1916 Season

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1916 Season
Leadership The Olentangy Park Company
Joseph W. Dusenbury, president
William J. Dusenbury, manager
Opening Day April 23, 1916 (Sundays only)
May 28, 1916 (daily)
Closing Day September 4, 1916 (Sundays only)
September 10, 1916 (season)
Stock Manager Fred Kimball
Band(s) Philip Cincione's Band
Carbone's Dance Orchestra
Selby Orchestra
Park Size ~100 acres
Tagline "The Big Park"

Olentangy Park and Theater opened for the 1916 season on Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916, with Philip Cincione's band providing afternoon and evening open-air concerts and Carbone's Dance Orchestra playing music for the Dancing Pavilion.[1][2] Due to bad weather, the park held a second opening a week later on April 30, 1916.[3] More than 5,000 people visited the park during the first opening despite the poor weather.[4] A week later, on April 30, there was an attendance of over 20,000 visitors.[5] Similar to some past years, the park was only open on Sundays until May, when it went to daily operation until Labor Day. The park's managers were J. W. and W. J. Dusenbury.[1][2]

Until May 28, the park was open Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. with a double orchestra (Carbone-Selby) playing continuous music in the Dancing Pavilion from 2 p.m. until close.[6]

The Dusenbury Brothers repaired their constructed dam across Olentangy Park in July to help raise the river waters so they could be more enjoyable for canoeing and boating.[7] Joseph Katona continued to work as the park's florist, making and maintaining the flowers, bushes, and lawns.[8]

The park was open every day until Labor Day, September 4, before returning to being open only on Sundays and ultimately closing for the season only a week later on September 10.[9][10]

Notable Happenings

Thefts

In February, four boys around age 16 were charged with theft of a canoe and paddles from Olentangy Park's boathouse. They were part of a Boys' Club headquartered on West Norwich Avenue that was known to steal items from automobiles and raids.[11]

Wild West Show

Harry Hill's Big Wild West Show and Mexican Bull Fight opened on July 4 in the north arena of the park and ran for two weeks.[12] During this time, the park was transformed into "a moving picture village with cowboys and girls wandering here and there in their riding costumes." The performances featured a stagecoach being raided by native Americans, fancy riding on high school thoroughbreds, skilled lariat throwing, and a Mexican bullfight. They gave a street parade on July 7, [13][14] where Mrs. Hill and Olentangy Stock Company actress Beatrice Prentice rode horses and performed tricks.[15]

Three Boys Caught for Stealing Money

Detective Harry Carson found three young boys trying to get change for a $10 bill (worth $291 in 2025) at one of the rides' ticket sellers. Edward Howath, 16, had three $10 bills ($30 total ($874)); Paul Jones, 15, had three $1 bills ($3 total ($87)); and Harold Rigell, 11, had a couple of dollars and change. The children stole the money from the pants of a swimmer swimming in the Scioto River near Greenlawn Avenue that morning. However, no one came forward to report the missing money.[16]

Rides and Attractions

An article in the Columbus Sunday Dispatch said that there were "several new feature novelties," but they were not named.[17]

List of Rides and Attractions

Theater, Vaudeville, and Stunt Performances

Olentangy Park Theater

Main Article: Olentangy Park Casino and Theater

Fred Kimball and his stock company, headed by Frances Ring and Albert Roscoe, began performing on May 29 with the opening play, "Under Cover."[18][19] Matinee shows were generally 25 cents ($7.29 in 2025), and night shows ranged from 25 to 50 cents ($7.29 to $14.57). There were many contests and free shows as well. Reservations could be made at Olentangy Park and The Grand, another Columbus theater.

The theater saw its biggest attendance in four years on Memorial Day.[20]

By 1916, the Olentangy Park Theater was the only theater in Columbus showing spoken dramas. The other local theaters primarily displayed motion pictures.

On August 15, the Dramatic Club composed of boys and girls from the I.O.O.F. Home In Springfield, Ohio, performed "Cinderella." The performance was part of the Odd Fellows' annual outing.[21]

Olentangy Stock Members

The Olentangy stock company included:

  • E. Raymond Black, stage carpenter
  • Burke Clark
  • George Farren, director
  • Stewart Fox, child actor - sometimes spelled Stuart Fox
  • Fred Kimball, manager
  • Ila Lorback, singer
  • Sidney Mather
  • Constance Mollineux
  • Beatrice Prentice
  • Frances Ring, headliner actress
  • Albert Roscoe, headliner actor, later known as Alan Roscoe
  • Alleta Servoss
  • Edith Shayne
  • George Tilton
  • Kenneth Tooll [or Tooil]
  • Leonora Von Ottinger
  • Oscar Wilde

