The demand for school stage
scenery increased in the early twentieth century in a similar fashion as that
for fraternal stage scenery. A dramatic
increase in orders began during the second decade of the twentieth century.
Schools were not a new client, but many more academic institutions begin to
produce stage shows, necessitating the purchase of stock scenery and specialty
settings for school productions.
Oak Park High School
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Closed with Oak Park High School for $675.00, the first they have bought for
their stage.” On May 4, 1917, the “Chicago Tribune” announced, “High School to
Give Opera. Oak Park High School will present ‘Hansel and Gretel’ this evening
at the high school auditorium. A school orchestra of fifty pieces will
accompany the cast” (page 11). Of the actual production, I have only uncovered
the one article. The auditorium was only a decade old when Sosman & Landis
delivered scenery in 1917, likely for the upcoming production of “Hansel and
Gretel.”
Scenery produced by Sosman & Landis on the Oak Park High School stage. From a production Ernest Hemingway was in during 1917.
Oak Park opened a new high
school in 1907. That same year the school’s orchestra was founded. It was also
one of the first schools to offer credit toward graduation based on student
performance in the orchestra.
The new building was designed to
hold 800 students and was located at East and Ontario Streets. However, by
1908, the school was deemed defective and needed extra work; the concrete
floors were inadequate to carry the necessary weight and the contractors were
sued. This is likely the reason that the school did not order any painted
scenery until 1917. Additionally, in 1916,
the original Oak Park school building was sold for $25,000 and subsequently
provided funding for a variety of projects.
Ernest Hemingway was an Oak Park High School graduate in 1917.Oak Park High School Class of 1917.
In 1917, local Oak Park real
estate listings noted that the Oak Park high School was “one of the best in the
country” (Chicago Tribune, 1 April 1917, page 74). The history of the Oak Park
High School is quite interesting in itself. Oak Park was the home to many
artists and architects who worked in Chicago; a short train ride to downtown.
Oak Park was an affluent area with famous names.
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Closed a contract for two scenes with Gatts and Company, $825.00 for ‘Katzenjammer
Kids.’ We hustled it out. Maier and I
went to Michigan to put it on and nearly froze coming back. 14 degrees below zero. As there was no train, we had to ride home in
the trolley.”
The Katzenjammer Kids musical advertised in the “Indianapolis Star,” 15 March 1917, page 3.
The Katzenjammer Kids was a
comic strip concerning two mischievous little fellows Hans and Fritz. The strip
first appeared in 1897 and running until 2006. Rudolph Dirks created the strips,
with its debut on Dec. 12 in the “American Humorist.” Harold Knerr later drew
the strip, from 1914 until 1949. From 1949-1956 Charles H. “Doc” Winner was the
cartoonist; from 1956 to 1976 it was Joe Musial; from 1981-1986 it was Angelo
DeCesare; and from 1986-2006 it was Hy Eisman.
The Katzenjammer Kids comic strip for Dec. 12, 1897. The Katzenjammer Kids comic strip in the :San Francisco Examiner,” 10 July 1898, page 11.
This comic strip was first
turned into a stage play in 1903. In 1917, the Katzenjammer Kids was advertised
as a “cartoon musical comedy” produced by Gazzolo, Gatts and Clifford. Hans,
Fritz, Ma Katzenjammer, Der Professor, Der Captain and the other characters
were featured in the production. Donald M. Bestor composed the music and Virgil
M. Bennee choreographed the musical numbers. The play was staged in three acts,
the first showing a hotel, the second a dock scenes and the third the Hawaiian Islands.
Of the production, “The
Indianapolis Star” reported, “Particular care has been taken with the staging
and costuming of the Katzenjammer Kids. The fashion plate chorus is gowned in
various fetching evening gowns, all of which match harmoniously with the
beautiful stage pictures and novel electrical effects” (15 March 1917, page 3).
The illustration that accompanied Carl Holliday’s one-page article, “The American Showboat” for “The Theatre” magazine (May 1917, page 296).
In 1917 Carl Holliday wrote a one-page article entitled “The
American Showboat” for “The Theatre” magazine (May 1917, page 296).
As a student, much of my scenic art training occurred in
the spring at the University of Minnesota – (Twin Cities). Lance Brockman’s scene
painting class produced roll drops and painted wings for the the department’s
fifth theatre space known as Minnesota Centennial Showboat. While working in
the 1950s at U High, the University of Minnesota’s high school program, my
mother attended some of the earliest productions, and continued to attend even
after a new boat was constructed for a St. Paul location. The venue was near
and dear to our family even before I began painting roll drops and learning
scenic art skills.
One of my family’s postcards- the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, once stationed at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.One of my family’s postcards- the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, once stationed at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.A picture from when we went to see a production on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat in St. Paul. The original boat burned and was rebuilt. I helped decorate the interior and taught the class that created the scenery for the opening of the boat in 2002.The University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat docked in St. Paul. The University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat docked in St. Paul. The University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat docked in St. Paul. One of the backdrops painted in a scene painting class that I taught at the University of Minnesota for the Centennial Showboat. The drop was designed by Dahl Delu.One of the backdrops painted in a scene painting class that I taught at the University of Minnesota for the Centennial Showboat. The drop was designed by Dahl Delu. The drop was reused in a scene design by Rick Polenek who added the painted set piece.One of the backdrops painted in a scene painting class that I taught at the University of Minnesota for the Centennial Showboat. The drop was designed by Dahl Delu.One of the backdrops painted in a scene painting class that I taught at the University of Minnesota for the Centennial Showboat. The drop was designed by Dahl Delu.One of the backdrops painted in a scene painting class that I taught at the University of Minnesota for the Centennial Showboat. The set piece was designed by Rick Polenek.One of the early drops that I painted with Pam Bedsworth as an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota of the Centennial Showboat.One of the last drops that I painted for the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat.
