A Mystery

Sometimes a drawing that seems as though it should be identifiable can prove to be a mystery. This is another lovely example of Caroline Siedle's work in black & white. There are several bits of information to follow, but I've been unable to trace them to any resolution.

Quite often Siedle would write the character name at the foot of the board, and we do have a name, "Ann Olfield", written at the bottom of the design. But it appears to be in different pencil than the rest of the notation, and possibly was written over top of an erased earlier note; it's difficult to say if this is a character or an actress being identified. Along with this is the notation "drawing room of Mrs. Brett Act IV scene II"; the IV part also seems to be a change from the original notation. There's no further information on the front or back of the board.

The fact that this appears to be for a four act production would indicate that it was a play rather than a musical; musicals tended to run for two or three acts at that time. But I've had no luck tracking down a play with a scene taking place in Mrs. Brett's drawing room. Searching for Ann Olfield only results in bringing up the 18th century actress Ann Oldfield, who was a well known and highly paid personality of her time. Perhaps this was for a play incorporating her as a character? 

The costume shows what appears to be a well to do lady, with a stylish gown and hat in rather an 18th century style. The wide black choker at her neck and black gloves compliment the trim of her sleeves and skirt. 

Siedle did design costumes for various 18th century period pieces; there were several musicals including The Two Roses (a 1904 production based on She Stoops to Conquer, which does have a character named Mrs. Oldfield), Lady Teazle (from 1904, adapted from The Rivals) and Dolly Varden (1902, taken from Dicken's Barnaby Rudge) to name a few. This drawing looks like a character rather than a chorus piece to me, especially if it was intended for use in a play. The search will continue! 

Stage Designer

One of the lesser known aspects of Caroline Siedle's work are the occasional prop and set pieces that she seems to have designed. Her husband, Edward Siedle, was renowned for the wonderful effects he created as prop master for the Metropolitan Opera. Among these was the dragon Fafner, in Wagner's Siegfried. An article in the New York Daily Tribune from July 17, 1897, discusses how the basic effect was created, along with the drawings on the right. But Caroline seems to have done some work in that line herself.

In the collection of The New York Public Library there is a drawing of a couple riding in a leafy chariot, steered by a cherub and drawn by a dragonfly. It's a delicate piece of work, for an unknown production with no additional information attached to it.

The Museum of the City of New York has a drawing for a wagon in the form of a Siamese Junk, including a large elephant. I've no idea what either of these pieces were for, but they do show her skill in designing this sort of work. 

I also have an example of a possible set piece. This is a drawing titled "Candy girl for center of table". It shows a peppermint stick gazebo, with a shepherdess holding a long candy cane and two sheep at her feet. Her skirt appears to be ribbon candy, and the whole design is colored in delicate pink and white. Two doves hold garlands above her head, while a third perches with outstretched wings at the top of the gazebo. 

It's a lovely, fanciful design, beautifully drawn, and I have no idea what it was for. I'm not even sure if it was meant to be life size, with a chorus girl taking the part of shepherdess, or a prop to be set on a table. The back of the board has the name "Ripley", while the front has the enigmatic note "with 6 in square top. 9" & bottom - 6 ft 9", and "5 ft 6". All very mysterious. If the intent was for the overall piece to be 6' 9", it would need quite a large table to support it!

The New Yorkers -1901

Here is a Siedle gown designed for a set of ten chorus ladies. This particular outfit appears to be a variation of the pink dresses, black gloves and black hats worn by the famous Florodora girls, the beauty chorus of six women known as the Florodora sextette, as seen below. Florodora was a hugely successful and influential production that opened on Broadway in 1900; I’ve heard that Caroline Siedle designed the costumes, but I’ve been unable to verify the claim.

The drawing of this pale pink gown, trimmed with elaborate appliqués in black & white, has been cut to an oval shape for framing at some point in the past. Sadly this removed the Siedle signature and any useful information that might have been written in the corners of the board; fortunately the back does still feature a list of the names of the ten chorus ladies who wore the dress, which makes it possible to place this in The New Yorkers, a 1901 show produced by George Lederer at the Herald Square Theatre.

