PROCTOR OPERA HOUSE

The front page of today's Connecticut Post Newspaper has an article regarding the once famous Sterling Opera House in Derby, CT and fundraising plans for a renovation. Bridgeport, CT, also, once had an opera theatre house, although I can find no specific information about the opera house except for press releases regarding stage performances in the 1890's which include Columbia University Library archives.  I am a graduate of Columbia University in the City of New York:  

The Proctor Opera House existed in Bridgeport, CT and was part of a chain of opera houses managed from a main office in New York City.  There is still a Proctor Theatre in Schenectady, NY (http://www.proctors.org/about/history-proctors)

One newspaper announcement and critique for a play at Bridgeport's Proctor Opera Theatre is as follows:

(REFERENCE:  SPORTING LIFE, 1890)

OF LITTLE  MERIT.
"The Bottom of the Sea'

Merely Made For
Mechanical Effects.
At Proctor's Opera House, Bridgeport, Ct.,
Aug. 25, "The Bottom of the Sea" was acted
for the first time on any stage, under that
title. It is an adaptation, by Hart Conway,
of an old French spectacle by M. Cotambert,
its original name, we believe, being "Au
Fond de la Mer." It was' produced at San
Francisco about fifteen years ago. \V. A.
Hart owns the right, and one of his troupes
is touring it. There is but little plot. Dramatic
incidents are almost entirely lacking,
except such as are created by the mechanical
contrivances and scenic effects.
Briefly told, the play deals with the wreck
of a ship, and the loss of a casket of jewels
belonging to Ernest Le Brun, who is drowned
in the marine disaster, while his daughter,
the heroine ot the play, is rescued by the gal-
Iantry of James Norton, the hero. A cousin
of Miss Le Brun , Hcnri De Sartene. is as
deeply in love with her as the hero. The two
are engaged iu Iaying an Atlantic cable. They
are jealous of each other. The cable is parted
through the maliciousness of AIexis Banalli
a Greek, who hates every one, and is anxious
to get to the bottom of the sea to recover the
lost jewels. Four men descend to the ocean's
bottom to splice the cable. The Greek discovers
the jewels, and attempts to murder
De Sartene. She throws the blame upon Norton,
who is miraculously saved by the reappearance
of the supposed dead man. The
play ends in a love feast for the good after
the guilty have received their reward."

AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB CONNECTIONS

The month of February in the dog show world is renown for the Westminster Dog Show which has been held yearly at Madison Square Garden in New York City since the 1880's.  I cross-post this with my "Dog Training History Blog".

Dr. James E. Hair of Bridgeport, CT was a recognized dog show judge including assignments at the Westminster Dog Show.  He was known for judging Pointers and Setters, however, he also judged other dog breeds.

Reference from the Outing Magazine, 1899:


"Notes of the Month.
The Connecticut State Field Trials Club
have elected the following officers: President,

E. K. Sperry; Secretary and Treasurer, John E.
Bassett; First Vice-President, Dr. James E. Hair
Vice-President, W. J, Erwin; Second Vice-President, F. M. Chapin;
Executive Board of Governors, William G. Comstock, W. S. Hawley."

The above list of the Connecticut State Field Trials Club also contains some
other Bridgeport, CT notables.

BICYCLING HISTORY IN BRIDGEPORT, CT

In the 1880's, while cycling in France and other countries in Europe had developed as a major sport, pastime, and mode of touring the countryside, America appeared with a representation of local and regional cycling or wheelmen clubs.

There were a number of bicycle manufacturers in the State of Connecticut by the end of the 1880's and 1890's.  Also, there was intense competition between bicycle manufacturers in the United States.  These bicycle manufacturers sponsored road racing and track cycling clubs.   Reference my blog post from September 26, 2012 regarding cycling history in Connecticut:  

http://bridgeportcthistory.blogspot.com/2012/09/bicycle-manufacturing-industry-in.html

Ultimately, by 1900 many of the Connecticut cycling clubs, including in Bridgeport, disappeared.  Perhaps this was related to the intense competition between bicycle manufacturers which caused many of them to close or consolidate with other companies and funding, prize money, and/or sponsorships became economically depleted.

Some of the bicycling clubs were:

The Pequonnock Wheelmen (1884 reference from Outing Magazine):

"The

Pequonnock Wheelmen, of Bridgeport,

Connecticut, have chosen for officers for the

ensuing year: G. H. Johnson, president; E. S.

Sumner, secretary, and J. H. Smith, treasurer"

The Rambling Wheel Club (1890 reference from The Sporting Life):

"CONNECTICUT WHEELMEN.

