrote, “I got my annual sketching trip to Colorado with my big sketching trunk, made especially for this work, and it is very successful. Ella, Lillian and Miss Adair went with me. All details will be found in “Colorado Trip of 1906” which proved to be a fine trip.” I have been unable to locate any of Moses’ travelogues, only those published in Palete & Chisel club newsletters and Oak Park newspapers.

Moses’s first sketching trip to Colorado was in 1884 (see past installments #192-197). He published his adventure in the Palette & Chisel newsletter during 1928. His articles were called “Tom Moses’ Trips” with the first one about his trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, in 1884. That year, Moses accepted quite a bit of “night work” to fund the trip. He wrote, “John H. Young, Edward Morange, Hardesty Maratta and myself talked and planned for over a year regarding a trip to the mountains of Colorado. In our every day work of Scenic Painting we were called upon to paint all kinds of mountain scenes, and, as we had never seen a real mountain, we had to rely upon photographs or magazine cuts for our ideas. So we were, naturally, anxious to see the wonderful piles of rock and earth.”

At the time he was twenty-eight years old and had never visited the mountains before. The ages of his traveling companions were Young (26 yrs.), Morange (19 yrs.), and Maratta (20 yrs.).

View of Pike’s peak that reminded me of Thomas G. Moses’ quote that compared it to a dish of strawberry ice cream

Moses wrote of their first glimpse of the Rockies, “We were all up and dressed before six o’clock. We discovered a bright golden and pink object on the horizon away to the northwest. The porter informed us with a hearty laugh at our ignorance, that that was the snowcapped Pike’s Peak, one hundred and twenty-five miles away. We thought he was joking; it was simply wonderful and resembled a dish of strawberry ice-cream. The day was bright and hot, but we kept our eyes on that ice-cream… As we drew nearer to the foothills the outlook became more interesting; the ice-cream cone was becoming more blue, and the richer blues and purples were creeping in between the great opalescent distance and the golden brown of our foreground, framing a picture that was far beyond our wildest dreams of what was in store for us. We sat at the window or stood on the platform every moment we could, afraid that we would miss some of it.” As the group headed to Royal Gorge, Moses recorded, “The wonderful rock formation was beyond our wildest imagination. While we had seen many photos and magazine cuts of this exact spot, we were very much surprised by the color.” For the remainder of his life, the mountains would beckon to Moses and he would continue to paint them whenever he could.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 544 – Alphonse Mucha Receives Tribute of Chicago Artists, 1906

Part 544: Alphonse Mucha Receives Tribute of Chicago Artists, 1906

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses recorded joining the Palette and Chisel Club in Chicago. Of his decision, Moses wrote, “I don’t know why, as I had so little time to give to pictures, but I live in hopes of doing something some day, that is what I have lived on for years, Hope, and how little we realize from our dreams of hope.” The year that he joined, the Palette & Chisel Club, the group sponsored “Bohemian Night” in honor of Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939). Mucha was in town teaching at the Art Institute of Chicago that Fall.

Mucha is one of my favorite artists and a well-known representative of the Art Nouveau style. A Czech painter, sculptor and illustrator, prints of his work have always adorned the walls of either my home or studio. To place Mucha in context with Thomas G. Moses (1856-1943); he was just four years younger than Moses. The two artists’ paths crossed in Chicago during 1906 at the abovementioned Palette and Chisel Club event. At the age of 19, Mucha worked as a scenic art apprentice for Kautsky-Brioschi-Burghardt, a Viennese theatre design company. This employment was short-lived, however, as his position was eliminated by 1881. He and several staff members were all dismissed after Kautsky-Brioschi-Berghardt suffered a financial loss; a major fire destroyed the theater of a significant client – Vienna’s Ring Theatre. Years later, Mucha would paint the front curtain for the newly renovated German Theatre in New York.

To place Mucha’s time in Chicago within the context of his career, he had previously worked in the United States from 1904 to 1905. During 1906, he returned to Prague to marry Marie Chytilová, “Maruška,” on June 10.

Alphonse Mucha and Marie Chytilová on their wedding day in 1906

The couple honeymooned in the small village of Pec in the highlands of South Bohemia, before traveling to America. Their time spent in Chicago was at the beginning of the couple’s four-year visit in the United States; Mucha accepted a one-term teaching position at the Art Institute. After completing this job in Chicago, the couple lived in New York City and Mucha completed a variety of artistic commissions, including decorating the newly renovated interior of the German Theater in New York. He painted five decorative panels, the stage curtain and painted ornamentation throughout the building. His central panel was known as “Quest for Beauty” and was flanked by to vertical compositions – Tragedy and Comedy. Unfortunately, the theatre was demolished in 1929 and the only surviving works are Mucha’s prelimary drawings for the theatre. In 1909, Mucha was working with the well-known actress Maude Adams and depiction of her in the of Joan of Arc; her portrait was used for the theatre poster.

Poster by Alphonse Mucha of Maude Adams in her role as Joan of Arc

Mucha became a father in America too, when their daughter Jaroslava was born in New York City during 1909.

