1917 Season: Difference between revisions

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| management    = Will D. Harris (operating lessee)<br />Joseph W. and Will J. Dusenbury<br />a.k.a. Dusenbury Brothers<br />The Olentangy Park Company
| management    = Will D. Harris (operating lessee)<br />Joseph W. and Will J. Dusenbury<br />a.k.a. Dusenbury Brothers<br />The Olentangy Park Company
| openingday    = April 29, 1917 (Sundays)<br />May 27, 1917 (daily)
| openingday    = April 29, 1917 (Sundays)<br />May 27, 1917 (daily)
| closingday    =  
| closingday    =September 1, 1917
| newattractions =  
| newattractions =Swimming Pool<br />New Restaurant
| band          = Burke's Military Band<br />John McCardle's Orchestra
| band          = Burke's Military Band<br />John McCardle's Orchestra
}}
}}
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Ads claimed Olentangy Park was the "largest and most complete" amusement park in the U.S.<ref>Ad. ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 6 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>
Ads claimed Olentangy Park was the "largest and most complete" amusement park in the U.S.<ref>Ad. ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 6 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>


One hundred ten to 160 men worked throughout the spring to clean up and prepare the park for its opening.<ref name=":0" /> Electricians installed and tested 15,687 electric light globes - each ranging from 60 to 100 candlepower and come in all colors and sizes. The most elaborate lighting was in the [[Dancing Pavilion (Second)|Dancing Pavilion]] ballroom where lights gave a combined power of 100,000 candlepower to create a moonlight effect. The sidewalks were also "alive with lights" and the amusement devices were a "mass of light from one end to the other." Lights were also installed to light the automobile parking lot and towers at each end of the park could be seen for miles.<ref>"Parks Open as May Comes In." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 29 April 1917. Pg. 63.</ref> A new roof was put on the theater and all the buildings were painted green and white.<ref name=":1">"Vaude for Park." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 6 May 1917. Pg. 48.</ref>  
The park closed for the season on September 1, 1917.<ref>"Big Park Is Opening." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>


The newest attraction was the Swimming Pool completed in June 1917 that was the largest inland swimming pool in the world at 300 feet long by 80 feet wide, giving it a surface space of 24,000 square feet. At the east side of the pool, the water was 18 inches deep and the slope gradually ended in 9 feet deep at the west end. Seats were installed on both sides to accommodate spectators. Bath houses separated by gender were of an L-shape and located at the northwest end of the pool with attendants. Manager Harris purchased 3,500 bathing suits of varying popular designs of the time. Two 6-inch water mains by the city waterworks provided the water. The pool was designed to drain and fill within a few hours to afford sanitation. Forty to 50 men worked with two large concrete mixers in early June to complete the pool on scheduled time.<ref>"Pool Prospects." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 3 June 1917. Pg. 52.</ref>
=== Improvements to the Park ===
Manager Harris spent $15,000 ($329,470 in 2022) on improvements for the 1917 season.<ref name=":3" />


A new restaurant was advertised with a special chicken dinner for 60 cents ($13.18 in 2022) on opening day.<ref name=":3">Ad. ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>
One hundred ten to 160 men worked throughout the spring to clean up and prepare the park for its opening.<ref name=":0" /> Electricians installed and tested 15,687 electric light globes - each ranging from 60 to 100 candlepower and come in all colors and sizes. The most elaborate lighting was in the [[Dancing Pavilion (Second)|Dancing Pavilion]] ballroom where lights gave a combined power of 100,000 candlepower to create a moonlight effect. The sidewalks were also "alive with lights" and the amusement devices were a "mass of light from one end to the other." Lights were also installed to light the automobile parking lot and towers at each end of the park could be seen for miles.<ref>"Parks Open as May Comes In." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 29 April 1917. Pg. 63.</ref> A new roof was put on the theater and all the buildings were painted green and white.<ref name=":1">"Vaude for Park." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 6 May 1917. Pg. 48.</ref>


Commodore [[Joe Keenan]] made improvements to the [[Olentangy Canoe Club]] where nominal dues were one dollar. Manager Harris replaced all the old steel row boats.<ref>"Canoeing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 29 April 1917. Pg. 20.</ref>
Commodore [[Joe Keenan]] made improvements to the [[Olentangy Canoe Club]] where nominal dues were one dollar. Manager Harris replaced all the old steel row boats.<ref>"Canoeing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 29 April 1917. Pg. 20.</ref>


