The junior class of Annie Wright Seminary presented as its class play, "Innman's Ranch," in December of 1923. All the characters were played by the female students including the male roles. G10.1-098

Theatrical productions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma)--1920-1930;

Maid Marian modestly accepts the courtly bow of an admiring man in this June 9, 1928, production of "Robin of Sherwood." Smilingly, he has doffed his plumed hat. "Robin of Sherwood" was a production of the Mountaineer Players, a division of the Mountaineers Club, set in a natural amphitheater designed by William C. Darling and located near Bremerton. The site, located on 21 acres called the Kitsap Cabin, is owned and maintained by the Mountaineers Club. The Mountaineer Players have presented a spring show since 1923, with the exception of the war years 1943-1946, with the first production being "Robin of Sherwood."

Actors--Kitsap County; Actresses; Mountaineer Players (Kitsap County); Kitsap Cabin (Kitsap County); Open-air theaters--Kitsap County; Open-air theatrical productions--Kitsap County; Bowing;

The Mountaineer Players, a division of the non-profit Mountaineers Club of Seattle, portray Robin Hood and his merry men in a June 9, 1928, performance of "Robin of Sherwood" in an all-natural forest setting. The play had previously been performed in 1923 as the group's first reheased production; since then, a show has been presented every spring to coincide with blooming wild rhododendrons. Plays are still being performed on the 21-acre Kitsap Cabin property near Bremerton, home of the Forest Theatre, believed to be one of the oldest outdoor theaters in the United States. (www.foresttheater.com/theater/theater.html; www.kitsapcabin.org/index.php)

Actors--Kitsap County; Actresses; Mountaineer Players (Kitsap County); Kitsap Cabin (Kitsap County); Open-air theaters--Kitsap County; Open-air theatrical productions--Kitsap County;

Actor Harold Lloyd and his wife, Mildred Davis, in Tacoma on April 21, 1925, at Union Station. The Lloyds were on their way to New York from California and stopped in Tacoma for a few hours. Dressed primarily in white, including a white fur coat with white fox collar, white hose, white pumps and a small white handbag, actress Mildred Davis stands next to her famous actor/comedian spouse, who is sans his trademark hornrimmed spectacles. Miss Davis is formerly from Tacoma and was paying her first visit to her old hometown since her marriage in 1923. Desiring to show her husband the high school she attended, she and Mr. Lloyd caused a mob scene at Stadium High School where hundreds of students were excited to see the celebrities. Miss Davis had appeared with her husband in many of his comedies and was his leading lady in his best remembered film, "Safety Last." (1923) (TDL 4-22-25, p. 1) TPL-6689; G67.1-13

Actors; Lloyd, Harold; Lloyd, Harold--Family; Actresses; Davis, Mildred; Railroad stations--Tacoma; Union Station (Tacoma); Railroad travel--Tacoma--1920-1930;

April 21, 1925, saw the return of former hometown girl, Mildred Davis, and her movie star husband, Harold Lloyd. Miss Davis had been a student at Stadium High School prior to her acting career. She and her husband (on right) are posed at Union Station along with Director Joe Murphy and Mr. Murphy's wife. The Lloyds were on the way to New York from California and made a brief stopover in Tacoma. (TDL 4-22-25, p. 1; TNT 4-22-25, p. 1+-article only)

Actors; Lloyd, Harold; Lloyd, Harold--Family; Actresses; Davis, Mildred; Murphy, Joe; Murphy, Joe--Family; Railroad stations--Tacoma; Union Station (Tacoma); Railroad travel--Tacoma--1920-1930;

The assembled and costumed cast of the patriotic pageant, "Democracy," appear on stage at the McCarver Intermediate School on May 6, 1927. Many were dressed in clothing reflecting their various cultures. 100 pupils participated on stage in episodes of American history. The pageant was written and directed by history teacher Zeta Dalton. TPL-1553 (TNT 4-19-27, p. 17-article)

Theatrical productions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Costumes; McCarver Junior High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Posed with Flying Cloud and Wolverine automobiles from the Winthrop Motor Co., Reo distributors, are the Maylon Players theatrical troupe. They are enjoying a sunny July day in 1928 at Point Defiance Park. The actors presented plays for appreciative Tacoma audiences including "Rain" and "Naomi of the North." G41.1-052 (Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 7-15-28, B-3-article; Tacoma Sunday Ledger, 7-22-28, 8-G, article & alternate photograph)

Actors--Tacoma--1920-1930; Maylon Players (Tacoma); Reo automobile; Point Defiance Park (Tacoma);