While in Chicago during 1906 there were two receptions held in Mucha’s honor. The first was a reception was sponsored by the Art Institute of Chicago to honor their visiting instructor. “The Inter Ocean” reported, “Five hundred students and invited guests of the Art Institute assembled in the upper galleries of that building at 8 o’clock last evening, and for three hours paid social tribute to Alphonse Mucha, admittedly the greatest living exponent of the poster school of art. The artist came to the city from Paris three weeks ago to give a brief course of instruction to the most advanced class in the institute. He leaves next week for New York, where he expects to make his home. Mr. Mucha is widely known both in this country and abroad as an illustrator and poster artist. Several of his works, the most noted of which are La Plume calendar posters, and those representing Sarah Bernhardt in her various roles, have won places at the exhibition in the Salon, at Paris. The walls of the room in which he received his admirers last night were hung with more that a hundred of the best posters and sketches. Owing to an unexpected delay in his arrival in Chicago last month, Mr. Mucha missed the reception which the art students annually hold in honor of all the exhibitors in the institute. His regret in having missed that function resulted in the planning of last night’s reception, which was held solely in his honor” (4 Nov. 1906, page 5).

On November 17, the Palette and Chisel Club sent out invitations for another event honoring Mucha – “The Bohemian Night.” It was held in the Athenaeum Building at 26 Van Buren Street.

Bohemian Night program, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906

Guest book for Bohemian Night, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906. Thomas G. Moses’ signature is second up from the bottom, under Wm. W. Riddell.

Bohemian Night in honor of Alphonse Mucha, hosted by the Palette and Chisel, 1906

On November 21, a social column in the “Inter Ocean” described Mucha’s adventures in Chicago (Inter Ocean, 21 Nov. 1906, page 6): “What does Alphonse Mucha think of Bohemian Chicago. The students over at the Art institute, who are getting the curve theory of composition into their “block” filled systems from Monsieur Mucha’s daily lectures, have had a mad revel or two, under the fatherly eye of Charles Francis Brown or Lorado Taft or some other of the “grads” among the artists; and last Saturday night Monsieur Mucha witnessed a really wild carouse at the Palette and Chisel clubrooms, where members decked themselves out as ladies – the members are men- and simply tore up the earth with burlesque and beer. According to all reports things were just too bohemian for anything – but a Parisian schooled artist. Therefore Monsieur Mucha was able to attend to his Monday afternoon lecture, with only thirty-six hours in which to recover.

It is rumored strongly that Monsieur Mucha is here on his honeymoon trip. And if that is the case we must all pray that the artist and his bride may not leave Chicago for the Mucha studio in New York, which is all ready and waiting on West Twenty-Second street, until after Thanksgiving day. For what would it mean to a real bohemian like Monsieur Mucha to miss the annual orgy of Little Roomers – our real bohemian club – who hold their frantic feasts on the tenth floor of the Fine Arts building, and serve the seductive baked bean canned, which is not a baked bean but a boiled bean; the alluring sardine in his little lake of oil; the stuffed mango pickle, which biteth like an adder, and very sour lemonade, which stingeth like the deuce. At the revels of the Little Roomers, lest Monsieur Mucha throw up his beautiful hands in horror at the thought of Mme. Mucha witnessing such bacchanalian sights, let us hasten to say wives freely take their own husbands, and husbands their own wives. In fact, the idea of a gentleman genius taking his friend’s wife, without written permit, or a lady genius her friend’s husband, without equally definite permission, would be frowned down and out. Wherefore the lemonade. But of the Thanksgiving feast more anon.”

The Muchas returned to Prague in 1910 where Mucha continued to work on a variety of projects. Their second child, Jirí was born in 1915. By 1939, Mucha was one of the first people arrested by the Gestapo when German troops marched into Czecholslavakia that spring. During the lengthy period that he was interrogated, Mucha fell ill with pneumonia. Although he was later released, the illness took its toll on the artist and he died from a lung infection later that year.

To be continued…

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 540 – Thomas G. Moses and the Topeka Scottish Rite, 1906

Part 540: Thomas G. Moses and the Topeka Scottish Rite

In 1906, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “The New Year found me at work on some new work for Topeka, Masonic Hall. Very nice work.”

Illustration of the Topeka Scottish Rite stage published in the Topeka Daily, 21 Feb, 1906, page 5

Illustration of the Topeka Scottish Rite audirorium published in the Topeka Daily, 21 Feb, 1906, page 5

The “Topeka Daily Capital” reported, “The Scottish Rite bodies of Topeka purchased the building now occupied by the local Masonic bodies three years ago, and they have spent over $20,000 in the last four months in furnishing a lodge room that will compare favorably with any in the United States. A new stage thirty-five feet in depth has been built, and it is said to have more scenery than any other in the country. There are 110 drops, over one hundred of which are the property of, and will be used by, the Scottish Rite in conferring their degrees, which are peculiarly adapted to stage work. The electrical effects that can be produced are almost without number, and are controlled by a marble switch-board eight feet long.” (21 Feb. 1906, page 5).