Tournament of the Rambling Wheel Club

at Bridgeport.

The races of the Rambling Wheel Club, of

Bridgeport, Ct., took place at Seaside Park

May 30. The banks of the race course were

lined with a large crowd. The races resulted:

One hundred yards dash (on foot) Won by Charles

Fox,lul<%9.

Fred Schubert won the one mile ordinary race In

3m. 285i«.

Tho half-mile race between Charles Fox and Fred

ScMibert w^a Tory interesting and was taken by Fox

iu 1m. 37s.

The half-mile safety race was won by Fox In

1m. 37-).

The most interesting race was the three mile ordinary,

in which there were Qiree contestants. Fox

was again victorious, winning in llm. 3SS. Fox won

the same race Imt year In 10m. 20^4-.

The two mile safety ruce between George North

and William Seltsam wa-j won by the latter in 7m. 27*.

The last and bes: race '-f tbe serit-s was a two mile

tandum safety between Guorce North aud William

Seltsam, and J. Wilkmson snd W. A. O'Nril. It was

very close, aud all during the rac« there was only a

fow fe-t between them. On the home stretcu tlie two

I.jrmer spurted in fine atjle, winning the race in

3ui. 25s.

The track officers were: Referee, T. H.

Smith; starter, C. A. Reed; clerk of course, II.

H. Brautigan; judges, F. A. Bartholomew, H.

E. Walters, H. S. Towe; timers, Fred Nichols,

L. Ricli,"

(There use to be a track a Seaside Park)

The Bridgeport Wheelmen (1892 Reference from The Sporting Life):

"IS I! I BO E POUT WOX THE PRIZE.

The Bridgeport Wheel Club.of Bridgeport

Ct., dressed in their natty uniforms of white

flannel with white flannel caps to match.

presented the best appearance and were awarded

first prize.

Tin-Colt Bicycling.Clnb, of Hartford, took the

first prize for the greatest number of men ii

line, and the Lincoln Cycling Club.of Chi

cago. took second prize.

On Tuesday night the excursion down the

Potomac to Marshall Hull,on the steamers.

River Queen and Mncalester, nttractec

about 1000 people in spite of the heavy rain

storm which took place early in the evening"

In the United States during these early years, the League of American Wheelmen was the governing organization for races and clubs.  A Mr. Thomas Sheridan who was born and grew-up in Bridgeport, CT became a Vice-President of the League of American Wheelmen in 1892.  He had moved to Illinois by that time period: 

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SportingLife/1892/VOL_18_NO_21/SL1821006.pdf






http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/Outing/Volume_09/outIX04/outIX04m.pdf

JENNINGS BROTHERS METAL FOUNDERY

            The Jennings Brothers Metal Foundery was opened by the 3 Jennings Brothers in 1890 in Bridgeport, CT.  Their offices started in 2 small wood buildings and their foundery in a brick building.  Ultimately, they expanded to a larger factory biulding which was located on Elm Street in Bridgeport.  

They specialized in metal art and maintained a staff of artists and sculptors to craft their metal art objects ("Nouveau" metal art) which included clocks, bookends, statues, metal cases, candelabras and some silver-plated utensils.  Their original items were signed with the initials "JB" on each pieces.  Many JB objects are sold at auctions:  http://www.chs.org/bookends .  Older residents of Brideport can probably find at least one JB object in their house. 

In the early 1950's the Jennings Brothers Manufacturing Company went out of business and the art object casts were purchased by another company in Philadelphia, PA.  They used the original JR casts to manufacture replicas which are cheaper versions of the original JR items sold at art auctions. 

One of the items which the Jennings Brothers produced was a small-scale version of a famous sculpture by Cyrus Dallin of "Massasoit".  This item was owned by the Medicine Man Gallery:  http://www.medicinemangallery.com/collection/deceased,-other/c/Dallin-1861%252D1944,-Cyrus-E/1/Jennings-Brothers--Reproduction-of-Cyrus-Dallins-(1861%252D1944)-Massasoit .  The following is a JB clock design from the era 1900-1910:

[NOTE:  This is simply one of the blog posts.  If you have questions about the value

of any Jennings Brothers items, you have to ask an appraiser.  I am not an appraiser.]

Hurricane Sandy October 29-30, 2012

What a miserable week in the aftermath of the hurricane.  The last hurricane that did the most damage to the Connecticut coast was the Hurricane of 1938 or the "Yankee Clipper".  There are a number of books published about the storm of 1938 and a photo archive in the Connecticut State Library.

