A Panoramic Old Town

After their breakout success in the 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz, David Montgomery and Fred Stone starred in a string of successful shows. The 1906 hit The Red Mill was devised for their talents, and this was followed by The Old Town in 1910. The Old Town played for 166 performances on Broadway, a very successful run in those days, then toured through the next year.

This photograph of the traveling cast of The Old Town is a fun relic of those days of large productions on the road. At 3' long by 10" tall it’s suffered damage over the years, but I’ve done some digital cleanup to help with viewing an unusual record of an early touring Broadway show.

The production was in town for a week, from November 6th to the 12th, 1911. A poster for the show can be seen at the right of the entrance to the theater, and looking along in that direction we see Dave Montgomery and further down the row, Fred Stone. This tour stop was an event, as it was the first time Montgomery & Stone had performed in Denver since achieving stardom. Allene Crater was a native of Denver and married Fred Stone in 1903 while playing the role of Cynthia Cynch in The Wizard of Oz. She was also in the original cast of The Old Town, but she was not performing in the show at this time. Allene and her sister Edith had acquired some notoriety in Denver, Allene through her marriage to Stone, and Edith through a rumored breach of promise suit against the well known playboy Wilson Mizner. Edith later married the author Rex Beach.

The name of the show is not visible in the photo, but the heads of the two actors can be seen on the large poster, wearing the Scottish headgear seen in the signed photo.

The poster at the other side of the entrance, difficult to see in this photo, appears to be adapted from a publicity picture of the pair in street clothes. To the left of this can be seen a poster for the next week’s attraction, Baby Mine, which had a successful year-long run in New York.

 Fred Stone spent the Friday afternoon of his week in town showing films of a polar bear hunt he participated in during the previous year, on a trip to the Arctic (see here for more details). He and Montgomery both donated toward a Christmas dinner for the local tubercular colony, leaving the town with a feeling of good will toward the pair of famous comedians.

The photo was taken by the Mile High Photo Company in Denver, Colorado in 1911. Mile High appears to have specialized in panoramic photographs, and touring shows took advantage of this to preserve images of the entire troupe in front of the theater where their show was playing. In this case it’s the Broadway Theatre, part of the Hotel Metropole in Denver, built in 1891 and demolished in 1984. I found a few later examples of similar panoramas on the internet, all taken in front of the same theater.

Montgomery & Stone only released three recordings before David Montgomery died in 1917. The Old Town has the distinction of being the source for two of these records: Travel, Travel Little Star and Moriah - A Scotch Medley, both recorded in 1911.

And One More…

Last week I featured two 1903 Oz costume designs that I found in a group of drawings by designer Caroline Siedle. They were clearly identifiable as pieces from that show, but there was another drawing that caused me to ponder possibilities. It’s unfortunate that Siedle’s costume designs do not tend to be clearly marked in terms of what show or character they were intended. Often it’s left to recognition of a costume, or a few small clues written on the drawing to help figure things out. I believe designs for specific shows were originally kept together in folders, but everything has been dispersed over the past century, requiring some detective work for identification. 

This particular piece has suffered some damage over the years, not an uncommon occurrence; these were working drawings that passed through a number of hands while a show was being created. The design caught my eye primarily because of the character’s hairstyle. At first glance it appears to be a hearty peasant woman, but there was something very reminiscent of a couple designs I have from Babes in Toyland, the show that followed the Wizard of Oz at the Majestic Theater in 1903. Specifically, it seemed very much like the hair of the lead character Alan.

Thinking about it, I began to wonder if this might be a design for Alan in Act 1. At the start of Babes in Toyland, Alan and his sister Jane are sent off on a sea voyage by their wicked uncle Barnaby, who has arranged for the ship to sink. They survive, and return home in disguise. Could this be Alan when he is disguised as the fortune teller Floretta?

 I’ve not been able to find any photos of that character, but some details made it seem possible - the tattered white blouse/shirt that could be the remains of Alan’s sailor outfit from the start of the show (the photo at right is from the NYPL Digital Gallery); also the general autumnal color scheme of warm red and green with touches of yellow fit in with other Act 1 designs. Another point was the word Chip written on the drawing; in later tours of the show, Alan was played by an actor named Sam Chip, known as Little Chip. Could this be another lost Toyland design?