Sosman & Landis delivered the scenery to the Masonic building located on Jackson Street in Topeka, Kansas. $15,000 worth of scenery had been sold to the Valley of Topeka, allowing candidates to be conferred in full form during the spring reunion of 1906 (The Topeka Daily, 23 April 1906, page 2). For the event, there were 200 candidates, the largest class ever assembled in the state. The reunion took place over the course of three days (The Topeka Daily, 23 April 1906, page 7). Two of the candidates were Dr. F. O. Hetrick and A. Haggart from Ottawa, Kansas. Their local newspaper, “The Evening Herald” reported that the two men “went to Topeka this morning to attend the twenty-sixth semi-annual reunion of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Bodies of the Orient of Kansas, Valley of Topeka. Both gentlemen are going to take degree work” (24 April 1906, page 3). This notice is not unusual, and often newspapers would list all of the candidates in a Scottish Rite class. Articles would also describe which degrees were conferred and communicated; conferred often meant that the degree was theatrically staged. Although Freemasonry might be considered a “secret” society, the identity of incoming members was often published in the local newspaper. It says a lot about the size and prominence of the organization at the time. Scottish Rite membership was on the rise and it meant something to be associated with the Fraternity.

Grand Commander James D. Richardson, published in the Topeka State Journal, 27 Oct 1906, page 16

For the Fall Reunion in Topeka, Grand Commander James D. Richardson and his associates in the Grand Commandery were in attendance. They were attending various Scottish Rite Reunions. After Topeka, they would visit Reunions in Denver, Colorado, and Salina, Kansas. Richardson was a well-known national legislator; for twenty years he served in congress from Tennessee, concluding his service on March 4, 1905. The article reported, “He gave up a brilliant political career to devote his time and energies to the interests of Scottish Rite Masonry and is now one of the highest Masons in the land. He is sovereign grand commander of the supreme council for the southern jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.” By the end of the fall Reunion, the “Topeka State Journal” published a picture of Richardson and an article titled, “He Likes Topeka. James D. Richardson, ex-Democratic Leader, Visiting Here.” He was quoted saying, “You have a fine city here and there are evidences on every hand that it is in a most flourishing condition.” When questioned about things political, Richardson replied, “Politics and Masonry do not mix, and I will never mix them, so you will have to excuse me from discussing any phase of politics.”

An article in the Topeka State Journal listed the activities at the Fall Reunion in detail,” Sessions yesterday were devoted to the registration of classes and preliminaries and the festivities will close Saturday evening with a reception and banquet in honor of James Daniel Richardson, of Washington. D. C., sovereign grand commander and his associates and the members of the consistory. Arrangements have been made to use the large room on the first floor of the Masonic building formerly occupied by the Topeka Athletic Association, as a banquet room during the reunion. Congressman Richardson of Tennessee is one of the orators. A condensed schedule of the work which will be accomplished during the four days of the reunion is as follows:

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24

Afternoon and evening, registration of class

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25

9:00 a.m., 4 deg. Secret Master, conferred

9:45 a.m., 5 deg. Perfect Master, conferred

11:00 a.m., 6 deg. Provost and Judge, communicated

1:30 p.m., 8 deg. Intendant of the Building, conferred

2:00 p.m., 9 deg. Elus of the Nine, conferred

3:15 p.m., 10 deg. 11 deg., 12 deg. And 13 deg., communicated

4:00 p.m., 14 deg. Perfect Elu, conferred

7:15 p.m., 15 deg. Knight of the East, conferred

8:30 p.m., 16 deg. Prince of Jerusalem, conferred

FRIDAY. OCTOBER 26

9:00 a.m., 17 deg. Knight of the East and West, conferred

10:00 a.m.,18 deg. Prince Rose Croix, conferred

1:00 p.m., 19 deg. communicated

1:15 p.m., 20 deg. Master of the Symbolic Lodge, conferred

2:00 p.m., 21 deg. Noachite, or Prussian Knight, conferred

3:15 p.m., 22 deg. Knight Royal Axe, Prince of Libanus, conferred

4:00 p.m., 23 deg. And 24 deg., communicated

4:15 p.m., 25 deg. Knight of the Brazen Serpent, conferred

4:45 p.m., 26 deg. 27 deg. And 28 deg., communicated

5:00 p.m., 29 deg. Scottish Knight of Saint Andrew, conferred

7:30 p.m., 30 deg. Knight Kadosh, conferred.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

9:00 a.m., 31 deg. Inspector Inquisitor, conferred

2:00 p.m., 32 deg. Master of the Royal Secret, conferred

6:30 p.m., Reception and banquet

(The Topeka State Journal, 24 Oct. 1906, page 8).

The reunion either ran like a well-oiled machine, or it was one chaotic mess. With 100 drops and 17 of the 29 degrees staged, a lot occurred over the course of three action-packed days. The members and the money just kept rolling into Kansas. They were really the first state to soar in the southern jurisdiction.

Scottish Rite degree team from Siloam Lodge No. 225, Topeka, Kansas, 1920

During November of 1906, the Topeka Scottish Rite again broke ground again for a $100,000 addition to the building. The second floor that contained the stage and auditorium remained unaltered, but the Fraternity needed more space if the membership continued to increase at the same rapid rate (The Wichita Daily Eagle, 13 Nov. 1906, page 6).

To be continued…