Take Me Out to the Ball Game—illustrated Song

Here is an excellent essay by Tom Shieber, curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, on the illustrated song set for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Among other things, the essay provides information on the slide maker Dewitt C. Wheeler, whose firm made a slide set for the song. This slide set is used as the basis for this overly active rendition on YouTube, which I discuss here.

Against Illustrated Songs

This article appeared as an editorial in Moving Picture World and made a strong argument against the illustrated song. Criticisms on the illustrated song had been relatively common even in the nickelodeon days, when the illustrated song was generally considered an integral part of the moving picture show. By 1913, however, the practice was in decided decline. Though new illustrated song sets continued to be advertised weekly (the notice on the right dates from 5 April 1913), the illustrators were feeling under attack, as can be seen from Alfed L. Simpson's response to this article, which is also reprinted below. (You can see in the notice on the right that Simpson was one of the regular slide advertisers.)

We believe that with certain exceptions the moving picture audience of today has outgrown the illustrated song. The exception in the main is the small and generally rural community, where “everybody knows everybody else” and where interest in local talent is always keen. In the larger theaters in such cities as New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, the illustrated song elicits but a very weak response from the audience. We have in many electric theaters in the big cities fine and intelligent audiences, consisting of mostly grown people in commercial and even professional walks of life. Audiences of this kind ought not be asked to join some callow youth with untamed vocal cords in a chorus, wherein the singer assures an imaginary sweetheart that he will love her until “the sands of the desert grow cold” [a 1911 song by Ernest R. Ball]. Nor is this the worst. There are some very nasty and vulgar songs which are simply obnoxious to the men who go to such theaters with their wives and daughters. When the manager of a metropolitan moving picture theater on Broadway can find no lesson in the profound silence that greets the showing of the chorus slide on the screen he casts a serious cloud on the title to his salary. There was a manager of a large house who, when multiple reels became numerous, would sandwich cheap vaudeville in between the different parts of a feature. This sort of nonsense has been stopped. To persist in asking a thousand sane and intelligent adults to burst into “song” at the end of each show shows either a cruel disposition or an approach to idiocy. There are other and less drastic means of emptying a house.

*
Moving picture theater must not be made responsible for the spreading of bad songs. One sure way of avoiding such a reproach is their total elimination from the electric theater. A prominent Western daily after deploring the many obscene and disgusting “popular songs” holds the motion picture theater responsible for their [441] wide circulation. The paper goes on to say: “The demand for ‘popular’ songs is greater than ever before because such songs are heard in public a hundred times to-day where they were heard once a dozen years ago. This is due to the cheap motion picture and vaudeville houses. Unfortunately these places are too often run by people who mistake noise for applause. It takes only a very few to make a great noise.” The paper might have gone further and pointed out that the noisy element is a distinct detriment to any reputable motion picture house. They make order impossible and a theater given over to rowdyism of any kind will not last long.

Source: “Facts and Comments,” Moving Picture World 1 February 1913, 440-41.

As mentioned above, this article prompted a quick response from Simpson—though it would not be published until 22 March.

New York, Feb. 8th, 1913.

Editor of the Moving Picture World,
New York City.

Dear Sir:—Have read with much interest your article on page 440, Moving Picture World of February 1st, 1913, in reference to illustrated songs, and think that same is very much to the point and well put, and certainly the principal cause of the general lack of interest taken in illustrated songs of today.

As you state, this very beautiful form of amusement is so horribly misgiven, both in rendering of obscene and disgusting songs, and also from the fact to expect an intelligent audience to join in the chorus and make themselves ridiculous, would be enough in itself to kill the whole proceeding. Would also state that the cheap music publishers of today or a certain class have tried to use this excellent form of amusement for the purpose of cheap advertising for their miserable musical publications which are unfit in many cases to ever see the light of day. They employ a lot of cheap, irrepressible, ineffective and utterly unmusical boosters, as they are called, to render these musical compositions, which are truly an insult to any clean-minded audience, as most of these individuals would be much better adapted behind a push cart, or assisting the well-known gun men of today with their labors. When these factors can be eliminated the illustrated song properly done will again be restored to its proper place as a much desirable and beautiful diversion to the picture theater of today, as there is nothing more beautiful than good music and song poems properly rendered musically and pictorially.