So far this was all supposition with no backing. But the other designs I have from that show all have the original actors name written in the upper left hand corner on the reverse of the drawings. If this one were to be labeled with the name William Norris, I would be confident that I’d found the design for Floretta.

Once the drawing arrived and I could examine the back, my guess was proven - in the upper left corner “Mr. William Norris” was written, together with “Act 1”. So, now we know what Floretta’s costume looked like in Babes in Toyland!

Siedle Strikes Again!

As a collector, I find it's the unexpected discoveries that tend to be the most memorable. Last month I stumbled across a listing in an upcoming auction that caught my eye. It was a group of 11 costume designs by Caroline Siedle, the designer of many Broadway shows at the turn of the last century. The auction was scheduled for the next day, so I quickly registered for a chance to bid on this set of drawings, hoping to add it to my collection. At a glance there was an interesting variety of pieces, and designs by Siedle don't turn up very often; so I was happy to see them.

Caroline Siedle died unexpectedly in 1907, but from about 1895 until that time she was in great demand as a designer for the many shows being produced on Broadway. She was known for her skill in harmonizing the colors of costumes to blend with the scheme of the overall set design, creating a fully developed stage picture. She was also the first female costume designer to be regularly credited in theater programs for her work. Two standouts among the dozens of productions she worked on were The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Toyland, both produced in 1903. 

I didn't spot anything in the group from these two prize shows, but my collecting interest was certainly piqued. Then later that day I took a closer look through the listing and was caught by this design. It slowly dawned on me that this costume was created for Cynthia Cynch, the Lady Lunatic in The Wizard of Oz! This is her Act 1 costume, and the drawing shows her during one of her Ophelia-like moments, mourning the disappearance of her lover:

"Yes; mad through with blighted love. Now will I to the vegetable garden where I last saw him.

(Taking objects from basket on arm.)

Here are young spring onions - they're for insomnia; here's celery for remembrance,

- and here are March strawberries - for -- a dollar a box!

"Oh, he never more will come,

And I wonder where he's went.

Hey nonney, hey nonney hey!"

(Exit a la Ophelia, L.I.)

The photo on the left shows Allene Crater wearing the finished costume. It's not surprising that the auction house failed to call out the significance of this piece - how many people have ever heard of Cynthia Cynch? The character doesn't appear in any version of The Wizard of Oz other than the 1903 musical. Of course this fired my determination to acquire the group of drawings, and I was quite happy when I won the lot with minimal competition.

(I should mention the presence of the stamp from the Metropolitan Opera, which simply throws confusion on the piece. Siedle's husband Edward was the highly regarded prop-master and technical director at the Met, and I believe that after her early death (or even before) many of her drawings were archived there. It's not uncommon to see the stamp on her work, even when it was clearly not designed for the opera house.)

After the auction was over I studied the group of images again, because now this one was nagging at the back of my mind. There was a caption at the bottom of the drawing, that I couldn't quite decipher in the auction house photo - until it suddenly clicked and I read "Lady Lunatic Act 2". Here was a second act design for the same character, making it two Oz drawings in the group of 11!

 I had been able to recognize the Act 1 drawing from familiarity with several photos of the character in costume; but the only second act photo I've seen of Cynthia shows a significantly different outfit (worn on the left by Helen Byron). However, the design is clearly labeled and the repeating pattern of hearts together with the green & white color scheme certainly is appropriate for the character in the Emerald City. 

When I eventually received the drawings and could look at the back of each piece, this was clinched even further. The upper left corner of the first act design is labeled "Byron", meaning Helen Byron who originated the role on Broadway. On the back of the second act drawing was printed "Miss Crater"; Allene Crater took over the role of Cynthia in 1903, and played the character for several years, during which time she married Fred Stone, the original Scarecrow. 

She was with the company when it returned to Broadway in 1904 as the "Edition de Luxe" version of the show. This production included a number of new songs, and - some redesigned costumes. I believe this may be one of the new designs. For more info, check out David Maxine's Vintage Broadway blog where he discusses another redesigned costume.

The backs also have handwritten notes concerning fabric choices, and details about the construction of the costumes; always a fascinating insight into the process of putting a show together. The Act 1 costume describes a necklace of red peppers for the character, and floats the idea of using fresh peppers. On the Act 2 design, attention is called to the “gloves to wrist with long turned up tips to fingers”. It’s fun to ponder whether these particular suggestions were carried out!

