USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume II > Part 20
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Celebrations and Decorations
There is a period in the life of a young and growing city in which more stress is laid upon celebrations than after its position is assured. In that joyous time which began early in San Francisco demonstrations were largely, if not wholly, spontaneous, and the result, not infrequently, was more striking than that pro- duced under the stimulus of high organization. In pioneer days there were numer- ous impromptu processions which lingered in the memory of the people for many years, and later there were "turn outs" involving some preparation, but which were devoid of the attentant feature of involuntary contributions. The demand made upon the purses of merchants and others, as a city grows in size, weakens
Reception to General Grant
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the voluntary spirit and finally spontaneity becomes a lost virtue. In the recep- tion tendered to Grant there was no further preparation and organization than that necessary to shape a demonstration which was absolutely spontaneous, and it was unnecessary to suggest decoration. This spirit was carried into all public affairs and, as a result, when occasion seemed to suggest the propriety of giving the City an air of festivity there was something like an approach to the exuberance of display witnessed in Dutch towns in the time of Charles V. In 1883, when the triennial conclave of the Knights Templars was held in this City large sums were expended by private individuals upon decorations. Flowers were used in great profusion, intermingled with bunting and silk, very few business houses on the frequented thoroughfares omitting this mark of attention to the visiting strangers. This visit was signalized by the unveiling of the statue of Garfield in Golden Gate park, the ceremonies attending which were witnessed and the oration of the day heard by over 60,000 people. The orator was Henry Highton and his theme was the career of the murdered president and the dangers attendant upon license of thought and speech.
There is much more of artificiality in the pageants of the present day; the music heard in the processions is better, and when the effort is made as in the case of the Portola celebration, the floats are more gorgeous and the crowds on the streets are greater, but the uniforms of the marchers bear no comparison to those of the citizen soldiery. The flags and banners borne by the marchers of the pres- ent lack the color and bullion which were so greatly affected by celebrating or- ganizations of the Seventies. The advent of the National Guard, with its uniform of blue, and its improvement in discipline, desirable features in their way, was at the expense of picturesqueness, the desire for which made the dragon parades of the Chinese, and the introduction of other Oriental features, welcome at a time when a violent verbal crusade was being waged against the entrance of Chinese into the country. And this is one of the peculiarities of the San Franciscan tem- perament worth noting. While the strongest expressions possible were used in denouncing the customs of the aliens, their idolatrous practices were not interfered with, except by the busy missionaries, who sought to convert them. There is no record of any attempt to molest the Chinese in the worship of their gods, nor were their funerals, in which pagan superstitions were obtruded on the people on the busiest streets, ever publicly disapproved of by the authorities or objected to by the community, although they might have been on the ground that the peace of the City was violently fractured by the clashing of cymbals and other noisy devices resorted to by the friends of the deceased to scare away the devils.
Indeed the people of San Francisco were exceptionally tolerant in the matter of street usages during this period. The main thoroughfares were by no means sightly overhead, or in good condition under foot. Market street was paved with squares of basalt, which were laid in the sand, and in places, owing to the sub- terranean work, the pavement presented a billowy appearance. In the process of what was called street cleaning the dirt was pressed into the gaping interstices between the blocks, later when dry to be shaken loose and driven about by the brisk breezes. The practice of circulating hand bills prevailed, announcements of all kinds being distributed to pedestrians who immediately threw them away, thus adding to the disreputable appearance of the thoroughfare which, however, was no worse than that which a glance upward revealed. Stretched from side to side
Pageants and Uniforms of the Past
Street Scenes in the Seventies
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of the street, at frequent intervals, were lines from which banners and business signs depended at all seasons of the year, the display becoming particularly riotous during political campaigns, when aspirants for office sometimes announced that the "present" incumbent was again running. Over the uneven pavement advertis- ing wagons, ringing noisy bells and resorting to other devices to attract attention, jolted. Frequently footsore bandsmen marched at the head of a funeral, playing Chopin's funeral march, a post mortem attention accorded to all the departed members of the numerous organizations of the Latin quarter, and to some others. Occasionally when a musician was thus honored, the size of the band, and the volume of its performances, arrested attention, but usually the cortege would pass unnoticed by the hurrying throng. With the cessation of intra mural burial the funeral parade gradually grew less popular and threatens to become a mere memory.