Unfortunately the University of Minnesota Department of
Theatre Arts and Dance gave away this 2 million dollar asset a few years back.
In the end, the boat was purchased for a small fraction of its worth and is currently
docked down stream in Winona, awaiting a future. This was an unfortunate loss of
not only history, but also a technical training ground for future generations
of students. However, I still look back with great fondness at the venue, as do
many who experienced working on an American showboat.
The Showboat was unique to theatre history, part of an
American legacy that included “water gypsies” and “showboat players.” Here is Holliday’s article in its entirety,
as this one should not be forgotten:
“On a sultry day far up the Mononghela, the Kanawha, or
the Missouri River the small boy, languidly fanning himself with a tattered
straw hat, is suddenly thrilled into mad energy by the wild, weird shrieks of a
calliope echoing far up and down the startled valley. “The showboat! The
showboat!” and away he skurries to the river bank. I do not know whether these
“floating palaces” are known to all American boys; but to the youngsters of the
Middle and Southern States they are harbingers of joy – visions of splendor to
dream of and wonder over many months after they have come and gone.
The Kanawha River, mentioned by Carl Holliday in“The American Showboat” for “The Theatre” magazine (May 1917, page 296).The Kanawha River, mentioned by Carl Holliday in“The American Showboat” for “The Theatre” magazine (May 1917, page 296).The Kanawha River, mentioned by Carl Holliday in“The American Showboat” for “The Theatre” magazine (May 1917, page 296).
There are about 95,000 persons in America engaged in the
work of entertaining the public – acrobats, minstrels, singers, vaudeville
actors, dancers, magicians and what not. But of them all doubtless the most
mysterious to the general public, the most happy-go-lucky, are the water
gypsies, the showboat players. Often floating or steaming six thousand miles in
the course of a season, playing from the green hills of the Kanawha in West
Virginia to the brown plains of the Missouri in far Montana, these crafts and
their motley crew of players saw more of real America and real American life
than probably any other institution or class of people. There is a genuine
glamour of romance about such a life – to those who do not live it. When the
“Sunny South,” the “Golden Rod,” the “Cotton Blossom,” the “Dreamland,” or the
“Evening Star” comes to town every boy is immediately seized with the wanderlust and would fain become an
expert on the calliope.
The Goldenrod Showboat
It would be difficult to say how these floating theatres
originated. They are almost entirely an American form of entertainment,
formerly seen now and then on French and German rivers, but now almost confined
to the Mississippi and its many tributaries. Probably such floating troupes
developed from the itinerant actors who played the cabins of canal boats and
“flat bottoms” on Eastern rivers soon after the Revolution. Just such a player,
N. M. Ludlow, who had shaken the beams of those early stuffy cabins, was the
first to appear with a showboat on the Mississippi. In 1817 he and a little
band of actors travelled overland to the Cumberland River, playing as the many
wayside inns as they went, and in the fall of that year transformed a huge
flatboat into a commodious theatre, floated down the Cumberland into the Ohio,
and thus passed into the Mississippi.
A map for some geographical context of the area described by Carl Holliday in 1917.A map for some geographical context of the area described by Carl Holliday in 1917.
It was a dangerous occupation in those rough days. Often
all hands, actor, actresses, and crew, had to turn out to “pole” the theatre
around some dangerous sand bar, and when such notorious spots as Rowdy Bens and
Plum Point were reached, every man and woman of them was armed with a flintlock
to repel the possible attacks of river pirates. One night the ropes of Ludlow’s
boat were cut by practical jokers, and the troupe awoke to find themselves
floating amidst the snags and treacherous currents of the uncharted
Mississippi. Then, too, a rival soon appeared in the person of the once famous
actor, Sol Smith, but fortunately for Ludlow, Smith’s floating palace was cut
in two in 1847 in a collision with another boat, and Ludlow’s company could
boast itself as the “only original.”
In those early days a showboat was used for many purposes
not exclusively theatrical, such as prize fights and horse-back specialties,
but during the past forty years the average river theatre has presented only
plays and the features usually seen in vaudeville. As early as 1847 an English
actor, William Chapman, with his numerous sons and daughters, went by water
from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, playing “The Stranger and Cinderella,” and from
that time to this many an inland boy has gained his first vision of drama
through seeing on a boat-stage such light comedies as “The Girl in Brown,”
“Under Southern Skies,” and “The Minister and the Maid.” Heavier drama is
sometimes undertaken, however, and not infrequently “Faust” has thrilled the
awe-struck audience of river towns.
The equipment on some of these showboats is nothing short
of astonishing. From $40,000 to $50,000 is not an unusual price for the finer
ones – a cost far exceeding that of many good city theatres. Often designed after
the plans of famous playhouses, such as the Blackstone of Chicago, these water
auditoriums are scientifically built and lavishly furnished. For instance, the
“Golden Rod,” a source of wonder to many a river boy, possesses an auditorium
one-hundred and sixty-two feet long and forty-six feet wide, with nineteen
upholstered boxes and a seating capacity of fourteen hundred. Many a city of
fifty thousand people cannot boast of such a stage – forty-six feet wide,
twenty-four feet deep, with six elaborate drop curtains and numerous “set”
pieces and many changes of scenery.