 The production featured Dan Daly, appearing in his first starring role, as a struggling New Yorker living in Paris, France. He tries to pass himself off as a Baron in order to marry a wealthy heiress, but the real Baron turns up, leading to assorted comic situations. The music was written by Ludwig Englander, a prolific and successful composer for the stage - in the course of seven years he wrote the scores for 15 comic operas!

The Girl From Up There - 1901

Caroline Siedle's designs for The Girl From Up There, a 1901 production starring Edna May, received a thorough description in this uncredited article from the personal scrapbook of the actress. I have not come across any drawings of designs from this show, but the souvenir album was well illustrated with images, including a number of sketches of the Siedle costumes drawn by Archie Gunn, another artist and costume designer.

Elaborate stage gowns are not a novelty; elegance and beauty are shown in every modern production, but such creations as clothe the slender figure of Edna May in "The Girl From Up There" are unusual. 

One of her frocks is Princess shape, and three shades of pink combine in it. First, a slip of cerise satin, over which are deep frills of accordian pleated chiffon; next, the princess slip of rose pink crepe de chine, which is entirely covered with gold spangles. These glittering bits of gold are not sewed on in the ordinary way, but hang from tiny threads of gold, shaping and reflecting the light at every movement. Across the bust, over the shoulders, down the side and around the bottom of this pointed slip is a continuous row of pink velvet roses, with occasional green leaves.

Over this poem in pink and gold is worn a voluminous cloak of silver completely covered with silver spangles. These spangles depend from little strings of silver bugle beads, so they glisten and shake continually. Long sleeves and a train has this cloak, and with it is worn an odd headdress with pendant strings of silver beads. The weight of this cloak is seventy-five pounds, and it requires all the strength of which Miss May is capable to hold it up the brief time she wears it.

To go back to the first act, another idyllic gown is that in which "the girl from up there" makes her first appearance. It is gold in effect, but has a pinkish tone which is soft and indescribable. The material is crepe de chine again, and it is heavily embroidered with gold arabesques and studded with topaz stones. Princess in style, with long sleeves, slightly low neck, a beautiful girdle of gold and rhinestones and a crowning beauty in the gold wreath for headdress, this costume is one of the loveliest ever seen on the New York stage. 

White panne velvet and chiffon seem an unusual combination, but another frock has a skirt composed of alternate panels of these materials, with a band of pearl trimming where they are joined. The bodice has a transparent yoke and high collar of white chiffon in the finest tucks. Sleeves of the same material come to the elbow. Across the bust and over the shoulders is a wide band of the pearl trimming. This bodice opens in the back and the front panel of the skirt extends beyond the waist line, fastening half way up the front of the bodice.

 

Another white frock which Miss May alternates with this is of mousselline de soie, spangled with tiny silver spangles. The narrow flounces on the skirt are bordered with tiny gold braid. The full bodice is of the mouselline, over which is worn a spangled bolero, edged with the gold braid and silver embroidery. This frock has a high lace collar. A big black hat and black gloves go with both these white gowns.

Charming is the little gray silk Quaker costume, also worn in the second act, and the boy's rig of dark green velvet is jaunty and dainty as a boy's clothes could possibly be. Knickerbockers and coat are of velvet, the latter trimmed with gold braid and buttons. Underneath the coat is a silk jersey, in white and turquoise stripes. A scarf of red crepe de chine is knotted about the waist, and a bit of the same brilliant color is shown in the big gray hat. High boots, of gray complete this fascinating rig.

 

A Latticework Gown

This drawing by Caroline Siedle is for a costume from an unknown production. The dress features ribbon latticework, a decorative element that is seen in various other Siedle designs; bodice, skirt and sleeves are all created using this technique, resulting in a net of ribbon over the entire figure. At first glance this appears to be a modest gown, but on closer inspection one realizes this isn’t the case; this lovely design might fool the unsuspecting viewer.

Siedle was no stranger to the idea of costumes that revealed the figure, and was well familiar with the need to provide more visual thrills to the tired businessmen in the audience. In this case, the skirt is slit on both sides from hem to waist, giving ample opportunity to view the wearer's legs as she moved about the stage. On the back of the board, Siedle instructs that the gown is to have no petticoat, instead there should be flesh colored tights and lavender stockings. The neckline of the gown is cut quite low underneath the mesh of ribbon, creating an overall sense of a game of peekaboo. 