I can well remember the time when a refined theatrical audience would show more appreciation to a well-rendered act of this kind than to any headliner on a program.

As I have been the principal one to develop this beautiful feature of amusement, it seems a pity to allow it to do down in dust without some word of remonstrance. Trust that you publish this letter, and hope it will have some effect. I remain

Sincerely yours,

Alfred L. Simpson,

Manufacturer of Simpson’s Celebrated Slides, and formerly
of Maxwell & Simpson, Kings of Illustrated Song.

Source: Alfred Simpson, “Letters to the Editor: Concerning Illustrated Songs,” Moving Picture World 22 March 1913, 1224.

Illustrated Song: "Goodbye, Girlie, and Remember Me"

I see that Wikipedia now has a short, but acceptably accurate article on the illustrated song. The three most important secondary sources are listed in the reference section of the article: Rick Altman's discussion in Silent Film Sound and Richard Abel's two essays, one in Early American Cinema, the other in his book Americanizing the Movies and "Movie-Mad Audiences, 1910-1914. For some source documents, see the link to the illustrated song tag in the sidebar. Also see this page outlining the tradition of the illustrated song from the "Going to the Show" website sponsored by the State Library of North Carolina. The embedded performance of Irving Berlin and George Meyer's "Good Bye, Girlie, and Remember Me" (1909) comes from that project. (A PDF of the music is available here.)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This link leads to a YouTube reconstruction of an illustrated song set synced to a period recording of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." This set is more elaborate than most in terms of the number of slides; the producers of this presentation have also added cut-ins to resemble close-ups and the so-called "Ken Burns" effect, where the image seems to pan across the scene; consequently there is the appearance of an image change for almost every line. As I have not done much research on the magic lantern, I'm not certain which of these effects could have been accomplished by an experienced projectionist using a dissolving lantern apparatus, but the video as a whole strikes me as quite a bit more active than would have been typical for the time.

The rich coloring on these slides, which would have generally been done by hand, is completely characteristic of the more expensive sets available at the time. Cheaper sets without coloring were also available.

Illustrated Songs

This editorial appeared in Moving Picture World at the end of 1908. The item notes that the illustrated song is an important part of the program and urges better coordination between the slides and the song. The final paragraph offers advice on hiring singers.

As an adjunct to the moving picture exhibition, illustrated songs are becoming of increased importance. Perhaps this assertion does not apply with equal force to every illustrated song. But if the intentions of those who illustrate songs are carried out, there is no reason why they shouldn’t become an important department of the picture show business.

Perhaps the most important criticism is that the slides frequently used do not illustrate the songs. Often they bear no apparent relation to the words or the sentiment of the song, and this is noticed in some of the higher priced places.

Slides bearing the trade-mark of well-known makers are quite as derelict in this as are those which bear the trade-mark of makers less known. Some which have evidently been prepared at heavy expense are not by any means suitable illustrations for the songs with which they are shown.

A beautifully colored slide, in which the posing of the figures and the general arrangement is beyond criticism, but which bears little relation to the song, will not attract. The two must go together. Slide makers can improve upon this if they will. The sentiment of the songs is too strongly marked to permit such wretched attempts at illustration as have passed through the hands of some slide makers recently.

The singer should be as good as can be afforded. Of course, it is understood that the audiences which attend moving picture shows are not looking for Pattis or Carusos, but, after all, singers can be obtained who have good voices and who can interpret a song reasonably well. Inasmuch as the songs are sung in the dark the action of the singer makes little difference. The voice and the slides should both be good.

“Editorial: Illustrated Songs,” Moving Picture World 12 December 1908: 472.

Len. Spencer's Lyceum, ad, 1907

Here is an ad for an service bureau that provided an exchange for song slides and music as well as a booking agency for operators and musicians. The name of the agency "Len. Spencer's Lyceum" tells us that it had its origin in the lyceum circuit, which would book entertainments of lectures and other educational programming for theaters. That the agency was now branching out into motion pictures suggests that the lines between entertainments were not firm. Indeed, at the time (1907), lecturers had been regularly featuring motion pictures on their programs for almost a decade, and many moving picture houses featured short illustrated lectures as entr'actes between reels (as an alternative to the illustrated song) and had begun using lecturers to help explain the increasingly complicated stories of the films.

Click for a larger image.

Source: Moving Picture World 27 July 1907, 330.