Wane of Minstrelsy
The alternations of hard and "flush" times in San Francisco beginning with 1870 may have affected the box offices of theaters, but the records do not indicate any diminution in the amusement loving characteristic of her people. A compari- son of the attractions presented between 1870 and 1883 in the City and at the East indicates that nearly every performer of note found his way to San Fran- cisco. As the City, during the entire period, was the only place on the coast where an actor, or a singer, could expect remunerative audiences, Los Angeles and other flourishing cities in this and the neighboring states to the north being still in the village stage of existence, their success and rewards are a phenomenon worth noting. During the years mentioned there were some significant changes in the taste of amusement seekers. Italian opera had lost a great deal of its popularity, and minstrelsy was in the decadent stage until it enjoyed a revival through the efforts of Billy Emerson, who maintained an "opera" house on Bush street, in the late Seventies and early Eighties. Much of the troupe's success was due to the wit of "Charlie" Reed, who perceived the waning inclination of audiences for the ordi- nary features presented by minstrels, and had the sagacity to introduce a new local burlesque every week, in which the foibles of the people were dealt with, sometimes without gloves. These gave the performances a vogue for a while and when they ceased to please minstrelsy was no longer an institution in San Fran- cisco. The Standard theater on Bush street, run by Emerson, was the last house in the City in which minstrel performances were regularly given in the old days.
The failure of Italian opera to hold the affections of San Franciscans during the early part of this period was due more perhaps to the general decline in which it had temporarily fallen than to any other cause, but there are traces of a grow- ing desire for opera in the vernacular, and for more novelty and less devotion to the works of the favorite composers of the earlier period. It was no longer pos- sible to present "Norma" four or five nights in succession, and the music lovers had a surfeit, for the time being, of "Il Trovatore" and other operas which they knew by heart. It is not strange, therefore, that they hailed with satisfaction a change, even though the purists thought it was one for the worse. But whatever may have been the real opinion of advocates of "good music" their criticisms did not prevail. Grand opera for a time was neglected and opera bouffe, and a little later English opera of a new school, usurped its place. In the early Seventies the music of Offenbach and of some of his imitators took the City by storm. A French company, whose prima donna had achieved a Parisian success, visited the City, and played an engagement at the California which extended over several weeks,
Popularity of Opera Bouffe
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during which the "Grande Duchesse," "Genevieve de Brabant" and numerous other operas were sung, some of which still hold the stage while others like "Fleur de The" are no longer heard. In 1874 the company again visited the City, introducing to the music loving public "La Fille de Madame Angot," which made quite a furore. In 1879 Maurice Grau brought Aimee, whose San Francisco popu- larity dated back to the beginning of the decade. The company produced "Madame Favart," "Girofle-Girafla," "Les Brigands," "La Petit Faust," and "La Belle Hel- ene," in addition to the early favorites. An incident connected with the visit of the company was an attempt to signalize the conclusion of the engagement with a "French ball," which was to be a gay affair, to be participated in by Aimee and others. It proved a great disappointment, and was voted tame by those who at- tended expecting to witness the abandon generally attributed to the Moulin Rouge.
Toward the close of the decade, in 1879, there was a revival of the old time yearning for grand opera which was gratified by Mapleson, who brought out Marie Roze, who sang in "Lucia," "Favorita," "Trovatore," "Martha," "Rigoletto," "Faust," the "Masked Ball" and "Mignon" at the Baldwin theater during April, and on May 5 opened at the Grand opera house in "Aida," which attracted six large audiences. The success of this season was in marked contrast to that of a German company, which had produced "The Flying Dutchman" at the Grand opera house, with a noted tenor. Wagner's music had not attained the vogue it later obtained in the City, the inclination for the more melodious if lighter music being still dominant. The attachment to the old favorites, however, had greatly weakened, and even Anna Bishop, who had so long maintained a hold on the peo- ple, and who visited San Francisco in 1873, did not seek to revive it, but con- tented herself by singing in concert at Platt's hall, on the corner of Montgomery and Bush streets.