 I had plenty of candles for the days without electricity, plenty of water and food, and expended my cell telephone time on daily calls to the electric company and local Emergency Operations Center.  During these days without electricity, my cell telephone was often not functioning.  At many times, my calls "failed".  I even tried the main, non-emergency information numbers to the police department a few times and these calls failed, also.  Curiously, if I had a real emergency at home, and actually needed to dial 911, I am not sure the telephone call would have gotten to the department. 

Recently purchased a new Canon T3 Rebel camera and went out on Wednesday, October 31, 2012
(36-48 hours post Hurricane Sandy) to see if I could get some photos of the hurricane damage.  There was NO access to most of the coastal areas and the Connecticut National Guard was on duty in Bridgeport along the damaged coastal areas.  I had not seen the National Guard in the open with their weapons by their side since 9/11.  Needless to say, the presence of the National Guard was reassuring.

However, I did manage to get near the coast by driving to the old industrial access road to Pleasure Beach which is on the border of Bridgeport and Stratford.   There was not much obvious damage along the industrial road which dead-ends at the Pleasure Beach access bridge.  The following is what the old island access bridge used to look like: 

This bridge was seriously unsafe and was demolished years ago. 


On Wednesday, the storm water was high but the industrial roads were not flooded.  Here is my photo from the waterfront access area: 

The only beach/land area not covered by water was the farthest tip of Pleasure Beach Island as shown in the above photo.  There is usually a large section of empty land area between the photo spot and the distant island as shown in this old aerial photo provided for comparative purposes:

 An environmental boondoggle of development and remediation is the issue of flooding during storms and the deleterious effect of the floodwaters on the habitat..  This island area is important bird habitat and has been significantly affected by the high storm waters.  The storm surge and flooding washed away the history of the old-time amusement park at Pleasure Beach which once filled the foreground of the island.

Marina Village Historic District

Last weekend I was browsing a real estate listing for Seaside Village.  Always thought the small houses with their country, suburban architectural style were unique.  Spent every sunny, summer day at the nearby Seaside Park beach as a child and traveled past the Village on each of these days. 

I decided to revisit some of the history of the Village which is now under the control of the Bridgeport Housing Authority.  The Village is listed as a co-op with 14 or 15 units.  It was obvious that the village-style townhouses were late 1800's or early 1900's.  Due to the village proximity to Long Island Sound and Seaside Park, my assumption was that the village may have been built for weekenders from the New York City area.  The Marina Village Historic District is described in the following article, yet does not include the discrete village section which I refer to in this blog post:

http://www.livingplaces.com/CT/Fairfield_County/Bridgeport_City/Marina_Park_Historic_District.html

Judging by the few photos of the interiors in the real estate listings, most of the historic cottage-style  design has been long gone decimated by the "urbanization" and the deterioration of the area.  One of the annexes of Sikorsky Aircraft is just down the street.  There is another housing project nearby which is also called Marina Village.  Interstate 95 is 3-4 blocks to the north.  Picturesque Long Island Sound and Seaside Park are 2-3 blocks to the south.  I enjoy renovating old urban buildings and restoring them to their original style (building interiors included).  The Marina Village interiors would be a challenge to restore. 

The exteriors of the Village display a charming old and sometimes customized brick.  Tiled roofs were a quaint feature.  Photos of the exterior are rare due to the neighborhood's contemporary scene of drugs, violence, and gangs.  This particular exterior photo is encapsulated and does not reveal the true styling of the village:

Here is a view from Google Maps:  http://maps.google.com/?ll=41.165668,-73.199072&spn=0.002031,0.002006&t=h&z=18



Iranistan Avenue is just to the right.  I could not get a "streetside" of the Marina Village Historic District.

A Contemporary Bridgeporter, now at Poplar Forest, Virginia

As noted in my previous blog post from September 1, 2012, I have been following the paleobotanical research at Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest for a few years.  This month, I received the quarterly newletter. Notes on the State of Poplar Forest.  Flipping through the newsletter, I noticed the biographical sketch of Poplar Forest's new President, Jeffrey L. Nichols.  I never met Jeffrey Nichols, however, I am aware that he is the recent, former director of the Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, CT.  Mr. Nichols, of all places, was born in Bridgeport, CT.  I was surprised when the announcement was dispensed that Mr. Nichols was leaving the Mark Twain Museum director's job and was hired at Poplar Forest.   Many months ago, I had sent an email to Mr. Nichols at the Mark Twain House with an historical inquiry.  He never responded to my email.  Oh well!

Well, since I plan to visit the Poplar Forest sometime and see the botanical archeology research, I will have to see if I can meet with Mr. Nichols.  Good Luck till then Nichols.