Sometimes the handbills of these crafts proudly – and
truthfully – announce a “family circle” with cushioned settees for five hundred
and a “dress circle” with a thousand arm chairs, while steam heat in winter and
cold-air blowers in summer make the audience forget the weather on shore. In
the days immediately after the Civil War hundreds of gas jets and innumerable
mirrors made the white walls of the boat glisten; but now a thousand electric lights
glow within and without and send their many colors shimmering far over the
rippling waters. An inspection of one of the larger boats casts out all doubt
as to the cost of the building. For example, the “American Floating Theatre”
finds necessary two steam engines, one gasoline, a thousand-pound ice-plant, a
steam laundry, an electric vacuum cleaning outfit, two large dynamos, electric
fans, a well equipped printing plant, a telephone system, a complete hot and
cold water system, a thousand electric lights, a huge American flag composed of
seven hundred and fifty colored incandescent globes, and, of course, the joy of
every American boy, a huge calliope.
Music is indeed an essential factor in showboat life, and
many floating theatres have not only a calliope but expensive chimes which on a
quiet summer night echo from hill to hill of the long river valleys with a
melody wholly entrancing. Often a pilot house is built upon the plan of the
second bookcase, and may contract or expand with surprising rapidity to
accommodate the band. And when the steam-organ, the bells, and the band unite
to rouse the night, mothers should have care for their little ones.
One may well fancy that no mere handful of people can
attend to the many duties of such a theatre. The manager of a showboat must
indeed be not only a thorough business man, but a student of humanity; for
besides the regular boat crew there may be on board from forty to eighty
theatrical specialists, all possessing that excitable trait known as artistic
temperament. For some of these rooms, with private baths and cozy furniture,
are as well equipped as in fashionable hotels; while the food for all, often
bought day by day from river farmers, is far more wholesome than that obtained
in many a metropolitan restaurant. Such a venture, then, as running floating
palaces takes money and plenty of it, and the larger farms have large amounts
invested in what may be truly called “watered stock.”
It was not always thus, however. In the days before the
Civil War and immediately afterwards any “flat bottom” would do for a showboat
and actors, who also served as captain, pilot and engineer, and cook,
frequently gave performances that were anything but conventional. For many years,
in fact, the showboat business was the last resort of human river-rats. Broken
down gamblers with a knowledge of flashy card tricks, deck hands who had
learned ventriloquism, drunken acrobats, medicine fakers whose long black hair
and swarthy complexion enabled them to pose as “noble red men” – such fellows
brought together by ill-luck, could always make a living by giving river shows.
Sometimes patent-medicine companies came to their aid and
paid for a lecturer of a singer. In fact, one showboat presented for some years
a play in which the heroine seeking health was rescued from a villain by a hero
who soon brought her new life by means of a patent medicine.
Old actors will seldom confess that they ever played on a
floating palace; but secretly many of them remember such a life with pleasure.
The slow gliding past green fields and forests, the night breeze softly
ruffling the water on every side – all these things posses a romance and
mysterious thrill not found in the stuffy, formal theatres of the city.”
In 1916, Sosman & Landis Scene
Painting Studio also produced scenery for a production entitled, “At Ocean
Beach.” The show was billed as “a sprightly tabloid musical comedy” and “a
breezy musical comedy.”
From the “Hutchinson News,” Brooklyn, NY, 4 August 1916, page 5.
The “Dodge City Daily Globe”
reported, “It is a wholesome musical comedy…some high classed elaborate scenery
is utilized to dress it, and girls who not only possess and astonishing degree
of personal pulchritude, but real singing voices as well. It is in comedy that
the piece is strongest, however. Don Adams as Augusttus Klutz, proprietor of
the hotel, is the funniest Dutchman seen here since the palmy days of Joe
Cawthorne. He reminds one of the notorious ‘Hans Nitz’ of ‘The Telephone Girl’
fame. His makeup is so good that it looks like the real thing, and his comedy
tickles the risabilities of the audience until it roars in appreciation. ‘Billy
Batchelor plays the burlesque characetrs of a dop fiend, under the title of
‘Daffy Dill.’ When Batchelor comes on the sage at first he looks like a dressed
up ‘rough nut’ abiout to make an announcement. He improves as the minutes go by,
until the final drop of the curtain. He and Adams make an exceedingly strong
team, in fact, and are deserving of heavy patronage while they are here.
‘Blanche Oliver,’ played by Norine Robinson, is a startling good character.
Miss Robinson has an excellent voice and knows how to use it” (1 Aug. 1916,
page 1). Here was the program posted in the article:
Daffy Dill – Billy Batchelor
Miss Getrich – Hazel Vert
Augustus Klutz – (Proprietor Ocean Beach Hotel) – Don Adams
Count Jean Campeau – Ed Smith
Blacnhe Oliver – Norianne Robinson
Italian Street Singers – Smith and Robinson
Guests of the Hotel
Adeline Guild – Mildred LaRae
Thelma Palmer – Joy Lynn
Claire Summers – Norianne Robinson
Edithe Vandergould – Evelyn Sintae
Alice Astorbilt – Miriam Bennett
Nina Beach – Billie Douglas
Place – Veranda, Ocean Beach Hotel, California.
Time – summer evening.
(Costumes by Chas. Stevens Co., Chicago; shows, by the
Aiston Co., Chicago; scenery, the Sosman & Landis Co., Chicago; stage
settings, the Pacific Coast Ratan Co., Los Angeles, California.”
MUSICAL NUMBERS
Prologue and opening – Billy Batchelor and Guiests
In the Valley of the Nile – Count Jean Champeau and Guests
Let Me Be Your Husband – Augustus Klutz
Are Your From Dixie? – Blanche Oliver and Guests
Moonlight on the Rhone – Miss Getrich and Guests
Ah Marie – Ed Smith
Ciribiribin – Italian Street Singers
Finale – Entire Company
From “The Chat,” Brooklyn, NY, 7 July 1916, page 49.From the” Vancouver Sun,” Brooklyn, NY, 9 May 1916, page 3.