The most striking change in the popular musical taste was that which devel- oped itself towards the close of the Seventies, closely synchronizing with the rising popularity of Gilbert and Sullivan. The plays of the former had been made familiar to the people by the stock company of the Baldwin theater, which had at different times produced his "Palace of Truth," "Pygmalion and Galatea," "Sweet- hearts" and "Engaged," the enterprising manager taking advantage of the absence of an international copyright law to appropriate the plays. "The Sorcerer," the libretto of which was written by Gilbert, and the music by Sullivan, had attracted little or no attention in this country and there was no temptation to steal it, but the English success of "Pinafore," written in 1878, tempted the agent of Alice Oates to appropriate it very shortly after its first production in London. Oates was then performing in San Francisco at the Bush street theater, producing in" English the operas of Offenbach, Le Cocq and other French opera bouffe compos- ers. On January 1, 1879, she introduced to the San Francisco public Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pinafore," said to have been its first presentation in America. It did not make any particular impression, the audience failing to catch the point of the satire, owing to their unfamiliarity with the doings of the British admiralty, and it must be added, that as interpreted by Oates and her company, it did not greatly resemble the later productions.
But the early indifference was more than compensated by the eagerness with which the opera was received a few months later. On June 6, 1889, Emily Mel- ville opened with an amateur company in the Standard theater, singing the part
Revival of Grand Opera
First Production in America of Pinafore
A Pinafore Craze
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of Josephine, and three days later Charles E. Locke, in the Bush street theater, across the street, offered "Pinafore," with R. D. Graham as Sir Joseph Porter, and Anna Ainsworth as Josephine, stating on the house bill that the new opera was "obtained in London direct from the author." Graham had been with Oates, and had sung the part of Sir Joseph when the opera was originally presented in San Francisco, but his later interpretation scarcely suggested his first effort. In less than a month another company was attracting audiences to the Metropolitan temple, and in October the San Francisco Yacht club produced "Pinafore on the Water." The Tivoli, on the night of July 3, 1879, introduced "Pinafore" to its patrons in conjunction with "Trial by Jury," and they were the attractions at that place of amusement for 81 continuous nights. The Tivoli was then situ- ated on the northwest corner of Sutter and Stockton streets in a frame building surrounded with shrubbery, which gave some point to its claim to being a garden, and combined the dispensing of refreshments, particularly beer, with melody. In October Emily Melville introduced a newly formed company to a Bush street theater audience. Although composed of local talent it was by no means ama- teurish. It sang "Pinafore" and other English operas for several months. Nearly all of the company, which subsequently visited Eastern cities, entered the profes- sion, and Emily Melville long continued a favorite in this City, the East and in Australia.
The change in the taste for the drama during this period was fully as marked as the altered attitude of the San Franciscan toward Italian opera. There was a marked diminution of the interest once taken in sombre plays, and the tragedian or interpreter of Shakespeare had to come well heralded in order to secure a good audience such as would a few years earlier have filled a house when "Richard III," "Hamlet," "Othello" or any of the favorite Shakespearian plays were presented. When George Rignold in 1876 visited the City and presented "Henry V," at Wade's opera house, he played to crowded houses, but the reputation of the actor and the mounting of the piece were the attraction and not the name of Shakespeare. A little later a local Shakespearian revival was attempted with great success at the California, but it was wholly due to the novelty of the music by a local com- poser named Kelly, a musician of merit. It was sufficiently distinctive to excite the desire of Charlie Reed to burlesque the music and the accompanying reading of the lines, which he did in an amusing fashion, without, however, shaking the faith of the admirers of Kelly, who were firm in their conviction that a new musical star had arisen. Adelaide Lee Neilson in July, 1880, by her great talent, revived an interest in "Romeo and Juliet," but her success merely illustrates the truth of what has already been said, that Shakespeare had ceased to be a name to conjure with unless the representation happened to be by an actor of her merit, or of the rank of Edwin Booth, or by the unfortunate Sheridan, a member of a local stock company, whose genius might have won world wide fame if its fires had not been quenched by strong drink.