Posing for Song Pictures

This article on the illustrated song was reprinted by Moving Picture World from the New York Sun. The article mostly concerns the difficulty in finding appropriate subjects, especially young men, to pose for the illustrated songs. Near the beginning of the article, however, there is a good description of a typical illustrated song set at the time:

For an illustrated song there are usually required seventeen slides. As to its words, the song is likely to consist of two verses, with a chorus repeated after each verse, thus giving the song four sections.

One of the lantern slides used with the song shows a reproduction of the title page of its sheet music, and this picture is first thrown on the screen: and then as the singer sings it the pictures in illustration of the words are shown.

Basically each of the four sections—that is, each chorus and each verse—would have four pictures, which works out basically to one picture for each line. In addition, the set would usually end with a slide containing the words of the chorus, so that the audience could join in.

In response to one advertisement recently printed for handsome young men to pose for pictures” there appeared young men to the number of five. Of these two could not have been by any stretch of the imagination considered handsome. The other three were well dressed and generally speaking, slightly appearing young men, though one of them was far enough from handsome to put him out of consideration, while of the other two neither was really handsome, though what with the other favoring qualifications both would answer for the purposes required. And so out of a bunch of five young men there were found but two who, though not coming up to the highest standard, would do.

What they were wanted for was to pose for pictures to be reproduced on lantern slides to be used on the stage with illustrated songs. For an illustrated song there are usually required seventeen slides. As to its words, the song is likely to consist of two verses, with a chorus repeated after each verse, thus giving the song four sections.

One of the lantern slides used with the song shows a reproduction of the title page of its sheet music, and this picture is first thrown on the screen: and then as the singer sings it the pictures in illustration of the words are shown.

Most of the illustrated songs are love songs, and so of the men required for the illustration of such songs the greater number must be young. It is easy to say what would be the ideal requirements of a man who would make a complete satisfactory picture of a lover.

He must be of good stature, anyway, and then he would need to be of good figure and bearing, a fine, manly, courageous young man, and withal handsome. As such a combination is tolerably hard to and in one young man, the lantern slide people have more or less difficulty in finding really suitable subjects. In search of theme they advertise in the newspapers, and have recourse to theatrical agencies, where they may find actors [245] engaged in minor parts or other young men who meet the requirements and are willing to pose.

Occasionally, from one or another of these sources, they get precisely what they want; more often, as happens in so many other pursuits, they must be satisfied to get as near to it as they can.

The young man who finds himself selected to pose or a series of pictures for an illustrated song may be taken to be photographed a little distance into the country or perhaps to the seashore, there to be posed and pictured, for many of these song pictures are shown with a nature background, and it is sought to make this one to the song. If a city background were required the subject would be posed and photographed in city streets.

For some songs a figure in uniform may be required, as the man in the song might be a letter carrier, or perhaps a military officer. If uniforms are required they are supplied by the lantern supply people who make and supply the pictures, and they pay also all expenses where the figure is posed and the pictures taken out of the city.

For this work of posing for illustrated song pictures, the pay is $4 a day, which may not seem like very large pay, but it isn’t so bad when it is considered that the hours are sort and the work easy; and really it is likely to be so much velvet for those who can fill the requirements and who have the time for it.

Frequently there may be required one series of pictures more than one day’s settings, perhaps a day and a half, or it might be two days, making the work at the price paid fairly remunerative. It cannot, however, be followed as an occupation, but only as occasional work.

For if there were shown in the pictures displayed with illustrated songs always the same figures and faces the eye would quickly discover the sameness and it would destroy the illusion; the pictures must be made for and belong to one song only, and so not only must new pictures be made, but different figures must be posed for every song.

The lantern slide makers keep a catalogue of all the subjects that have posed for them, and in this catalogue are jotted down not only names and addresses, but such personal characteristics as might serve as a guide in the selection of subjects to be called upon to pose in the future as occasion might require, but commonly, to avoid repetition in the pictures, once in say six months would be as often as subjects would be called upon, and so posing for pictures for illustrated songs is an occasional employment only.

Woman are posed for pictures for illustrated songs as men, and, of course, handsome woman are far more numerous than handsome men: but still it is not so easy as it might seem it would be to find handsome young woman exactly suited to the requirements of this work. The young women required are found among artists’ models, and sometimes, as in the case of young men through theatrical agencies.