These are the first drawings I've run across in the wild of a main character from the show. The Shubert Archive in New York City holds the majority of designs that survive from the production, including the third act costume design for Cynthia. So, here's a reunion of the three drawings!

Another Ozzy Postcard

Here's another postcard relating to the stage producion of The Wizard of Oz, complete with a little portrait of the Scarecrow! This time it's from an actor, on the road with the show. Harry is writing to Helen to let her know he has arrived in Harrisburg, PA, and will be going on as Sir Wiley Gyle in that evening's performance. He has a good opinion of his ability in the role - and hopes others will as well!

 He mentions having finished The Yoke "which they say took three weeks to write". There were two books of this title at that time - one, by Elizabeth Miller, was a pseudo-historical religious romance, and the other, by Hubert Wales, a scandalous novel of syphillis and free love. I wonder which one he read!

This dates from August 24th, 1908, after Hurtig and Seamon took over the Wizard stage production.  I'm not sure who Harry is, as I haven't seen a cast list for these later productions. The tour took a break for the summer, and this would be the first performance since April of that year - so he might have been stepping into the role as understudy, or he might have taken it over for the run.

The show would continue to tour into 1909, but it was starting to wind down. One night stops were the norm, and Harry tells Helen not to write back until he writes again. With so much traveling, it would probably be difficult to receive mail on the road!

Incidentally, the card is addressed to 1261 Madison Ave., NYC. Built in 1900, this is one of the first luxury apartment buildings built in Carnegie Hill. In 1910 it was described as "one of the most select and attractive apartment houses on Madison Avenue". This seems to indicate that Miss Helen James was a woman of some means - or perhaps she simply worked at that address!

Everyone’s a Critic!

It’s always amusing to run across an unsolicited comment about a show - whether favorable or not! I picked up a postcard recently whose author had just seen The Wizard of Oz - but found it “rather tame after Humpty Dumpty”. In general, the author “M” seems more concerned about a money order and an upcoming trip to the dentist.

The card is postmarked February 13, 1905, and was sent from East Orange, New Jersey. According to the note, the Oz performance was seen on Friday night, which would have been February 10. Consequently, according to the performance history assembled by David Maxine on his Vintage Broadway page, the performance of Oz that M attended would have been in Newark, New Jersey, and part of the #1 company tour.

Humpty Dumpty was a popular pantomime first presented in New York in 1868. It was revived over the years, but a new version played at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York for several months in the 1904 - 1905 season, returning for another month in 1906. It was a large show - according to publicity, 800 people were necessary to make it run. 

There was spectacle to spare, in scenes like the Submarine Ballet, a tableau that was said to incorporate 350 people. 

 

Humpty Dumpty himself was a silent clown, getting in and out of scrapes, played by William C. Schrode. I haven't found a link but I imagine it's possible that he may have been related to Joseph Schrode, who played Imogene the cow during the run of The Wizard of Oz, as well as the Giant Spider in Babes in Toyland. 

 

There was a lost Princess, a Demon of Misrule, a man-eating Ogre, and plenty of Pierrots and other commedia characters. For sheer scale it probably did make Oz look a little tame!

Emerald City at the Elks

On October 19th, 1909, the above announcement appeared in the town newspaper of Grand Junction, Colorado. The local Elks Lodge (#575) had decided to stage a new comic opera, titled The Emerald City. This was to be done without regard to expense, and would involve a variety of local talent. Costumes would be hired from Salt Lake City, and the presentation would be held at the local Majestic Theater. Work was already underway on scenery painting, and it was expected to be “the most beautiful and spectacular amateur operetta or comic opera ever attempted by purely local talent”. There would be two performances only, and all would be under the direction of Mr. Archie Bliss.

There are a number of surprising things about this, not least of which is Mr. Archie Bliss. This entire production was his brainchild - he would write the adaptation, choose the costumes, design the scenery and stage the piece; he even performed. And he was only 20 years old.

Archie Bliss was the son of a local merchant, and seems to have been quite a renaissance man. References to his many activities were mentioned frequently in the newspaper; he played the clarinet, gave chalk talks, organized theater productions for schools, threw parties, and was an enthusiastic town booster. He worked as a postal delivery man, married in 1913, and lived in Grand Junction until his death in 1957 (that occurred unexpectedly, while visiting his son in West Virginia).