Will Maylon and Margaret Nixon of the Maylon Players theatrical troupe are parked in a vintage Winthrop Motor Company car in front of the Heilig (later Temple) Theater at 47 Saint Helens Avenue in June of 1929. The theater's huge arched roofed marquee and glassed-in playbill announce the troupe's appearance in Tacoma. The automobile, a 1904 Reo, was on display at Winthrop Motors; it was still functional and could reach speeds up to 20 mph. TPL-9778; G64.1-053 (T.Times 6-22-29, p. 23)

Actors--Tacoma--1920-1930; Maylon Players (Tacoma); Maylon, Will; Nixon, Margaret; Reo automobile; Temple Theatre (Tacoma);

ca. 1936. Magician Ray Gamble, seated facing the camera at near right, enjoying a meal with friends in Hollywood. Mr. Gamble and his wife Addie had apparently paid a visit to the famed Sardi's restaurant about 1936. Beatrice Houdini, widow of Harry Houdini, was seated in the next table along with Edward Saint. Caricatures of Eddie Cantor and Peter Lorre, and others, decorate the wall behind Mr. Gamble. From left to right are: Capt. Charles Howard of the Canadian Mounted Police; Mrs. Howard; Dr. J.E. Evedon of Hollywood; Mrs. Gamble; Mrs. Evedon; and Ray Gamble.

Magicians; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Gamble, Addie; Howard, Charles; Howard, Charles--Family; Evedon, J.E.; Evedon, J.E.--Family; Sardi's (Hollywood, CA); Caricatures;

Beatrice (Mrs. Harry) Houdini, dressed in a long white coat and hat, photographed at the Hotel Winthrop where she is a guest. She is standing beside an elaborate table on which an ornate potted palm has been placed. Mrs. Houdini was visiting in Tacoma after attending the convention of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians in Seattle the prior week. As Harry Houdini's assistant for 42 years, she was the only living person who knew all the secrets of his famous tricks and she wasn't giving any away. Houdini had not been able to perform his greatest trick after death, the communication to his wife of a prearranged word and message psychically from the "Beyond." Mrs. Houdini planned the "Seance to end all seances" for October 31, the 10th anniversary of his death. Psychics would be linked by radio coast to coast in a psychic circle to wait for the message, but none came. (T. Times 7/14/1936, pg. 3)

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice;

Beatrice Houdini, widow of the famous magician Harry Houdini, with Tacoma's Ray Gamble seated at a restaurant booth. Caricature drawings on the wall in background. Ray Gamble was a Tacoma business magnate and a dedicated amateur magician. It is as a magician that he made close friends with the magic community as well as the Hollywood film set. He was also a world traveler and collector. TPL-5100, TPL-6693

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972;

Beatrice (Bessie) Houdini, in white, is in Tacoma to visit Ray Gamble, left, and Gamble's wife Addie, right. Bessie worked alongside her famous husband as his stage assistant from the time of their marriage in 1894. Harry Houdini, the world renowned escape artist and magician, died in 1926. Mrs. Houdini visited with the Gambles on several occasions. Gamble, an industrialist by trade and a magician by avocation, is sitting next to Mrs. Houdini's personal secretary Mr. Edward Saint.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Rowboats; Fishing; Saint, Edward; Gamble, Addie;

Beatrice (Mrs. Harry) Houdini being helped out of a boat. Ray Gamble stands on dock at left. Edward Saint (man in dark hat) steadies the boat. The woman seated in the boat is Addie (Mrs. Ray) Gamble. (T. Times).

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Rowboats; Saint, Edward; Gamble, Addie;

ca. 1936. Beatrice (Mrs. Harry) Houdini, Ray Gamble and other guests sit around a restaurant table believed to be located in the famed Sardi's restaurant in Hollywood circa 1936. On the walls are caricatures of famous visitors . At the table, left to right, are Edward Saint, unidentified, Ray Gamble, Beatrice Houdini, unidentified woman and another unidentified male.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Saint, Edward;

Beatrice (Mrs. Harry) Houdini, on right, discussing a piece of patterned fabric with another woman, most likely Addie (Mrs. Ray) Gamble and Edward Saint. Edward Saint was Mrs. Houdini's personal secretary, a magician of note and the author of "The Life of Houdini," which was being produced as a film by Paramount in the fall. The piece of fabric is very likely a tea towel. In 1930, Beatrice Houdini ran "Mrs. Harry Houdini's Rendezvous," a tea room, in New York City. (T. Times).

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Saint, Edward; Gamble, Addie;

College of Puget Sound Homecoming play "Night of January 16th" by Ayn Rand. Popular play with a "hook"; the jury was selected from the audience before each performance and asked to find the accused guilty or not guilty of murder at the end of the staged trial.