One might think that among the artists’ models a sufficient number of subjects might be found without trouble, but among these one might be especially admirable and in demand among artists because of her beautiful eyes and another because of her beautiful mouth but for song pictures the subject must fill a sort of all around requirement.

Still, it is easier to find handsome young women for song pictures than it is to find handsome young men, and to this work the young women may find somewhat more frequent employment, for their pictures may be used on the title pages of sheet music, and young women may be rather oftener pictured than young men in song pictures because of the greater variety that may be imparted to such pictures by woman’s more varied attire.

Source: "Posing for Song Pictures,” New York Sun, reprinted in Moving Picture World 22 June 1907, 244-45.

Illustrating Song Slides

This article on the illustrated song appeared in the inaugural issue of Moving Picture World. It was written by Charles K. Harris, composer of the mega-hit "After the Ball," which sold more than 5 million copies in sheet music, which long set the standard for sheet music sales. In this article, Harris addresses the production of song slides from the standpoint of a music publisher.

The art of illustrating songs with the stereopticon is now one of the features at all vaudeville performances; in fact, it has become one of the standard attractions. To illustrate a song properly often entails a large expenditure of money. The most beautiful illustrated song pictures are those having natural backgrounds. It is not always possible to secure such pictures, and backgrounds have to be painted and prepared with scenic effects. After all the arrangements for the scenery have been made, there comes the hardest and most perplexing part of illustrating a song—procuring the subjects to pose in the pictures. They are generally secured by advertising, and often several hundred applicants will be turned away before suitable models are secured. If the song calls for a beautiful child with golden hair, 95 per cent. of the applicants (brought always by their parents) will be black-haired, freckle-faced, snub-nosed youngsters. The same rule applies to adults. In every case, however, where the work is well done, beautiful children, pretty women and handsome men must be secured for some songs, while old men and women, representing types from the beggar to the millionaire, must be found for others. Everything, whether pathetic, sad or comical, must seem real and perfectly natural. Interiors must also be furnished for the occasion, special costumes must either be made or hired, and often the models must be taken long distances to secure harmonious surroundings. All these things cost large amounts of money and often before the negatives for from fifteen to twenty-five slides have been secured the expense has amounted up to hundreds of dollars. In the case where large numbers of negroes posed in a cakewalk for a new song which I have illustrated, entitled "Linda, Can't You Love Your Joe," it was necessary to send photographers as far as Alabama and Tennessee, there to remain until the real Southern negro was rounded up and asked to pose for a picture:. At least sixty subjects were used in this one set, and their services cost money. The cost of this set of slides has exceeded one thousand dollars. This gives an idea what it costs to illustrate a song properly.

Often the most expert of song illustrators sometimes fall into error and incorporate ridiculous incongruities in their pictures. I have noticed a certain song, by a well-known publisher in this city, where he has a wedding party dressed in costumes of the eighteenth century issuing from a church of the very latest packing-box style of architecture, yet if he had taken the exterior scene of the church four or five away from where he took the photograph, he would have found an old Dutch church whose picturesque exterior would have been in absolute harmony with its subjects. There are many song illustrators who do not take the trouble to make their pictures harmonize with the sentiment of the songs. They never go to the trouble or expense of posing a song; most of them, in fact, know little about the art of photography. They illustrate their songs by passing off upon the public a hodge-podge of old engravings which they have picked up in the old print shops and picture stores. A great many of these song illustrators are found mostly in this city, and Philadelphia also has its share. Some of these cheap slide-makers are pirates in a small way. As soon as some reputable slide-maker brings out a new set of song slides they manage to secure a set, and after washing the paint from the picture until the slide is left plain, they proceed, at the cost of a few cents, to copy by the “contact process” the work which has cost hundreds of dollars. They then proceed to flood the market with wretched imitations of the original slides at less than one-half the price. Even copyrights on pictures do not deter them from stealing, as they have nothing to lose and to prosecute them under the present copyright aw would only be throwing money away. But the new copyright law changes all that and makes it a misdemeanor for any print or picture containing the word “copyrighted” to be used by any person or persons whatsoever without the consent of the owner of the copyright.

Singers as well as managers are now alive to the fact that a poor set of slides will do them more harm than good and managers of theaters are quick to recognize a first-class set of slides, as they must cater to ladies and children, and it is to their interest to see that their patrons get the best the market affords.

