Year: 1912

Eugene O’Rourke and Co.

This sketch entitled “A Woman of the Streets” was sixteen minutes long. The sketch was adapted by Fred F. Schrader. A French woman (Nellie Elting) and her lover are brought before a magistrate (O’Rourke). She has had a distrust for the law ever since her mother was betrayed by an official and she herself was forced to live on the street. She wears her mother’s engagement ring on her finger. It is revealed that the magistrate is actually her estranged father, who offers to buy the ring in exchange for her silence. She refuses and a violent scuffle ensues in which the magistrate rips the ring from her finger. She leaves in a rage. He then kisses the ring and dismisses the case against her and her lover.

Gates and Leighton

This sister act was ten minutes long. Two women sing. Miss Leighton plays the piano for the opening number while Miss Gates walks through the crowd with a “camera-like box” which shines a light on people in the audience. They sing solos and duets.

Moon and Morris

The act was three minutes long on the full stage. Moon and Morris have recently returned from a revue in Paris in which they did quite well. One man dances directly in front of the other man because he is a full head shorter. They are both dressed in black satin knee pants and full white satin dress coats.

Whitney and Brand

This sister act was fourteen minutes long. Two women sing and dance. One is thin and one is stout. The act opens with the stout woman at the piano while the thin one does a clog dance. The pianist sings alone while the other changes costume. The thin woman then performs a Scotch song and dance, proceeded by a native dance in native costume. The stout woman dressed in eccentric clothing and the thin woman dressed in evening clothes then do some cross-fire talk. The finale is a song and dance duet.

Polzin Brothers

The act was twelve minutes long on the full stage. The Polzin Brothers do some ground and lofty tumbling. They do a trick in which the top mounter jumps from a springboard onto the shoulders and head of the understander.

Karlton and Klifford

This oil painting act was eleven minutes long. Two men paint exterior scenes in oil on transparent easels so that the audience can see their progress. For the finale, the two men come together to paint a picture of a farm house in a snowstorm.

Edith Kelmer

The act was twelve minutes long. Edith, who appears to be a former chorus girl, sings in a few nice gowns. She is good-looking and “titian-haired.”

Leach, LaQuinlan Trio

This slack wire act was eight minutes long on the full stage. “Two women in tights, holding slack wire around their necks and by their teeth while man does a good slack wire turn.”

Austin Dare and Co.

This sketch entitled “His Wedding Day” was fourteen minutes long. Dare plays a man who sits in bed and attempts to sleep off the effects of having been “soused” the night before. He speaks with an English accent. It is his wedding day, so his best man (played by E.J. Simms) tries to rouse him out of bed. Word comes that the wedding is postponed, so he goes back to bed.