Stars Visit San Francisco
During the Seventies and the early Eighties San Francisco was not neglected by the stars of the first magnitude, all of whom appeared to think that a visit to San Francisco was necessary to round out their fame. Among them may be enu- merated Mrs. D. P. Bowers, E. A. Sothern, Eben Plympton, Robson and Crane, Charles Fechter, Dion Boucicault, John T. Raymond, Clara Morris and Charles Wheatleigh, whose visits began in the early Fifties and continued at intervals
Change in Dramatic Taste
.
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down to 1877. The death of Otille Genee in Berlin in November, 1911, recalled the fact that she successfully maintained a German theater in this City, between 1865 and 1884, during which time she introduced many clever artists. An event often referred to with pride was the first appearance on the stage of Madame Modjeska, who made hier debut in this City and achieved an instant success. The event occurred August 20, 1877, and the distinguished artist in after life frequently referred to the influence the cordial reception and the recognition she received had in promoting her subsequent artistic career.
During the Seventies there was apparent a growing disinclination for Irish melodrama which had once been so popular in San Francisco. Barney Williams and his wife had disappeared from the scene, but had they appeared again with their "Irish Boy and Yankee Girl" they would no longer have been welcome, nor, toward the close of the decade did the "Connie Soogah" and "Arrah na Pogue" meet with the same favor as during the Sixties and early Seventies. But while the melodrama had ceased to interest Irish portraiture had not. When Edward Harrigan, who had during the Sixties entertained San Francisco audiences at the Bella Union with sketches, which he afterward rounded out into a series of plays illustrative of tenement life in New York, returned to the City in 1878, he was welcomed with open arms. He played several weeks at the Bush street theater, and the popularity of his presentations was enhanced by the support he received from Annie Yeamans, another old time favorite, whose characterizations at the Eureka theater in 1865 had established her in the good graces of the amusement lovers of the City.
Two influences in San Francisco during this period stand out very plainly in the annals of amusements. The first is that exercised by the stock company formed by Maguire, and which occupied the stage of the Baldwin for several years; the other was the insistent demand for music which met a response in the formation of the first Tivoli company, for which the claim has been made that it inaugurated in America the practice of giving opera all the year around. The Baldwin com- pany was made up of artists, and the boastful assertion that it was one of the best stock companies in the United States was justified by the subsequent careers of the members, who nearly all, after its disbandment, took their places in the the- atrical firmament as stars. In this company were included at one time James O'Neill, Lewis Morrison, Bishop, the well known comedian, and an actor named Jennings, whose versatility was extraordinary. The industry of the company was marvelous, it being the custom of Maguire to present a fresh play weekly. Many of the plays thus produced were London, Paris or Berlin successes of the moment, there being few scruples against, and no law to prevent the appropriation of for- eign copyrighted pieces. The result was the early introduction to San Franciscans of many plays not seen in the United States outside of their City. Maguire, whose career as a manager dated back to the earliest pioneer days, had many ups and downs, but was always recognized as a resourceful caterer. Much of the success achieved by the Baldwin Stock Company was due to David Belasco, whose remark- able abilities were clearly recognized and appreciated by the amusement loving people of San Francisco long before the world pronounced its eulogies.