My new song entitled “The Best Thing in Life” (which is being illustrated by A. L. Simpson of this city) will revolutionize the slide industry. This set contains twenty-eight slides; in fact, is a drama in three acts. The song takes you from a club room crowded with club members in full evening dress, to Broadway, Fifth avenue, Madison Square, and to the principal points of interest in the city of New York. It was also necessary to secure a snowstorm scene for this set of slides, which was taken at night several weeks ago, corner of Forty-second street and Broadway, during the great snowstorm, and is an exact reproduction of same, which will no doubt create a sensation when thrown upon a canvas. At the present time I have a staff of photographers in Florida, where they are now posing my latest Southern pastoral song, which will also no doubt be appreciated by both the singers and managers of America.

To illustrate how hard it is to sometimes secure a scene or a certain subject, I have sent photographers to San Antonio, Texas, to get the “real thing,” which was a cowpuncher and his cabin for a song entitled “The Star and the Flower.” It would have been easy enough to get some stage setting in some photographic studio and get some person to represent the cowboy, but I preferred to send where I could get the real thing. In another scene a herd of cattle grazing was necessary. To secure same, photographers were sent into Wyoming Territory and there secured the finest slide ever thrown upon a canvas, which always receives a great round of applause. For my child song, “Hello, Central, Give me Heaven,” it was desirable to photograph the interior of a metropolitan telephone exchange. The officers in charge of the centrals are by no means anxious to have their switchboards photographed, and do not cater to curious visitors; but, as I was on friendly terms with the director of the Chicago Telephone Company, by his courtesy a camera was allowed to be introduced in the operators’ exchange one Sunday morning and the necessary pictures were secured. Sometimes it is necessary to take an entire theatrical company to certain parts of the city, paying them their regular price, to pose a series of illustrations on a farm or in a any vicinity where the scene is cast. A great many of my personal friends often assist in posing, but I have found it more satisfactory to engage or accept the kindness of actors and actresses, as they understand the art of posing much better.

Publishers should take a personal interest in their slides; the slide manufacturers would then be more careful. As it is, some of the publishers take a new song and hand it to an illustrator, with instructions to go out and make a set of slides for same. They forget all about it until they see the slides flashed in some theater, and are then horribly disgusted and disappointed. They have only themselves to blame. If they would have given a little time to the illustrator to see that he got his work in harmony with the song, they would get much better results. Each and every slide posed for any of my songs is under my personal supervision. A great many times one hundred and fifty negatives are taken of one set of scenes to secure sixteen slides. No set of slides is ever placed on the market unless O.K.’d by myself. Once they are there I am satisfied that the public, the managers and the singers have what they paid for.

Source: Cha[rle]s K. Harris, “Illustrating Song Slides,” Moving Picture World 9 March 1907, 5-6.
Image source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Problems with Illustrated Songs

In this week's column, Martin takes issue with the illustrated song, which he says is too often smutty. It's a bit odd that he should go after the illustrated song in quite so forceful a manner given that illustrated song manufacturers had been faithful advertisers in the paper since at least the beginning of the 1909. (The illustration to the right comes from Film Index 9 January 1909, 12.) Film Index also had as one of its regular features a list of recent slide sets released by various slide companies. In general, Martin appears much less aware of the wider industry needs than does Sinn, who is writing for Moving Picture World.

Toward the end of his column this week, Martin also mentions that pianos in theaters need to be worked on (and tuned) at least once every six weeks. He also recommends not placing a piano in a pit but, if at all possible, to put it on a stage, as this will allow the music to sound best.

You may say it is none of my business, when I dwell on the illustrated song question, but, as I told you before, when the audience leaves your theatre, having heard some of the trash that is printed in music form and offered by some of the best-known publishers, they say, “The pictures were fine, but the music was disgusting.” This throws as much blame on the piano player as it does the singer, and no matter what efforts the piano player has made to “play the pictures,” the music has been condemned.

