Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1898-05-06
BUY THUNDER THERE,
WHERE STAGE PEOPLE GET
THEIR ENVIRONMENTS.

THEIR ENVIRONMENTS.
Moons, Grass and Wigs Made--Queer
Demands by Play Producers Always
Filled In Some Way-A Few Of the
Methods.
She has thunder by the sheet, fog by
the yard, lightning by the box, snow by
the bushel, and the child who cries
for the moon can get it there II he Will
only wait until it is manufactured. 1t
either, but more likely from pale blue
silk, for moons have beer made out OF
that before now, and they were emil
nently satisfactory and couldn't have
been told by any one but connoisseur
from the real article; and who is
connoisseur in moons? And the mis-
tress of all these natural elements is
not a Nine. Jove, either, but a nice,
ordinary, everyday sort of woman,
and this queer collection of hers is
merely food for herself and her chill
dren, says the New York Times. Not
literally, for even pretty, pale-blue
silk moon might be indigestible, but
she provides them for 1.-The profession"
and indirectly they become oatmeal
and coffee, roast beef and plum pud-
ding. 1t is a modest little place on the
line of the elevated road, and the
proper business of the proprietor, when
it is called by its right name, Is that of
dealer in theatrical hardware. The
visitor would not even guess, in taking
view of the stock, that the word the
atrical was appropriate, for nothing
but small articles of seemingly ordi-
nary hardware are in sight. That is
not strange, as there is never demand
for the same kind Of thunder, lightning
or other theatrical appliances which
are supplied on demand of the property
man or the stage carpenter, and very
little of anything is kept on hand,
though they can be had at a moments
notice. The hardware proper is the
most prosaic part Of the business.
That consists of the wheels, bolts,
screws-everything that is needed to
! make the curtains and scenery Of
theater stay where they are wanted,
and move when they are not wanted.
Then the carpenter has great desire
| for profile" That is technical term,
and does not mean the profile of any
| thing, but it consists of thin strips Of
board, four feet wide and ten feet long,
not much more than an eighth of an
inch in thickness, but tough and
| strong, so that it will bend and con-
form itself to all conditions without a
break. Keystones and corners of the
same serviceable material are things
without which the carpenter cannot get
along. Profile is valuable COM
modify. There is not much it cannot
be used for. It Is in ways like this
that the ingenuity Of the theatrical
hardware dealer comes in. One word
that she does not know is "can't." So
when they brought her a miniature jim
rikisha few inches long and told her
that full-grown vehicle to match the
sample was needed she promised it i'm
mediately. Then, not she, but clever
son, went to work, and with the profile
a nice little carriage that might
have come straight from Japan was
made, the wheels purchased, but the
rest of the carriage was made for the
occasion, even to the upholstering
The elements are not difficult. They
belong to regular stock. The fog is
gauze, the lightning is made by mag
nesium, the snow scraps of paper, and
the thunder of sheet iron of varying
weight, according to the depth of the
thunder that is to be produced. II can
furnish everything but rain," says this
mistress of the elements, "and I guess
I could furnish that if it was wanted"
One little bit of natural history that is
learned at the shop is that though you
may not paint the lily you may theat-
rical grass. Stage grass shows in only
one shade of bright green. 1t may be
| French grass, German grass, English
or American grass, but it always grows
| in the same shade of vivid green. If
the big mats of it are not satisfactory
in color then they are painted. Money
is one of the commodities that is kept
in stock. And the poorest man on the
stage never has less than $40 if he has
a bill, for stage bills grow in that way.
They are regular sized bills, upon
which are the words, "stage money" in
large letters upon both sides, an *" in
each corner, and two larger "x's" one
on either side Of the center. Coins are
in gold, silver and copper-those are
the colors they wear-and they may
amount to anything according to the
supposed wealth of the possessor on
the stage, and are coins of any nation
ality, according to the play, for they
are all merely round bits of different
kinds of metal that are not marked.
Occasionally it will seem that there is
nothing in the city that will just an
swer for certain purpose. One prop
erty man, the other day, wanted some
long, gray whiskers, almost white.
Nothing seemed to be just the thing,
until a Martha Washington couture
came to hand, and that, turned upside
down, it's precise arrangement loosen
ed, gave as delightfully."- patriarchal a
beard as could be desired. "Old plays
are the most difficult to furnish with
properties" says the woman of ideas.
81 remember seeing my husband bring
in an old portrait of Washington, with
a shabby old frame, before knew any,
thing about the business. They
won't use that, will they?' asked.
| Yes, and it is exactly what they want,
too he answered. I have had to fur
| nish an old clock face with Roman