In all, Manager Harris spent $15,000 ($329,470 in 2022) on improvements for the 1917 season.<ref name=":3" />
=== New Attractions ===
The newest attraction was the Swimming Pool completed in June 1917 that was the largest inland swimming pool in the world at 300 feet long by 80 feet wide, giving it a surface space of 24,000 square feet. At the east side of the pool, the water was 18 inches deep and the slope gradually ended in 9 feet deep at the west end. Seats were installed on both sides to accommodate spectators. Bath houses separated by gender were of an L-shape and located at the northwest end of the pool with attendants. Manager Harris purchased 3,500 bathing suits of varying popular designs of the time. Two 6-inch water mains by the city waterworks provided the water. The pool was designed to drain and fill within a few hours to afford sanitation. Forty to 50 men worked with two large concrete mixers in early June to complete the pool on scheduled time.<ref>"Pool Prospects." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 3 June 1917. Pg. 52.</ref>


The park closed for the season on September 1, 1917.<ref>"Big Park Is Opening." ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch''. 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>
A new restaurant was advertised with a special chicken dinner for 60 cents ($13.18 in 2022) on opening day.<ref name=":3">Ad. ''The Columbus Sunday Dispatch.'' 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.</ref>


== Rides and Attractions ==
== Rides and Attractions ==

Revision as of 05:25, 18 February 2022

This page is under construction. Please remove this notice when complete.

1917 Season Season
Leadership Will D. Harris (operating lessee)
Joseph W. and Will J. Dusenbury
a.k.a. Dusenbury Brothers
The Olentangy Park Company
Season 29
New Attractions Swimming Pool
New Restaurant
Band(s) Burke's Military Band
John McCardle's Orchestra

Olentangy Park's 29th season opened first on Sunday, April 29, 1917, for Sundays only and for daily operation on Sunday, May 27, 1917.[1] Opening Day featured Frank Robinson's Trained Elephants and Vaudeville troop, Rex Adams and Company performing "The Night Hawks."[2] Burke's Military Band, featuring Anna Woodward and Gene Lord, played fee concerts and John McCardle's Orchestra provided music in the Dancing Pavilion throughout the season. Will D. Harris was the operating lessee of the park, while J.W. and W.J. Dusenbury and their company, The Olentangy Park Company, maintained ownership.[3]

Ads claimed Olentangy Park was the "largest and most complete" amusement park in the U.S.[4]

The park closed for the season on September 1, 1917.[5]

Improvements to the Park

Manager Harris spent $15,000 ($329,470 in 2022) on improvements for the 1917 season.[6]

One hundred ten to 160 men worked throughout the spring to clean up and prepare the park for its opening.[3] Electricians installed and tested 15,687 electric light globes - each ranging from 60 to 100 candlepower and come in all colors and sizes. The most elaborate lighting was in the Dancing Pavilion ballroom where lights gave a combined power of 100,000 candlepower to create a moonlight effect. The sidewalks were also "alive with lights" and the amusement devices were a "mass of light from one end to the other." Lights were also installed to light the automobile parking lot and towers at each end of the park could be seen for miles.[7] A new roof was put on the theater and all the buildings were painted green and white.[8]

Commodore Joe Keenan made improvements to the Olentangy Canoe Club where nominal dues were one dollar. Manager Harris replaced all the old steel row boats.[9]

New Attractions

The newest attraction was the Swimming Pool completed in June 1917 that was the largest inland swimming pool in the world at 300 feet long by 80 feet wide, giving it a surface space of 24,000 square feet. At the east side of the pool, the water was 18 inches deep and the slope gradually ended in 9 feet deep at the west end. Seats were installed on both sides to accommodate spectators. Bath houses separated by gender were of an L-shape and located at the northwest end of the pool with attendants. Manager Harris purchased 3,500 bathing suits of varying popular designs of the time. Two 6-inch water mains by the city waterworks provided the water. The pool was designed to drain and fill within a few hours to afford sanitation. Forty to 50 men worked with two large concrete mixers in early June to complete the pool on scheduled time.[10]

A new restaurant was advertised with a special chicken dinner for 60 cents ($13.18 in 2022) on opening day.[6]

Rides and Attractions

Rides

Attractions

  • The Colonnade
  • Fun House
  • Museum of Ornithology
  • Swimming Pool (New)
  • The Zoo

Music and Performances

Activities

  • Boating - Launches, Rowboats, & Canoes
  • Dancing
  • Dining
  • General Games
  • Picnics
  • Pony Rides
  • Swimming
  • Shooting Gallery

Musical Performances

Burke's Military Band, featuring Anna Woodward and Gene Lord, played fee concerts and John McCardle's Orchestra provided music in the Dancing Pavilion throughout the season.[2] Lord performed Edmund Vance Cooke's war song on the opening day.