I can safely say, that the song question in the motion picture theatres has had a great deal to do with the trouble that has been raised by the censorship boards in the different cities. I believe the songs that have been used in the picture houses have given the police and authorities more room for the action they have taken in their crusade against the picture business, than any picture that has ever been thrown on a screen. It is very gratifying indeed, to know that Chief of Police LeRoy T. Steward, of Chicago, has outlawed a number of these questionable songs, and I believe this has been brought about by the untiring efforts of C. P. McDonald, the Music Editor of The Show World. A censorship board has also been appointed by the city council of Springfield, Ill., for the purpose of barring from that city such suggestive songs.

Some of the songs that have been condemned by the Chicago Chief of Police are, “When I Get That Loving Feeling,” “Oh, You Devil Rag,” “Do Your Duty, Doctor,” “The Dance of the Grizzly Bear,” “Casey Jones” and “Her Name was Mary Wood, but Mary Wouldn’t.” The daily papers of Chicago have taken up the fight with the Chief of Police and I believe the time is near when the authorities of the different cities will see their mistake in condemning the motion picture theatre; they will find it is the songs and not the pictures that need to be censored. It seems that the police authorities have hit the nail on the head when they have started at the bottom of the evil, the publisher, and the first complaints were filed last Wednesday in the Municipal Court of Chicago against H. S. Talbot, a publisher, at 184 Dearborn street, charging him with distributing a song that has failed to come up to the standard of decency established by the police department under the city ordinances. It is the aim of Sergt. O’Donnell, of Chicago, to make the rounds of the cheap theatres and listen to the songs, and any he finds beyond the limits of decency, he will arrest the singer. I believe C. P. O’Donnell, of The Show World staff, should have the glad hand out for anyone that will make a crusade against the late popular songs that the writers have to resort to smut to make them popular.

Have you ever noticed, when one of these “smut” songs are used in a picture house, they always get a hand? And have you noticed the hand comes from the “rough necks?” If you are catering to the low element of your city I can think of no better drawing card than such songs as “I Love It,” “Company in the Parlor,” “‘Tis Hard to be a Lady in a Case Like That” or “That Lovin’ Melody Rubenstein Wrote.”

Has the time come that the publishers have to resort to such low, degrading stuff, in order to stay in business? It is a cinch the better class of people, the ones you are catering to, are not demanding this kind of “music.”

There is no way possible for the general public to get a wrong conception of the publisher’s meaning in these titles and words. The publishers are making every effort to make it clear that they mean just what they say, for some of their advertising matter is lower (if possible) than the songs. For instance, in some of the advertising matter for the late song “I Love It,” published by the Harry Von Tilzer Publishing Company, of New York, they say, “It is a little word, but can mean many big things.” Now wouldn’t this advertising look good on a three-sheet in front of your picture house? so the children could figure “it” out?

No, don’t put me down as a crank, I write this because I know what is good for the picture industry, and what is not. If you are obliged to put on this trash in your picture house, if you cannot find decent music, don’t cater to a family business, change your location, move to the slums and you will soon have a fat bank account.

Have you ever noticed, when the illustrated song comes on, the people either leave the theatre or start up a conversation with those around them? and then as soon as the pictures start the house is quiet again. I think this would be enough to prove to the exhibitors that the majority of the people come for the pictures and not the songs.

On the other hand, if you can get a god singer, one that can handle good ballads and classic music you will find your audience will greatly appreciate the music, and it provides a good relief for your program. I believe the songs in the picture theatre would have a better standing to-day if the managers and singers would have used better judgment in their selections.

If this keeps up, the illustrated song will be greatly injured and only spot light songs will be used. The fault is the carelessness of the slide rental agencies. They put me in mind of the fly-by-night film exchanges. I mean those that have not bought a reel of film for a year and are working on their original investment. The average slide renter is working on the same plan, when their customer has used their entire stock they give him repeaters until he gets next to himself and tries another. I recently saw a shipment of three sets of song slides from a house making a specialty of th rental business, with twenty-one slides, out of forty, cracked, and two of the chorus slides missing. Good combination is it not? first run film service and five year slide service.

Well, to get back to “Playing the Pictures” there is another great point that is sadly neglected, and that is, the care of the piano. I have found in visiting different picture houses, that nine out of every ten pianos are in need of tuning. I will say that the wear and rough use that some of them get, it would be well for the manager to have a piano tuner on his salary list with the average use a piano gets in a picture theatre, it should be gone over at least every six weeks but an expert, not a “dub.”