Sosman & Landis delivered
scenery for hundreds of productions that were not mentioned in Moses’ diary
during 1916.
One Sosman & Landis client
in 1916 was Joe Bren, a minstrel show producer. The Joe Bren Company was a
Chicago-based theatrical company that partnered with fraternities and civic
groups to stage fundraising shows. Company representatives traveled from town
to town, working with local talent to organize minstrel reviews; working as the
producers, directors and performers for each endeavor. The Joe Bren Company not
only provided instruction, but also all of the technical trappings to produce
the show, including scenery by Sosman & Landis, lighting equipment and
“resplendent costumes” (The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 12 Feb 1916, page 8).
From “The Catholic Tribune,” Joe Bren 11 Nov. 1916, page 7.
The Joe Bren Company primarily
staged minstrel shows in 1916. The Bren
Company was especially popular with the Kiwanis Club, Lions, American
Legionnaires, United Commercial Travelers, Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, and Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In 1916,
Bren’s company was featured in “The Sunflower Council No. 31 United Commercial
Travelers Grand Minstrel Revue.”
Bren was also contracted for the
“Amin Temple Shriners Minstrel show,” as well as “The Elks Grand Minstrel
Review.”
From the “Press and Sun Bulletin,” Binghamptom, 28 Feb 1923, page 11.
As I was looking for a little history surrounding Bren, and
came across “A History of Broadcasting in the United States: A Tower of Babel
to 1933” by Erik Barnouw. Barnouw explains the Joe Bren Company “made a
business of staging local shows throughout the United States for lodges,
churches and clubs” (page 225). He goes on to describe, “Local talent was used;
the Joe Bren Company supplied sketches, jokes, songs, costumes, and
supervision.” Freeman Fisher Gosden, who later played “Amos” of Amos ‘n’ Andy,
traveled for Bren. In fact, Gosden truly began his professional career as an
entertainer with Bren, going on the road to organize reviews, minstrel shows
and carnivals. Charles Correll, who later portrayed “Andy” of “Amos ‘n’ Andy”
also worked for Bren. For those who are unfamiliar with the radio show, “Amos
‘n’ Andy:” https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/31/archives/weaf-700715-ow-wah-ow-wah-ow-wah-amos-n-andy-the-angelus.html
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_%27n%27_Andy
Freeman Fisher Gosden and Charles Correll as “Amos ‘n’ Andy.”
Here is a peak into the
popularity and productivity across the country during the year that Joe Bren
hired Thomas G. Moses of Sosman & Landis to deliver scenery for their shows:
In 1916, the Joe Bren Company produced “A Grand Minstrel Revue” for the Elks in Paducah, Kentucky (News-Democrat, 19 Jan. 1916, page 8). Shows under the direction of Ralph Hamilton, representing the Joe Bren Company included the Shrine Minstrel Show in Springfield, Missouri (Springfield News-Leader, 9 Nov. 1916, page 3), the Shriners Minstrel Show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Argus-Leader, 18 Oct. 1916, page 5), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show in Salina, Kansas (Salina Daily Union, 27 April 1916, page 4), the Shrine Minstrel Show in Munster, Indiana (The Times, 8 Feb. 1916, page 1), the Elks Minstrel Show in Hutchinson, Kansas (The Hutchinson, News, 21 Feb, 1916, page 2), the Elks Follies in St. Joseph, Missouri (Catholic Tribune, 11 Nov. 1916, page 7), the Jollies of 1916 in Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln Star 19 Nov. 1916, page 19), and the Shrine Minstrels of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Gazette, 21 Jan. 1916, page 1).
Ralph Hamilton of the Joe Bren Company, from “The Times” (Munster, Indiana) 8 Feb 1916, page 1.
Other Joe Bren Company collaborations included the Mohassan Grotto Minstrel Show in Davenport, Iowa (Quad-City Times, 30 Aug. 1916, page 3), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show Lodge No. 127 in Shreveport, Louisiana (Shreveport Journal, 11 May 1916, page 5), the United Commercial Travelers Lodge Show in Wichita, Kansas (Wichita Beacon, 15 Feb 1916, page 9), the Elks Minstrels in Independence, Kansas (Independence Star, 10 April 1916, page 2), the Sons of Black Hawks (S.O.B.H.) Minstrel Show in Waterloo, Iowa (The Courier, 1 Feb. 1916, page 9), the Shrine Minstrel Show in Montgomery, Alabama (10 Jan. 1916, page 7), the Elks Minstrel Show in Kenosha, Wisconsin (Kenosha News, 31 Oct 1916, page 1), and the Shriner Minstrels in Knoxville, Tennessee (Knoxville Sentinel, 5 April 1916, page 5).
Jo Alex Robb was another “advanced
director” for the Joe Bren Company. He took charge of the Shrine Minstrel Show
at the Alhambra Temple of Chattanooga, Tennessee (Chattanooga News, 11 Dec,
1916, page 7).
The Joe Bren Company was quite
sophisticated, with a staff that travelled the country and helped produce
shows. Like Sosman & Landis, they
tapped into a unique form of clientele that was driven by the “everyone wants
to be a star” mentality. There were, and are, many people who want their moment
on stage, a chance to shine under stage lights, and Joe Bren delivered that –
an opportunity to don a costume and perform on stage in front of professional
scenery. Although the Scottish Rite had
private performances for its members, it was based on this same principal; you
take an ordinary citizen and let him be an actor on a professional stage.