Theatrical productions--Tacoma--1930-1940; Universities & colleges--Tacoma; College of Puget Sound (Tacoma)--1930-1940;

Tacoma Schools' combined music departments presented the operetta "Hansel and Gretel" during the Northwest Music Educator's Conference in March, 1939. Hansel, Harry Aldrich, and Gretel, Dolores Klaiber, are pictured lost in the forest. Both of the performers are elementary students, Harry from Franklin and Dolores from Grant. The third child on the right was not identified. The operetta by Engelbert Humperdinck is one of only a few with children as the principals. It is based on the Grimm Brothers fairy tale. (T. Times, 3/3/1939, p. 13)

Operas & operettas--Tacoma--1930-1940; Klaiber, Dolores; Aldrich, Harry; School children--Tacoma--1930-1940;

Dolores Klaiber, as Gretel, Charlotte Sands, as the witch, and Harry Lue Aldrich, as Hansel, appeared in an operetta version of Humperdinck's opera "Hansel and Gretel" in March of 1939. Many of the original solos were transposed into prose to shorten the performance, and make it easier for the young singers. All three of the performers were elementary students. The operetta was presented by the Tacoma Schools' combined music departments for the entertainment of delegates to the Northwest Music Educator's conference in Tacoma. The young people gave four performances to capacity crowds at the Jason Lee auditorium. The conference was held March 28 through April 1, 1939. (T. Times 3/3/1939, p. 13)

Operas & operettas--Tacoma--1930-1940; Klaiber, Dolores; Sands, Charlotte; Aldrich, Harry;

These three children were the principals in an operetta version of Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" performed before large crowds at the Northwest Music Educators' March, 1939 conference in Tacoma. Harry Lue Aldrich (Hansel) has been lassoed by the wicked witch Charlotte Sands as Dolores Klaiber (Gretel) stands aghast. All three were elementary school students.

Operas & operettas--Tacoma--1930-1940; Klaiber, Dolores; Sands, Charlotte; Aldrich, Harry; School children--Tacoma--1930-1940;

On March 17, 1941, William F. Porter (center), a member of the Boilermakers' union employed at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard, bought five tickets from Donna Mae Jaden for a fund raising concert being given in Tacoma. The "On to Spokane" concert was being given to raise money to send Tacoma school musicians to the National Music Educators conference being held in Spokane at the end of the month. Oscar Williams (left) was chairman of the Young Men's Business Club committee sponsoring the concert. Donna Jaden, a member of the Stadium H.S. Girl's Glee Club, became the movie actress Janis Paige. (T. Times 3/19/1941 p.13)

Actresses; Paige, Janis; Jaden, Donna Mae; Porter, William F.; Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. (Tacoma); Williams, Oscar;

Lincoln High School orchestra, five girls with cellos. The girls are, left to right, Jessie Miller, Marilyn Atkins, Iva May Blish, Phyllis McClary and Joyce Rausch. All are wearing white shirts and dark jackets with skirts. (T.Times 11/29/1940 p.11)

Orchestras--Tacoma--1940-1950; Youth orchestras--Tacoma--1940-1950; Lincoln High School (Tacoma); Violoncellos; Music ensembles; Students--Tacoma--1940-1950; Miller, Jessie; Atkins, Marilyn; Blish, Iva May; McClary, Phyllis; Rausch, Joyce;

Beatrice Houdini, widow of the famous magician Harry Houdini, tries her luck with the slot machines while attending a party at Ray Gamble's "Elephant House" during a visit to Tacoma in July, 1941. The man in the sports coat and light colored slacks who is playing the slot machine is Edward Saint. Edward Saint was described as Mrs. Houdini's personal secretary, a former outstanding magician and the author of "The Life of Houdini." Mr. Gamble was a very successful business entrepreneur with a keen interest in magic. He had just been elected president of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians as the group met in Seattle. It is very possible that many of these guests were participants in the conference. (TNT 7-27-41, p. 2-A) ALBUM 7.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts; Slot machines--Tacoma;

Beatrice Houdini, center, widow of the famous magician Harry Houdini admires Ray Gamble's elephant sundial during a party honoring her visit to Tacoma in July, 1941. Ray Gamble is to her left, Addie Gamble to her right. The sundial may have been made out of sandstone; it has the name "Joan" enscribed on the base. Mr. Gamble was known for his large collection of elephants; by the mid-1960's, his collection was viewed as the world's largest at over 3000 pieces. ALBUM 7.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Gamble, Ray--Family; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts;