A great mistake that is made by many exhibitors is, placing the piano in a pit. When you place a piano in a pit, it deadens the tone, and no matter how hard the piano player works, his music seems to have a dull finish. It is much better, if possible, to elevate the piano, so that the tones carry over the entire house and it makes the work much lighter for the musician. If you have room to place the piano on the stage next to the picture screen, you will find it will give great results. Another inexpensive improvement is to remove the rollers from the piano and place a heavy glass insulator under each corner, by raising the instrument from the floor it will add greatly to the tone quality.

In next week’s article I will offer some suggestions of appropriate music for some of the notable releases of the last two weeks, such as “Sunshine Sue,” Biograph, “Woman of Samaria,” Pathe, and “Fransesca Da Rimini,” Vitagraph.

Source: Clyde Martin, “Playing the Pictures,” Film Index 3 December 1910, 9.

Drummers and Illustrated Songs in the Moving Picture Theater

Martin's column this week features a new header, which includes a picture—though the microfilm did not allow me to reproduce it very well. His topic this week is the role of the drummer. Martin believes that the drummer belong in picture houses but thinks that most drummers are not properly trained. He draws attention to the work of Lyman H. Howe, especially his use of music and sound effects, which allows Howe to charge $1 a seat for his traveling show. (For a fine book-length treatment of Howe, see Charles Musser in collaboration with Carol Nelson, High-Class Moving Pictures: Lyman H. Howe and the Forgotten Era of Traveling Exhibition, 1880-1920 (Princeton, 1991).) Martin also makes the surprising remark that "piano and drums are the only instruments that can be used in playing pictures, when you add other instruments you cannot expect your musicians to make good playing pictures." Martin is lead to this position because he believes that improvisation is the only reliable way to successfully play the pictures and that group improvisation is prone to disaster. He concludes his article with a largely negative assessment of the illustrated song.

The average drummer in a picture theatre is the greatest handicap a piano player has to contend with. A good drummer, one who knows how and when to play, is a necessity in every well regulated picture house, but, they are hard to find. The average drummer wants to make himself heard from the overture to the chaser, and, as a rule they are very partial to marches, and play so loud that in a short time the piano player gets the habit of following the drummer instead of leading, and the result is, the audience is treated to a big noise from the beginning to the close of the picture, and, upon leaving the theatre, the audience would not speak a good word for the best picture ever produced after being compelled to sit and listen to such music.

You have, no doubt been in just such places, where the music has grated on your nerves to such an extent that you could not get interested in the pictures, and when the good night slide was thrown on the there was such a sigh of relief from the entire audience. Don’t blame the piano player because the drummer is no musician, it is not the piano player’s fault. Drumming looks very easy, and, nine times out of ten the manager, and, being not overly fond of work, they have bought him some second hand drums and given him a job in the picture house to keep him off the streets at night, consequently, the piano player an the patrons are made to suffer. [This is how the original reads—jwb.]

It is just as essential that an exhibitor secures a professional drummer as well as a professional piano player. He can hire the greatest piano player in the world to play the pictures and give him an amateur drummer to work with and his music will be a failure.

The professional drummer who has the least conception of playing the pictures, will never try to play through a pathetic scene or during the showing of the average dramatic subject unless he gives a roll during some good point in the picture or at the climax. When I say a roll, I do not mean a role on the snare, if the picture is a strong dramatic subject and the piano player has held the audience quiet up to the strongest point or the climax, how much more in keeping with the picture it is for the drummer to give a roll on the base [sic] drum, if he does not possess kettle drums.

I am a great believer in traps and effects if they are properly handled, and I can point to no better example than Lyman H. Howe. If the exhibitors would pay more attention to their music and effects they too would be receiving a dollar a ticket instead of five and ten cents. Lyman H. Howe is recognized as the greatest motion picture man in the field to-day. He can take the same pictures that you are showing for five cents and demand a dollar a seat for the same show. There is something behind this that would be worth while for the exhibitor to look into and consider. Lyman Howe has always made the music and effects a feature of his entertainment, and it is this point that has placed him as leader in the picture business. And still the exhibitor will give souvenirs, put on cheap vaudeville and pull off voting contests to boost business instead of considering the music. They put themselves in a rut at the opening of the house by engaging a ten-dollar piano player and an eight-dollar drummer.