Over the years, the theatre
industry has continued to draw upon this particular drive, the desire to be a
performer. I also think of past productions that awarded top donors an opportunity
to participate in a production as supernumeraries; they were dressed up for a
stage scene, but they were able to associate with professional actors and stand
on stage before a large crowd.
The only true flaw in this formula is the blackface nature of the minstrel show and the deepening of racism in America. These shows were immensely popular, with many new stage effects being developed by lighting and scenery manufacturers. They also perpetuated prejudice and validated racism, one that thrives today even today. There were still blackface minstrel shows in the 1960s. On March 20, 1970, Vermont’s “Burlington Free Press” reported, “Black face minstrel shows still take place in many Vermont high schools” (page 2). By the late 1970’s newspaper articles fondly remember blackface minstrel shows, recounting comic routines between “black-face clowns” (News-Press, 8 Dec 1974, page 79). In 1977, the “Bennington Banner” included an article about the Lions Club Variety Show announcing, “No black face, but minstrel spirit remains in Arlington” (Bennington, Vermont, 24 March 1977, page 8.
The article describes, “One echo
of minstrel days has not died. That’s the tambourines, when the lights go down.
Day-glo painted on the lips and hands of the tambourinists and fluorescent
ribbons create that old contrast of bright and darks that inspired black face
to begin with.” In other words, instead of blackening the skin and exaggerating
the white lips, associated with stereotypical representations of African
Americans; they just used bright paint to exaggerate the lips, the iconic
illustration of a black-faced performer. Is it any surprise that there was a
large group of white supremacists just waiting for validation from a public
leader again?
Sosman & Landis delivered painted
settings for the Ten Allies Costume Bazaar in New York on November 28, 1918. They
were also hired to provide decorations for Chicago’s Allied Bazaar at the Coliseum. However, this time an architect was in charge
of the designs, not a scenic artist.
In 1917, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“We opened the season on the New Year with the great Allied Bazaar for the
Coliseum and it is being rushed through in a hurry. I don’t like to deal with an architect on
these decorative jobs. They get an idea
they are building a house and don’t seem to see our way of knocking it
together, depending on the general results.
Of all the jobs that we have done of this character, where we made our
own plans, we never had one that didn’t have the big scenic spirit of
decorations and was always accepted.”
From the “Chicago Tribune,” 8 Jan 1917, page 9.
The Allied Bazaar was held at
the Chicago Coliseum for a week, beginning on January 11, 1917. 8,000 people
were involved in marketing of the bazaar, abandoning many other routine society
events to promote the “million dollar show” (Chicago Tribune, 12 Jan. 1917,
page 6). Promoters publicized the event in Minneapolis, St. Paul. St. Louis,
Cincinnati, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Detroit. 4,000 men and
women worked the bazaar, with approximately 500,000 attending. Exhibits
connected with the European war were on display, and included big guns,
ammunition, aeroplanes, French biplanes, German Taubes, American Curtiss and
Wright machines, hospital devices and field ambulances. The show even included a reproduction of a
trench with dugouts, barbed wire, loopholes, and other military appliances.
This particular exhibit was built under the direction of English army personnel
Capt. Ian Hay and Capt. Norman Thwaites.
From the “Chicago Tribune,” 20 Jan 1917, page 3.
Of the event the “Chicago
Tribune” reported, “This is the third big event of this characters for the aid
of the suffering in the allied nations, in Boston the bazaar proceeds were
$400,000, in New York $700,000” (Jan. 11, 1917, page 3). The article continued,
“Yesterday with the hum and bustle of the industry artisans were putting the
finishing touches to the Coliseum. A fairy city of shops, brilliant in color,
impressive architecture, has been raised within the big building down on Wabash
Avenue. Hammers tapped away as busy as woodpeckers. The air was filled with
sawdust. An electric lathe whirred away turning, planning and cutting lumber
for more booths and other galleries.
“Electricians with trailing
threads of wiring weaved away up in the vault like spiders. Workmen and society
women workers jostled each other in their hurry, overalls and sealskins fitted
about in the streets of the fantastic city that charity has built. There is a
buffet, a tea garden, a cabaret, a shooting gallery, sideshow, grocery store, fortuneteller
stand and many art shops in bazaar town.
“Among the scores of well known
persons who were at the Coliseum supervising the arrangement of the booths
formerly as observers, were: Henry J. Pattern, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncy McCormick,
Lady Aberdeen, Baroness Charles Huard, Baron Huard, Mrs. James T. Harahan, Mrs.
Halsted Freeman, Mrs. Charles Hamill, Mrs. Walter S. Brewster, Countess
Langston, Miss Cornelia Conger, James Ward Thorne, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Insull,
Mrs. John Winterbotham, Mrs. George Higginson, and Mr. and Mrs. D. H Burnham
Jr.; the former largely responsible for the architectural planning.
“The Coliseum is full of stuff
of all description. Pianos, antique jewels, original etchings by Whistler,
automobiles, a motor boat, groceries, dolls, seal coats, artistic brasses,
painting and fancy work…Work is being rushed on the war exhibit which will be a
feature of the bazaar. This includes all sorts of shells from the French 75s to
huge sixteen-inch projectiles weighing tons. There are many types of field
pieces, trench mortars, rifles, pistols, wrecked gun carriages, a German
torpedo, uniforms, and war motors.
“In the exhibit is the first
American hospital ambulance set to France. It was given by Mrs. William K.