Beatrice Houdini, widow of the famous magician Harry Houdini, center behind sundial, and other guests at Ray Gamble's "Elephant House" during a visit to Tacoma in July, 1941. Mr. Gamble is at far right. He would be elected president of the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians on July 25, 1941, at the group's ninth annual convention held in Seattle. Mr. Gamble and his fellow magicians would put on a show for 5000 soldiers at Fort Lewis on Saturday, July 26, 1941. ALBUM 7.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts;

Beatrice Houdini, white-haired widow of the famous magician Harry Houdini, center rear raising glass, and other party guests at Ray Gamble's "Elephant House" during a visit to Tacoma, July, 1941. Mr. Gamble is at left rear by door. An avid amateur magician, he was foremost in establishing the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians and was elected president during their recently concluded ninth annual convention in Seattle. (TNT 7-27-41, p. 2-A) ALBUM 7.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts;

Guests try their luck with the roulette wheel while attending a party at Ray Gamble's "Elephant House" honoring Beatrice Houdini in July, 1941. The Gamble's basement featured celestial painted walls, a stage, and gambling machines hidden in paneled walls. Their view home on No. 30th St. featured a large collection of elephants, including sandstone elephants at the entrance to their rumpus room. ALBUM 7.

Magicians; Houdini, Harry--Family; Houdini, Beatrice; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972; Gamble, Ray, 1886-1972--Homes & haunts; Gambling--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Eleven-year-old Johnny Sheffield visited Tacoma in June, 1942, to help the War Bond drive. He is pictured here at the Winthrop Hotel with Pierce County War Bond Drive chairman Leon Titus. The woman with corsage next to Johnny is his mother, Mrs. Reginald Sheffield. Perched on the registration counter and examining a visitor's guide to Tacoma, Johnny is wearing the uniform of the Cub Scouts; his uniform is decorated with arrows and service badges. He apparently belonged to the Westwood location. Johnny was making a nationwide tour for the Treasury Department called "Buy Tanks for Yanks." He would be making a speech on "A Boy's Place in America" and be accompanied by a giant 13 ton tank, on display in front of the Roxy Theater. The 84 pound 6th grader was handpicked by Johnny Weissmuller to play "Boy" in eight Tarzan films before finally outgrowing the part. He then went on to star in the Bomba the Jungle Boy series for Monogram. ALBUM 5. (TT 6-15-42, pg. 12-picture; TNT 6-13-42, p. 3, TNT 6-15-42, p. 15)

Sheffield, Johnny; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; Titus, Leon E.; War bonds & funds--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Johnny Sheffield, "Boy" in the "Tarzan" films, attends to his studies with tutor Fletcher Clark at the Winthrop Hotel. Sheffield was in Tacoma for an appearance to sell War Bonds. Fletcher Clark was the former teacher of child star Mickey Rooney. (TNT 6/16/1942)

Sheffield, Johnny; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; War bonds & funds--Tacoma--1940-1950; Clark, Fletcher; Tutoring; Teachers;

Crowd gathers at Liberty Center, 10th and Pacific Avenue, during appearance by Johnny Sheffield, "Boy" in the "Tarzan" films, during his national "Buy Tanks for Yanks" tour for the Treasury Department. The star spoke on "A Boy's Place in America". The eleven-year-old actor, dressed in his Cub Scout uniform, was accompanied by a giant 13 ton tank. The tank would be on display in front of the Roxy Theater on June 15, 1942. Those purchasing war bonds and stamps would have the added thrill of being permitted to board the tank for a personal inspection. (TNT 6-13-42, p. 3, TNT 6-14-42, A-15)

Sheffield, Johnny; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; War bonds & funds--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tanks (Military science)--Tacoma;

Johnny Sheffield, "Boy" in the "Tarzan" films appears at Liberty Center, 10th and Pacific Avenue during his national "Buy Tanks for Yanks" tour for the Treasury Department. Man on his right is Leon Titus, Pierce County War Bond Drive Chairman. The 84 lb. sixth grader was making his fourteenth appearance as a bond salesman for Uncle Sam. Dressed in his Cub Scout uniform, Johnny would deliver a speech entitled "A Boy's Place in America" which was written for him by the Treasury Department. He had been hand-picked by Johnny Weissmuller from a crowd of 300 boys for the role, even though he was unable to swim a stroke. Tousled hair Johnny would play "Boy" in eight Tarzan pictures before finally outgrowing the part. (TNT 6-13-42, p. 3, TNT 6-15-42, p. 15)

Sheffield, Johnny; Actors--Tacoma--1940-1950; War bonds & funds--Tacoma--1940-1950; Titus, Leon E.; Tanks (Military science)--Tacoma;