The Tivoli garden, which began to assert itself as a musical resort in 1879, published a Christmas souvenir in 1880, in which it reviewed some of its successes. Commencing September 25, 1879, it produced "The Wreck of the Pinafore;" "The
Harrigan's Success in the City
The Baldwin Theater Stock Company
Success of the Tivoll
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Doctor of Alcantara;" "The Sorcerer," which ran 28 nights; "Madame Angot's Daughter," 26 nights ; "Girofle-Girafla," 28 nights; "The Little Duke," 24 nights; the "Grande Duchesse," 21 nights. Altogether during 1880 it repeated "Trial by Jury" and "Pinafore" 84 nights. The artists who assumed the roles in these operas were not great, but they became favorites not easily displaced. Among them were Hattie Moore, Harry Gates and H. de Lorme, who managed to retain their hold on the public after the Tivoli had entered the regular amusement field by opening an opera house on the north side of Eddy street near the junction of Market and Powell, which was probably the first house in the United States in which opera was presented every night of the year. It should be added that from the beginning the work of the Tivoli orchestra was excellent, a fact which more than any other contributed to the early success of the garden, which finally devel- oped into a regular opera house which remained one of the best known places of amusement until its later home on the corner of Eddy and Turk streets was de- stroyed in the great conflagration.
During this period while there was an abatement of the propensity to resort to the theaters for assistance for charitable purposes, the benefit habit still con- tinned, although the calls on the profession were less frequent than in the early days. On the occasion of the Chicago fire in 1871 there was a prompt movement to raise money for the sufferers. In October all the theaters gave benefit performances at which considerable sums were raised. The Metropolitan, California, Bella Union, Alhambra and the Oxford, a music hall, all responded to the appeal, as did the school department and pupils, whose contributions amounted to $1,500. The musicians also gave a performance at Platt's hall, the proceeds of which added to those resulting from the theatrical benefits and the individual contributions made a handsome sum which helped the Chicago unfortunates to weather a hard winter.
At the close of this period it was still the practice in amusement circles to count San Francisco as one of the best "show towns" in America, and the fact that it required the expenditure of a very considerable sum to transport an organization across the continent, and that when the coast was reached the City was the only place where a remunerative engagement could be played, amply testifies to the accuracy of the observation, for, as already shown, venturesome managers did not hesitate to bring large companies throughout the Seventies and the early Eighties, and usually they were well rewarded for their enterprise. At the beginning of the decade 1880 there were perhaps fewer theaters than ten or twenty years ear- lier, but they were in a better class of buildings and the amusement business was on a higher plane than formerly. At this time there were about a dozen places of entertainment where performances or concerts were regularly given, the largest of which was the Grand opera house, built during the period when mining specu- lation ran high. It was situated on the north side of Mission near Third. It had a spacious stage and seated a large audience. Its foyer and lobbies permitted circulation between acts, and they were freely resorted to during seasons of grand opera. It was illuminated by gas, and had a central crystal chandelier not sur- passed in size or magnificence by any other in the country. In addition to the Grand opera house, the California, Baldwin, Bush street and Standard theaters were flourishing at this time, not to mention the Bella Union, the Adelphi, Mer- cantile Library and Platt's hall, the Metropolitan temple and a number of minor halls, whose stages were rarely unoccupied.
Chicago Fire Benefits
Amusement Business Still
Prospering
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That a people as devoted to amusement as San Franciscans were during the Seventies and early Eighties, should also have been lovers of outdoor sports is not surprising. The all around athletic spirit had not reached its present high stage of development, but racing and contests for supremacy of all kinds, whether on the track, or in the field, were in great favor, and attracted large crowds. In those days the attitude of the public towards the race course was vastly different from that assumed within the past few years. The legislature of 1873-74 instead of devoting itself to the restriction of the pleasures of the turf, was inclined to pro- mote them, and did not see anything wrong in backing one's judgment of a horse. At that session an act was passed closing a number of streets opposite Golden Gate park which led into Fulton street, for the purpose of creating a race track. Prominently identified with this venture were Leland Stanford and others con- nected with the railroad. The establishment of the track in this situation was largely influenced by the plans of those connected with the street car system. At the time of its creation, to most people in San Francisco it seemed a location which would not soon be reached by the advancing tide of home seekers, but those who invested their money in the enterprise foresaw that they would get it back in the near future when the demand for lots would make it profitable to cut up the tract.
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