Vanderbilt. It was wrecked by a shell and the driver killed. The rusted plate
with the name of the donor in big letters was almost ripped from the ambulance
by the same shell.”
In 1916, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“Hurried to New York City, made a hasty model; closed a contract for $5,700.00
for Allied Ball Decoration.” Later that year he wrote, “…on to the big Allied
Ball work…November 25th, Mama and I started for New York. We expressed the scenery and November 28th
it was all up. I did the society stunt
while Nadier and Pausback put all the work up, and for a wonder everything
fitted.”
Ten Allies Costume Ball. Poster collection, Hoover Institution Archives, https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/38561
The event mentioned by Moses was
the Ten Allies Costume Ball. On Novemebr 28, 1916, the “Evening Sun” reported, “America’s greatest
single effort on behalf of relief organizations of the Entente Allies will be
staged tonight when the Ten Allies Costume Ball will be given in Madison Square
Garden. Ten boxes will be decorated to represent each of the ten nations of the
Allies. In each will be prominent persons f these nations. At a given hour the
hall will be darkened and a spotlight turned on the French box from which
Madame Chenal will sing the chorus of the “Marsaillaise.” Next will come “God
Save the King” then the Russian, the Italian and the rest. Finally the light
will be directed as the box draped in the Star and Stripes and the “Star
Spangled Banner” will be sung. All of the national soloists and a chorus of
2,000 will join in the singing of the American anthem “ (Hanover, Pennsylvania,
28 Nov. 1916, page 3).
Among the organizations that
benefitted were, the American Ambulance Fund, the British-American War Relief
Fund, French Heroes LaFayette Fund, the Millicent Sutherland Ambulance Three
Acts Fund for the Crippled and Maimed French Soldiers, the Blinded in Battle
Fund, Refugees in Russia Fund, National Allied Relief Committee, Vacation War
Relief Committee and the American Fund for French Wounded.
Ten Allies Costume Ball. Poster collection, Hoover Institution Archives, https://digitalcollections.hoover.org/objects/38561
As I searched for more
information, I came across a really interestingly article in the Chicago
Tribune on Nov. 26, 1916 (page 36). “Chicagoan Goes East with Scenery for
Allied Ball” was written by Mme. X, and the first few sentences say much of the
theatrical relationship between New York and Chicago in 1916:
“When New York wants anything out
of the ordinary accomplished it is not from the ranks of home talent that it
seeks its organizers and leaders. Chicago supplies much of its bone and sinew.
George W. Perkins, T. P. Shonts, Frank A. Vanderlip, Elbert H. Gary, and a host
of others are all drawn from the ranks of Chicago capables. And now one more proof that the great
metropolis is dependent on us, not alone in the realms of finance and big
business, but in the domain of art and adornment is the departure of Mrs. John
A Carpenter last Tuesday for New York and the much heralded Allied ball, which
takes place next Tuesday in the Madison Square Gardens. Mrs. Carpenter was
escorted by huge rolls of scenery for the East Indian background and setting
for the ball, which had been painted here from her designs and under her
direction. She is developing a genius for this sort of artist expression, which
is making her name famous on both sides of the Atlantic…It is rather a
stupendous affair, a costume ball, with remarkable stunts, and its proceeds are
to go to the same cause as the big New York allied bazaar last spring and ours
is coming this January.”
The day after the event, the
“New York Herald” published an account of the eventnon November 29, 1916 (page
2):
“15,000 See Pageant at Ten
Allies Ball. Brilliant Costumes Worn by Society and Stars at Fete. Notable in
the Parade.
New York may be neutral, but not
when there’s an Allied Ball going on. At least there were 15,000 or so
Gothamites at Madison Square Garden last night who didn’t talk neutral, didn’t
act neutral and didn’t dress neutral. And the old Garden, that has held
everything from aristocracy’s horse show to Col. Cody’s Wild West in its day,
never sheltered such a gathering before as far as brilliant costuming and
bizarre disguises go.
The Ten Allies Costume Ball
started at midnight according to the programme, but it was really nearer half
past by the clock. It is true the doors opened at 9 and the music started for
dancing some time after 10, but the real thing was the pageant.
A group of buglers sounded a
fanfare and out from between hanging curtains at the east side of the Garden
came the pageant. India led, with Rajah Ali Ben Haggin at the head on a big
black Arab steed. Ben Ali had planned to ride in on an elephant, but the floor
wouldn’t stand it. Behind him came Mrs. Haggin and Mrs. William Astor Chanier
in palanquins borne on the shoulders of Hindus and surrounded by an entourage
of military looking Ghurkas and Sepoys in khaki.
Next came Great Britain, with
Lady Colebrook as Britannia, and Miss Louise Drew with a company of girl
scouts. John Drew and sixty members of the Lambs and Players club stood for
England of to-day, every man of them in khaki. In fact khaki was the color
scheme for the men and there were many who wore the little cloth stripes that
mean real service.
Ireland, color scheme green and
leader Miss Elsie Janis, came next with some of the best known actresses on the
Broadway stage in the train. Scotland of course was Burr McIntosh and William
Faversham, with Bruce McRae and Cyril Scott and the like.
Canada was represented by a
train of Red Cross nurses, and Mrs. Charles Greenough who led them, had culled
the pick of society’s debutantes.
For Belgium marched Miss Ethel Barrymore, with a score or so of the “Four
Hundred” and Miss Marie Louise de Sadeleer, daughter of the Belgian Minister.
Alla Nazimova led Russia’s
contingent, with a company dressed in costumes from “War Brides” and “Women of
the People.”