Piano and drums are the only instruments that can be used in playing pictures, when you add other instruments you cannot expect your musicians to make good playing pictures. I have seen the greatest bunch of fakirs [i.e., “fakers”—jwb] in the country assembled for a picture orchestra, and the result was a failure.

There are certain pictures where a violin can be used in a pathetic scene to good advantage, but no matter how good the violinist is, they cannot change with a piano in playing pictures.

At Dodge’s theatre, Keokuk, Iowa, where I am working at present, we have a violinist, one of the best in the business, and I can safely say we do not use him in more than two pictures a week. If you are showing such a picture as Edison’s “The Song That Reached His Heart,” a violinist can use “Annie Laurie” in certain parts of the picture to good advantage.

Then for example take such a picture as the Biograph release of October 24th, “The Message of the Violin,” the violin is a necessity and the picture is not complete without one. If you have no violinist on your pay roll when you show such a picture as “The Message of the Violin” don’t be afraid of spending a little money, and, engage one for the night you show the picture, you will soon notice and increase in your receipts.

There is another thing to be considered. A drummer cannot be expected to handle the entire line of effects, it is the drummer’s business to handle chimes, tom toms, tambourines, castinets, wood blocks, cymbols [sic], bells and his drums. If you wish to add railroad imitations, slap sticks, etc., they should be worked from behind the screen.

The illustrated song is, as a matter of fact, looked upon as part of the music in the picture show, and I believe it is one of the greatest drawbacks in the business to-day. The singer, as a rule, is paid on the same basis as the piano player, and what kind of a singer can you get for ten dollars a week? The singer in most places is used as a sort of fill in, and in most cases the audience would rather have a white sheet instead of the song during the changing of the reels. Then there is another side to the illustrated song question. It may be you have a very good singer, but the smut that some of the publishers are putting in their songs to make them go, is enough to drive the better class of people from your house forever. Let us say for example you have a three-reel program made up of “The Tree Friends,” Gaumont, “The Broken Doll,” Biograph, and “The Legacy,” Vitagraph, a program that would please the Saints. Then say that you have a very select audience, people who have been skeptic towards motion pictures, you have induced them to come to your theatre as you have this excellent bill on, and then your singer gets up and hands them such stuff as “The Dance of the Grizzly Bear,” “Naughty Eyes” or “The Angle Worm Wiggle.” What kind of impression do you think your audience will have on your show? You will not only lose those people as patrons, but you have lowered the efforts of the producers in trying to better the picture business.

You may say I am getting away from my story when I mention the illustrated song, but I am not, for, that disgusted audience has left the theatre condemning everything on the inside, even the pictures and the piano player.

In my next article, I will suggest some appropriate music for recent releases of feature films.

Source: Clyde Martin, “Playing the Pictures,” Film Index 5 November 1910, 6.

Posters Now for Songs

Here is a little nugget of illustrated song culture.

From Hearing the Movies

Source: Film Index 15 October 1910, 3.

Illustrated Song: "My Mother Was a Northern Girl"

I was poking around through the database of the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division, and I came across this proof sheet for an illustrated song set to "My Mother Was a Northern Girl," a 1902 song by J. Fred Helf. The song slides also date from 1902, before the era of the nickelodeon, so these slides were likely used by a singer in vaudeville, where the illustrated song was an occasional (minor) attraction.

The actual lantern slides (these are paper proofs) would have likely been hand colored, with a cover of the sheet music being used as the opening slide. By the time of the nickelodeon, the chorus would often be included as a final slide and the audience urged to "join in." An ambitious theater manager would have copies of the evening's songs available for sale.



A larger jpg version is available by double-clicking the image, and you can get the full 64MB tiff through the LoC site, here.

The full sheet music for the song is available through the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music at the Sheridan Libraries of the Johns Hopkins University, here.

Illustrated Songs

I'll have more to say about the illustrated song in the coming weeks, as I plan to post a slide set of "In my Merry Oldsmobile," which we reproduced in chapter 10 of the textbook. In the meantime, PBS Kids has a nice, if brief description of the illustrated song. The site also includes two examples, albeit in fairly low resolution (Quicktime required):

• A Bird in a Gilded Cage, which is a sentimental ballad in waltz time—the sheet music is available through the Maine Music Box.
  
  
  
  
  





• Let's Get the Umpire's Goat, which is a comic novelty, also in waltz time—the sheet music is available through the Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music