At any rate, in 1909 Mr. Bliss had decided to write a comic opera based on the Oz books. At that point there were only 5 titles, the most recent, The Road to Oz, having been published in July. The hugely successful Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz had toured the country for the last time in April of that year. (That production had only made its way to Colorado once, in 1904, and didn’t get as far west as Grand Junction). An article from November 13th reveals that Bliss received a letter from L. Frank Baum, who was said to be quite interested in the production.

Baum seems to be under the impression that the performance is to be a presentation of The Wizard of Oz stage production - and there were definite similarities between the two shows. But in the end it couldn’t truly be called the first amateur performance of the famous hit. A description of the upcoming show was published on December 3rd. According to Archie, it was to be “a delicious blend of the Oz books, though founded mainly on The Land of Oz. We have taken the best from each book and woven the whole together with a large number of appropriate songs”. Baum's own attempt at dramatizing The Land of Oz  five years earlier had resulted in The Wogglebug, a short lived disappointment. Archie goes on to describe the basic plot:

So the premise of the show does appear to be a blending of stories. There’s no Dorothy or cyclone, but the Wizard still reigns in the Emerald City. Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse and the Wogglebug have been dispensed with, but Mombi and Tip are main characters. A magic belt comes into play, but there’s no mention of a Nome King. And of course there is that startling announcement at the climax of the show!

 

On November 2nd a blurb announced that Bliss was traveling, to select costumes for the production. He was visiting “the largest costuming house in the intermountain region, located at Salt Lake City”. Presumably this was Salt Lake Costume, which opened in 1889 and remained in business until 2005. Another article, from December 10, states that the “great array of costumes to be used by the eighty and more people who are to take part in the local production of “The Emerald City” next Monday and Tuesday night, arrived in the city by express from Salt Lake City”.

Not everything could be rented -

So everything moved along smoothly, a cast list of 84 people was published, and rehearsal notices appeared. Finally the show itself was presented, on December 13th. The piece was given an extensive, and enthusiastic, review in the newspaper. The main criticism was the long wait between acts and scenes, due to difficulties in changing scenery on the small stage of the Majestic Theater. However, that problem was vastly improved by the second (and final) performance on December 14th. Each character was praised, and the respective actor complimented on their role.

As to the show itself: The Emerald City consisted of three acts and seven scenes. It opened with a maypole dance; (not unlike the Land of the Munchkins in the pre-Broadway production of the Wizard). Mombi the witch was introduced, and was assisted by seven weird sisters in her number “The Haunts of the Witches”. The Scarecrow spent much of the first act onstage in his Scarecrow pose, before being brought to life. The Tin Man received great praise for his characterization of the role. Miss Margaret Bunting made a “great little Tip”, who ran away to the Emerald City with the Scarecrow and Tin Man to see the Wizard, and “in the final act was turned into a beautiful princess” (a bit of a spoiler for the "startling announcment at the climax of the play"!) Apparently Mombi was also transformed from a witch into a young and beautiful maiden in the final act. The Wizard kept the audience in roars of laughter, Glinda the fairy queen was pleasing, and Robin Goodfellow made an appearance. There was a forge scene with a company of (G)nomes. Archie Bliss himself made an appearance as the Demon, and “made that weird part one of the most fetching of the cast”.

There was a drill, dance and song of little Frost Fairies; there were Forest Fairies; a song for Tip, Scarecrow and Tin Man called “When the Goblins Were at Play”, accompanied by six goblins. Female soldiers led by General Jinjur gave a drill and song at the close of the first act; apparently “General Jinjur and her soldiers immensely pleased every time they appeared”.

And that was just the first act!

The second act opened with the Guardian of the Gate, singing “The Guardian of the Gate”; a song from the pre-Broadway days of The Wizard. Tip, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman sang “When We Get What’s Coming to Us”, another Wizard song. “In the Valley of Ho-Kus Po” was sung by the Wizard, accompanied by chorus members in colonial costumes and hairstyles. The reviewer was greatly impressed by this number.

At the opening of the third act, Jellia Jamb had a song, “Take Me Up With You”, sung while seated in an improvised airship - perhaps some form of the Gump? There is mention of Miss Helen Bunting as a “mechanical figure”  - maybe Tik-Tok made an appearance? A skit was performed of “The Traveler and the Pie”, another standard from the Broadway Wizard. And a finale of “Airs of Nations” was yet another nod to the Broadway hit. G.A.R. veterans and a drum corp passed in review, and the grand finale was an Elks song written by the actor playing the Tin Man, with a display of flags in Elk colors.