The theatre had charge of Italy,
with Mrs. William Faversham leading a group of screen actresses and actors with
Blanche Bates and the Washington Square Players in their “Bushido” costumes
marched for Japan, and Miss Cathleen Nesbit and come others were for Portugal.
James K. Hackett as Louis XVI
and Mrs. Hackett as Clothilde had charge of France’s pageant, and in the ranks
were every one from Jeanne d’Arc to Robespierre. And at the end a big bunting
covered tower was shoved out and Miss Anna Fitziu of the American Opera Company
gowned as Columbia and wearing the Liberty cap closed the show with “The Star
Spangled Banner.”
Up to the time of the pageant it
was all music and dancing. The loge and arena boxes were filled with people
whose autobiographies are in “Who’s Who,” while behind them, in the seats of
the gallery, where the hoi polloi, who could only pay $5 for a seat. And
everybody was there.”
In 1916, Thomas G. Moses wrote,
“I did a drop curtain for Rome, Georgia, and several exteriors.”
The Rome Opera House in Georgia.
On February 8, 1916, the
“Atlanta Constitution” reported, “ROME OPERA HOUSE BEING REMODELED.
“Rome, Ga. February 7 –
(Special)- The Rome Opera House, which is currently owned by the McClure
Ten-Cent company of Atlanta, is being remodeled, and will be opened under the
management of H. P. Diggs, a well-known theatrical man, formerly associated
with local moving pictures” (page 9).
A view of Rome, Georgia.
Unfortunately, the business
venture did not succeed. By November 25, 1916, the “Atlanta Constitution”
reported,
“Neglected Bank Roll in Attempt
to Start Vaudeville in Rome.
“Rome, Ga., November 24. –
(Special) – Ross Conkling, an Atlanta theatrical man, who endeavored to open
the Rome Opera House as a vaudeville and motion picture theater here, neglected
one important detail necessary to such operation, to-wit, a bank roll. He was
given credit by actors, film operators, stagehands, print shops, newspapers,
and the like, but the box receipts on the opening night were attached by Mrs.
Amanda Gray, one of the vaudeville actors, who declares that he is without
funds. An orchestra of seven pieces and five members of a vaudeville company
are stranded here” (page 4).
“Rome Opera House” is above the arch. Rome, Georgia.“Nevin Opera House” is above the arch. Rome, ,Georgia.
Rome Opera House was later
renamed the Nevin Opera House. Located at 321 Broad Street, the original
structure was built by M. A. Nevin at a cost of $21,000, opening on October 1,
1888. With a seating capacity of 800-1,000,
it hosted a variety of performances until 1915. “Julius Cahn’s Official
Theatrical Guide” provides a little more information about the technical
specifications in 1908. The proscenium
measured 26 feet wide, but no height was provided. However, the stage to the
gridiron was 55 feet, suggesting full travel for the drops. The stage to the
fly gallery was 25 feet and the distance from the curtain line to back wall was
32 feet.
The building was destroyed by
fire in December 31, 1919.
In 1916, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Our big job for Dayton, Ohio
for Fred Dixon is well under way.” In a later entry that year, he wrote, “Drove
down to Dayton, Ohio, to see our new work that had just been installed.”
I have located precious little information about Fred Dixon
or the Dayton project that Moses worked on in 1916. One of the difficulties is
that there were so many Fred Dixons mentioned in the newspapers, but I think
that I found him.
Fred Dixon began his career as a performer, appearing in
papers across the country during the late nineteenth century and was associated
with a variety of touring productions. He was a singer, performing both tenor
and baritone roles in touring shows. He was also known for his acting and theatrical
management abilities.
In 1891, the “Philadelphia Inquirer” reported “An artist
whose work will manifest itself in Bijou production is Fred Dixon, who besides
being a light comedian of reputation is accounted the best comic opera stage
manager in the profession. His many years of service in that capacity with the
famous Boston Ideals and later with the Bostonians, attest the fact, and to him
belongs and is conceded the credit to staging the present reigning New York
comic opera success, “Robin Hood” (12
Nov. 1891, page 8). That year he was appearing with the Gaiety Opera Company
under the management of Albee. Dixon became well known for his part in staging
“Robin Hood” for the Bostonians. By 1896, Dixon was managing the “immense
panoramic extravaganza” of “Cinderella” at the the Arch Street Theatre in
Philadelphia (Philadelphia Inquirer, 25 Oct 1896, page 20).
Fred Dixon performed with the Bostonians production of “Robin Hood” in 1890-1891.
In 1900, Dixon was billed as “Singing Contingent Extraordinaire.” He was noted a previously performing as tenor, with the Bostonians eight years, as well as he original Ko Ko in D’Oyly Carte’s “Mikado” (News-Palladium, Benton Harbor MI, 6 Oct., 1900, page 8). Finally, by 1908, the “Fall River Globe” reported that Fred Dixon was presenting “’Erin’s Isle,’ a beautiful Irish Singing creation and the most pretentious offering of true Irish humor that has ever been attempted in vaudeville” (13 Sept 1913, page 2). And that is where his trail grows cold.
From the “Indianapolis Star,” 7 Oct 1917, page 40.
In 1917, Moses wrote, “Another
show for Howard, $1,500.00. “Daughter of
the Sun.” It was very good in every way.
Our scenery is making a big hit.”
Rowland & Howard’s production
“Daughter of the Sun” is not to be confused with another 1917 production starring
Anna Kellerman, “Daughter of the Gods,”
“Daughter of the Sun” was a play of Hawaiian
life, written by Lorin J. Howard and Ralph T. Ketterling. By 1916, Sosman &
Landis had already provided scenery for two other Rowland & Howard
productions, “Which One Shall I Marry” and “The Smart Show.”