The drawing is done in tones of lavender and white, with silver gilt highlights on the intersections of the latticework. It appears that Siedle originally considered including a low hanging heart necklace/pendant as part of the ensemble, as it can be seen sketched in pencil below the waist, but she apparently decided against the idea.

Unfortunately this drawing has been trimmed into an oval shape. While this hasn’t damaged the lovely image, it does remove any possible notes written in the corners, which might have helped identify the intended character or performer. Of course it is possible there were no useful notes, as frequently happens on Siedle designs. The drawing does have a long description on the back concerning construction details of the dress, written in Siedle's characteristically difficult to read handwriting - several words are either illegible or missing:

Satin dress cut extremely fashionably. 

The white satin ribbon forms lattice & is fastened where crossed with ornament & ends in points all over skirt & from the point is a full accordion pleated deep flounce. 

The skirt is cut up on either side of front & is fastened at top with three of the buttons & cord which runs all down the sides. 

Skirt is lined in white satin - Ruffle of transparent goods at bottom edge.

Lavender satin ribbons, no petticoat but flesh color at top of tights to waist & lavender stockings and shoes.

Underwaist of lavender is cut low - the sleeves have no lining if can be made without. 

Toque tam’o shanter of white satin with gathered satin ribbon in rings shaded violet - good white feather.

Shoulders bare - White net short drawers & also at sides - garters of white satin. 

Chorus Ladies - Lambs

Themed choruses were certainly popular in Caroline Siedle’s day. Chorus girls dressed as flowers, fruit, insects, animals, abstract concepts, anything and everything were all to be found on the New York stages.

In this case, we have lambs. The lamb’s head bonnets make this clear, along with the fleecy collars and trim on the skirt and long gloves, not to mention the tails hanging off the muff. This design has the simple notation of “Lambs - Chorus Ladies” and nothing else to identify where it was used. I’m tempted again to place it in a Weber & Fields show, or perhaps from the Casino Theatre, as the revue-style productions they produced could easily lend themselves to these fanciful kinds of design.

Another fun possibility, though with nothing to back it up, is Babes in Toyland. In the first act the Piper children sing to Bo-Peep to console her about her lost sheep, and the song includes a chorus with bleating sheep. It’s amusing to think that there may have been chorus ladies in these costumes portraying the sheep! Admittedly, it’s not a very likely theory.

 An interesting point on costume manufacturing at this time was the tendency to have costumes made in Europe. They were cheaper to manufacture, and with the quantity of dresses and other garments needed for a large cast, the savings could add up. However, there was a 60% tariff on clothing imported into the USA, so the enterprising theater managers would have the costumes cut and loosely basted together, not finished. That way they could be imported as fabric rather than garments and finished here, saving a good deal of money!

Babes in Toyland - 1903 Grumio

A final Caroline Siedle piece from Babes in Toyland is this costume design for Grumio, an assistant to the Master Toymaker. This is an elegant outfit, most likely from the third act of the production.

With striped coat, floral waistcoat and lace, ribbons and bows in tones of light blue and turquoise, you'd never guess this was a lowly assistant. Siedle has given him all the trappings of a dandy, a contrast to the outfit he wears in the Toymaker’s shop. In the third act he’s supposed to be disguised as a valet, which could account for his finery; valets like to be well dressed! This pairs well with Jill’s green dress, as the two characters are fleeing Toyland together.

Grumio was played by Charles Guyer, the husband of Nellie Daly, who played Jill. The pair created a hit in the show with their “knockabout dance” in which they destroy much of the Toymaker’s workroom. The color advertisement shown gives a sense of the action; we see Grumio wearing his workshop costume spinning Jill, wearing her Act 1 dress. But in the later publicity photo shown below, Grumio (Walter Schrode) is still dressed for the workroom, while Jill (Maud Campbell) is in her fancy outfit. Identifying what costume was used where can be very confusing!