Overall, it was a full evening of entertainment and a grand success. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any photographic record of the event. I contacted the Lodge, which is still active today, but their archives have no mention of the production. It seems to have slipped into obscurity.

Oz on Ice?

 Here's a costume design by Anthony Holland (1912 - 2001) for The Wizard of Oz, presumably for the Wizard himself!

Holland was a well known British costume designer, creating his first show in 1933. He also designed sets, and worked with theatres throughout Britain. After the second world war, he worked in London's West End and also became known as a designer for a number of pantomimes and ice shows - popular English entertainment at that time. He retired from designing in 1981.

This is a very traditional looking Wizard with a long white beard and pointed hat, not quite the American huckster of L. Frank Baum's story. It's an attractive design, featuring all twelve zodiac symbols embroidered in green sequins, as well as the sun and moon.

There's no specific notification, but I think this may have been designed for the Tom Arnold adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, an ice show that toured England in the 1960s. As can be seen in the center spread of the program, the costumes were designed by Anthony Holland. Unfortunately, I haven't found any photos of the production itself to see if this costume was actually used. There are several names written on the design, possibly of various performers over the years?

The artist donated a large number of his designs to The Victoria and Albert Museum in 1996.

Publicity, Publicity!

The 1903 production of The Wizard of Oz made stars of Fred Stone and David Montgomery, and their performances certainly deserve credit for a great deal of the success of the show. But there were also performers behind the scenes, working tirelessly to promote the Broadway smash, and keep it steadily in the public eye.

Townsend Walsh (1872 - 1935) was the business manager of the show, and the man responsible for promotion and publicity. He worked closely with Fred Hamlin, the producer, and John Flaherty, manager of the Majestic Theatre. The image above shows Walsh shaking hands with Fred Stone as the Scarecrow; this was used in a souvenir album of the show, indicating the importance of Walsh's work.

Here are two examples of letters sent to help in promoting the show, already a striking success. The first is dated April 8, 1903 and written by Walsh, to the dramatic editor of an unnamed paper. In a very straightforward way, he offers free tickets in exchange for printing a notice concerning The Wizard of Oz. The editor is offered free tickets for the rest of the season, which seems a rather generous offer.

The second is a little later, July 17th 1903, and written by Flaherty. Once again, a free viewing of the show is offered in exchange for printing an article about the production. However, the terms aren't quite so generous - rather than being offered free tickets for the rest of the season, a single performance is offered, with the exclusion of Saturday nights and Souvenir performances.

Clearly the show was doing good business, so seats might as well be saved for ticket buyers!

This second letter is addressed to the editor of the Times in Haverstraw, NY. I think this may be the Rockland County Times, which did publish a blurb on the show two weeks later, on August 1st. Whether this is the article mentioned in the letter, I do not know - but it's a possibility!

The New York Public Library holds an archive of material that belonged to Walsh, including the lovely little Denslow drawing of the Scarecrow shown below. I haven't viewed the archive, but it might be an interesting future project!

Figures from Oz

Back in October of 2020, I showed the start of a new project; toy figures of characters from the 1903 Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz. Over the past year and a half, I’ve continued to work with this idea, and now have 14 examples - 11 main characters and 3 chorus girl Poppies. It’s been a fun and entertaining way to pass the time during a pandemic!

 

The figures are built from paper mache, dowels, and various scraps of wood and heavy cardboard. They're based on photos and costume designs from the show, although they aren't really portraits of the performers. The actors were lavishly dressed, and creating miniature versions has been challenging; some are more successful than others, but it's been quite a learning experience!

I started with the familiar characters of Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and Dorothy - then adding her cow Imogene, and the Poppies. After that I decided to continue on with the less familiar characters: Locasta (the good witch of the north), the Wizard, Cynthia Cynch (the lady lunatic), Sir Dashemoff Daily ( the poet laureate), Tryxie Tryfle (engaged to Pastoria), and Pastoria (the true ruler of Oz).

The characters are in stationary poses, but they do move. Each one has a mechanism built in to help them wobble, sway or nod, adding some motion to the mix!