“Daughter of the Sun” blotter card for sale on eBay.
“Daughter of the Sun” was billed as a play combining
“romance, international political intrigue and tropical setting in a drama that
is replete with stirring incident” (“Indianapolis Star, 7 Oct 1917, page 46).
The show was also advertised as a “massive scenic production,” telling the
story of a “Hawaiian Butterfly” (“Suburbanite Economist,” 31 Aug, 1917, page
3).
From the ‘Pittsburgh Daily Post,” 23 Dec 1917, page 40.From “The Fairmont West Virginian,” 23 Oct 1917, page 5.
On Dec. 23, 1917, “The Pittsburgh
Daily Post” reported, “The story turns on the love of Dr. Grant, and American,
for a Hawaiian girl, Loa, known as ‘The Daughter of the Sun.’ She is the
sweetheart of Kama, a descendent of Kalakaua. The plot is fostered by a
Japanese, posing as a scientist, who plans to aid a rebellion and then take the
islands in the name of Japan. Meantime, X-17 of the United States secret service
has been sent to get evidence. The Jap persuades Kama to give the young
American doctor a germ of leprosy in his tea, but Kama loses his nerve.
Nevertheless he retains the bottle in his possession, and when the villain
demands it Kama yields and Dr. Grant is inoculated. He is sent to Molokai, but
escapes. The physician comes back to face the villain and then it is that X-17,
who is a young woman posing as a Broadway actress, reveals her identity and frustrates
the Jap. A volcano begins to erupt and all flee for their lives except Grant,
who remains to hunt Loa. There are three acts and seven scenes. In the cast are
Freda Tymers, Jean Clarendon, James A. Bliss, Blosser Jennings. Virginia Stuart
and Leah H. Hatch” (page 40).
From the “Sun News Journal,” (Lancaster, PA) 11 Dec. 1917, page 7.
“The Morning Call” added,
“Rowland and Howard, the producers, have given the play an Hawaiian atmosphere
by a wonderful scenic equipment and also a band of native Hawaiian singers….‘A
Daughter of the Sun’ is a massive scenic production carrying a carload of their
own special scenery” (Allentown, Pennsylvania, 19 Nov 1917, page 10). The
article also added, “In all the plays of last season, the Hawaiian play seemed
to have the greatest appeal, for throughout the entire season, the play, ‘The
Bird of Paradise’ was greeted by wonderful audiences. The present season will
no doubt see a number of plays founded on the Paradise of the Pacific.” Hawaii
was, and remained, a popular stage subject.
Of the painted settings for “Daughter
of the Sun,” newspapers reported, “Exceptional scenery is presented, especially
the scene where the high priest calls down a curse upon the Hawaiian girl and
man for disloyalty to their race. The curse seems to be answered by the
eruption of a volcano and the wrecking of the village” (“Baltimore Sun,” 6 Nov.
1917, page 6).
Before the volcano erupts and the buildings crumble. The volcano scene produced by Sosman & Landis for the Scottish Rite theater in Winona, Minnesota, 1909.After the volcano erupts and the buildings crumble. The volcano scene produced by Sosman & Landis for the Scottish Rite theater in Winona, Minnesota, 1909.
Moses’ previous business
partner, Walter Burridge, made sketches of Kilauea while staying at the Volcano
House. Burridge’s source material was used for a huge panorama at the 1893
world fair attraction. Volcanic eruptions drew crowds at not only world fair
attractions, but also many other theatre spectacles. It was even incorporated
in into degree production for Scottish Rite stage ceremonials. In fact, examples of volcano scene for the
stage are still found at many fraternal theaters; they are a wonderful resource
for theatre students and popular entertainment buffs alike. The erupting
volcano effect is magical, still captivating the most seasoned stagehands when
produced. Even under a century’s deposit of dust of dust, this particular stage
illusion is fascinating. It may be an old school trick, with panels helping
translucent areas simulating plumes of smoke and streams of flowing lava, but
it still can make the audience spectator gasp with delight.
The “Allentown Leader” included
the article “DAUGHTER OF THE SUN A LYRIC ATTRACTION” (Allentown, Pennsylvania,
13 Nov. 1917, page 2). Here is the article as it took a unique look at the
show:
“On the island of Maui in the
Hawaiian group, the second island in point of size is the extinct crater of
Haleakala. The largest volcano crater in the world. While the crater is that of
an extinct volcano; still the possibility of its again becoming active is an
ever-present possibility. The crater of Haleakala has an area of 10 square
miles or 6400 acres’ its circumference is 20 miles; is 7 ½ miles ling and has a
depth of 10,032 feet. These figures are quoted to give some idea of what an
enormous affair Haleakala really is. The word Haleakala means “The House of the
Sun.” From this translation the idea for the play, “A Daughter of the Sun,” the
story of the Hawaiian butterfly, was derived. The Kanaka, as the native
Hawaiian is called, before the coming of the missionary in 1819, like all the
world tribes, worshipped the Sun as the source of life and nothing was more
natural than that this vast crater was the abode of the Sun, and hence it was
held in great reverence. The play ‘The Daughter of the Sun,’ was written by
Lorin J. Howard and Ralph T. Ketterling and is to be the attraction at the
Lyric for the first three days of next week.”
Watching the sun rise from Mount Haleakala.
I was fortunate to see the sun both
rise and set from the top summit at Haleakala National Park high above the
crater. Gazing across the clouds at the big island of Hawaii it feels like you
are sitting at the top of the world. This was on the 2017 trip to Maui when I
acquired several Thomas G. Moses paintings from a great grandson. If all comes
full circle.