Members of Burke's Military Band:

  • Gene Lord, soloist
  • Anna Woodward, soloist
  • B. Cichinelli, euphonium
  • O. Horlocker, xylophone

Theater Performances

The Olentangy Theater hosted the Crestview Junior High School during its house-warming party on Thursday, May 3, 1917. Seventy-five cast members performed "Mr. Bob," a musical comedy, directed by Grant P. Ward and starring Louise Tuttle, Kathryn Nowel, Louise Dixon, Dorothy Williams, Hazel Riggle, Charles Vogel, Robert Shields, and Morton Bodfish. [11][12]

The Ohio State University Strollers performed "Mrs. Gerringe's Necklace," a Henry Davies comedy, on May 4 and 5.[13] They were directed by Carle b. Robbins and starred Eleanor H. Lewis as Mrs. Gorringe, Marie Guthrie as Isabel Kirk, Mabel Nichol as Mrs. Jardine, Humphrey W. Pearson as Captain Mowbray, Harry E. Ronch as Lieutenant David Cairn, Paul M. Herbert as the colonel, Carson Blair as the detective, Mariam G. Smith as the daughter, Arian R. Thorley as the butler, and Gwendolyne V. Decker as Miss Potts.[14][15]

The Canoe Club gave a "grand minstrel show" at the Olentangy Park Theater on Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26.[16]

Will D. Harris originally booked the two musical comedies for the theater to provide entertainment until headliner Mary Servoss finished her shows in New York in May to begin shows at the park theater in June.[3] Later, Manager Harris decided to have Vaudeville at the theater instead of a stock company and opened the theater season on May 27, the day of the park's official opening. There were two shows per day at 2:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.[6] Each show had eight to 12 acts.[8]

Dispatch Contest

There were 22 pieces of a photograph in June 3 issue of the Columbus Sunday Dispatch of nine of "the pretty maidens from 'The Sweet Shop'" that was to be performed that week at Olentangy Park Theater.[17] Readers who cut out the 22 pieces and place them together properly could send them in to Dispatch with the advertisers' information to be entered into a contest with the following prizes:

  • First place prize - One entire box for three performances on June 11, June 15, and June 25, an $18 value ($395 in 2022 dollars)
  • Second place prize - One entire box for two performances on June 12 and June 19, a $12 value ($264 in 2022 dollars)
  • Third place prize - One entire box for Wednesday night, June 13 and two box seats for June 12 and June 19, a $10 value ($220 in 2022 dollars)
  • Fourth place prize - One entire box for Monday night, June 11 and two box seats for June 18, a $8 value ($176 in 2022 dollars)
  • Fifth place prize - One entire box for Tuesday night, June 12 and two box seats for June 18, a $6 value ($132 in 2022 dollars)
  • 25 other winners a varying amount of orchestra seat tickets for different performance dates, ranging from $1 - $3 ($22 - $66 in 2022)

Vaudeville Acts

Dates Performers Notes
Week of May 27, 1917 Rex Adams and Company; Standard Brothers; Doniti; Dawson, Lamgan, and Covert (Dancing Phiends); Balcom and Sherman; The Gillette Trio; Clark and McCullough Rex Adams and Co. performed "The Night Hawks"
Week of June 3, 1917 Leroy and Cahill; Frederick, Nelson, and Frederick; Doyle [or Boyle] and Patsey; The Gardener; Vincent Company; Ferguson and Sunderland; The Three Rosars; Sid Lewis, the Original Nut

References

  1. ↑ "Two Park Openings." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 15 April 1917. Pg. 56.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Present and Future at Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 20 May 1917. Pg. 49.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Olentangy News." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 8 April 1917. Pg. 42.
  4. ↑ Ad. The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 6 May 1917. Pg. 49.
  5. ↑ "Big Park Is Opening." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Ad. The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 27 May 1917. Pg. 49.
  7. ↑ "Parks Open as May Comes In." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 29 April 1917. Pg. 63.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Vaude for Park." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 6 May 1917. Pg. 48.
  9. ↑ "Canoeing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 29 April 1917. Pg. 20.
  10. ↑ "Pool Prospects." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 3 June 1917. Pg. 52.
  11. ↑ Columbus Evening Dispatch. 24 April 1917. Pg. 20.
  12. ↑ "Mr. 'Bob' Improving." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 1 May 1917. Pg. 22.
  13. ↑ "Humphry Pearson." Photo. The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 22 April 1917. Pg. 58.
  14. ↑ "Stroller Play Tonight." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 4 May 1917. Pg. 32.
  15. ↑ "The University Players." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 5 May 1917. Pg. 10.
  16. ↑ "Canoeing." Columbus Evening Dispatch. 20 May 1917. Pg. 20.
  17. ↑ "Olentangy Theater." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. 3 June 1917. Pg. 25.
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