Edit: After posting this, I finished one more character - the Snow Queen, summoned by Locasta to save Dorothy from the Poppies -

A Surprise from Toyland!

So much of collecting is a result of chance or serendipity; the element of surprise is part of what appeals to me. And it invariably happens when least expected!

 

For some time now, I’ve been collecting costume sketches by Caroline Siedle. I’ve blogged about it before, and have gathered examples of her work for various theater productions, as seen above. Siedle was a major Broadway designer at the beginning of the 20th century, and one of the first women to be regularly credited for her contributions. A family portrait is shown on the left - note the artist's palette brooch at her neck!

My particular interest was sparked by her work on the 1903 Wizard of Oz, which was followed in the same year by Babes in Toyland. Both shows had massive collections of costumes - according to director Julien Mitchell, Siedle created 146 different costume designs for Toyland. Today, a small handful of the Oz designs survive in various collections, and I’ve only come across two definite examples from Toyland.

In one of those strokes of serendipity, I was recently contacted by someone in possession of half a dozen Siedle drawings. They had belonged to his father, who obtained them in the 1980’s at the closing of a lithography company in Pennsylvania. Imagine my surprise to find that they were all designs done for Babes in Toyland! They’ve now joined my collection.

Here we have Alan and Jane, the two protagonists of the story, in their primary costumes. They were played by William Norris and Mabel Barrison, whose names are on the back of the drawings. Since so little color imagery survives from this show, it’s exciting to see the designer’s original color choices. I thought these striking striped costumes were intended to be black and white, and was surprised to find that they were actually russet and cream, with white trim!

Alan’s finished costume closely matches the drawing, whereas Jane’s dress changed from horizontal to vertical stripes on the skirt. By the time the show hit New York, Jane’s hair had also changed from braids to a softer style. The braids can still be seen in this photo from the original Chicago production.

Caroline Siedle was born in England, and attended the School of Art in South Kensington. She came from an artistic family, and became familiar with stage work after her marriage, doing decorative work and even scene painting (very unusual for a woman at that time). She began to work in costuming around 1893, with a show titled The Knickerbockers, and built a highly successful career. She could design a comic opera in three weeks, though she admitted "a month is better".

Alan’s toy soldier costume was completely redesigned for New York, but the Chicago production featured the design seen here. A notation on the back of the drawing says “shoes to be made by Mr. Siedle"; this would be Edward Siedle, Caroline's husband and the prop master at the Metropolitan Opera. The pair worked on many shows together. 

 

A sideline for the couple was Siedle Studios, a warehouse filled with props that could be rented out to productions. Many of the pieces were purchased by Caroline at auctions and sales, and in 1905 ownership of the building was transferred to her name. Sadly, she died of pnuemonia in 1907, cutting short a brilliant career. While obituaries list her age as "around 40", she was actually 53 at the time. One obituary credited her with costume designs in nine shows that were currently running on Broadway - a very impressive list! Siedle Studios continued after her death, employing about a dozen people.

This is the primary costume for Jill, one of the 14 Piper children. Areas where the design was corrected by scraping the board can be seen, with changes to the position of the arm and the width of the skirt. The knockabout dance of Jill and Grumio, the toymaker’s assistant, was a humorous highlight of the second act of the show. The parts were played by Nellie Daly and Charles Guyer, a husband and wife team that specialized in acrobatic tumbling. 

 

Finally, two third act designs for Jill and Grumio. At this point in the show, they are disguised as lady’s maid and valet to Alan and Contrary Mary, trying to escape from Toyland. A drawing of Jill in this costume can be seen in the ad on the right, which also features the pair of characters doing their eccentric dance. I have not run across any photos of the actors wearing these third act designs.

 

(Edit - Since writing this, I have found a couple images of Jill in her green costume, shown on the left).

A lengthy newspaper interview with Mrs. Siedle was published in the New York Sun in 1895. It contains the following excerpt, written by the interviewer: 

"Anyone who is hunting for a new collecting fad might take a hint here. When the designs are completed and sent to the purchaser, every one of them is a little water color gem of a figure, and so full of action that often they are preferred to portraits as foundations for the posters of a company. What becomes of all these sketches isn't stated, but if they could be secured they would make an immensely interesting collection."

I would have been thrilled to find a single chorus costume from Babes in Toyland. I never dreamed of six character pieces!