Dispatch Contest

There were two pages of ads in the May 21 issue of the Columbus Sunday Dispatch with pieces in twenty-three separate ads and when put together, make the photo of France Ring.[22] Readers who complete this puzzle 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 the first performance and two season box seat tickets, a $34 value ($991 in 2025)
  • Second, third, and fourth place prizes - One entire box for the first performance and two season orchestra seat tickets, a $20 value ($583)
  • Fifth place prize - Two season orchestra seat tickets, a $15 value ($437)
  • Fifteen other winners a varying amount of orchestra seat tickets for the first performance, ranging from $1-3 ($29-87)

Performances

Dates Performance Writer Genre Headliners Notes
May 29 - June 3, 1916 "Under Cover" Roi Cooper Megrue Drama Frances Ring and Albert Roscoe [18][19][22][23]
June 5 - 10, 1916 "The Marriage Game" Anne Crawford Flexner Comedy '' [24]
June 12 - 17, 1916 "The Woman" William C. deMille (as Cecil De Mille) Drama '' Directed by David Belasco.
June 19 - 25, 1916 "Kick In" Willard Mack Drama '' [25][26]
June 26 - July 1, 1916 "The Man on the Box" '' [27]
July 3 - 8, 1916 "Leah Kleschna" C.M.S. McLellan Drama '' [28]
July 10 - 15, 1916 "The Man from Home" Newton Booth Tarkington (as Booth Tarkington) Comedy '' [29][30]
July 17 - 22, 1916 "Marely Mary Ann" '' [31][32]
July 24 - 29, 1916 "A Pair of Sixes" '' [33]
July 31 - August 4, 1916 "The Rule of Three" Comedy '' [34]
August 6 - 11, 1916 "The Girl with the Green Eyes" '' [35]
August 13 - 18, 1916 "Elevating a Husband" Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman Comedy-Drama '' [36]
August 20 - 25, 1916 "An American Widow" Constance Mollineux [37]
August 27 - September 1, 1916 "Her Husband's Wife" Comedy Frances Ring and Albert Roscoe [38]

Under Cover

"Under Cover" was first produced by Selwyn and Company. It was written by Roi Cooper Megrue, the author of "Under Fire" and "It Pays to Advertise." The play was originally staged in Boston on Christmas Day 1913, and ran for 31 weeks. According to the Columbus Sunday Dispatch, the plot involves "a secret service investigation of smugglers and grifters. A certain man is known to have bought a $200,000 necklace in Paris, but he does not declare it when arriving in New York. He is followed to the home of wealthy friends with a country place on Long Island. The secret service detectives that this girl's young sister has defrauded a jewelry insurance company in order to pay her bridge debts, and they use this knowledge to secure the elder sister's assistance. This complication provides the basis of the play..."[39]

This play is available to read for free through the Gutenberg Project here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/40939/40939-h/40939-h.htm

The Marriage Game

"The Marriage Game" is a three-act comedy by Anne Crawford Flexner, the author of "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch."

This play is available to read for free on Google Books here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Marriage_Game/fjFBAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

The Woman

"The Woman" is a drama written in 1911 by William C. deMille, billed as Cecil De Mille, possibly due to the popularity of his brother, the silent film director Cecil B. DeMille, whose film "Joan the Woman" came out in December that year. "The Woman" was the theatrical adaptation of the screenplay by DeMille's father, Henry, and David Belasco.[40] Belasco directed the theatrical performance at the park. The Columbus Evening Dispatch describes the plot through a political lens as: "An honest man tries to protect the public rights against the party machine." The "machine" finds an affair he had with a woman that could destroy his public image, but cannot find the woman's name. Politicians who would benefit from the man's demise try to get the information from a "telephone girl" (a switchboard operator who connected calls at the time).[41]

The film made from the screenplay was released on May 3, 1915.

Kick In

"Kick In" is a four-act melodrama written by Willard Mack in 1914. It was adapted into a film with the same name in 1917, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and directed by Richard Wallace in 1931.

On June 22, Roscoe fell ill. Actor George Tilton, who was playing the dope fiend, replaced Roscoe as Chick Hewes. Actor Stewart Fox took Tilton's original role. Stage manager George Farren assumed the part of Jack Riggs, the central office detective.

Leah Kleschna

"Leah Kleschna" is a four-act drama written by C. M. S. McLellan and originally produced by Minnie Maddern Fiske on Broadway. The play was adapted to film in 1913, directed by J. Searle Dawley. According to the Washington Post, Leah Kleschna is the daughter of a manipulative master jewel thief who has raised her to follow in his footsteps. When Leah is confronted by Paul Sylvaine, the owner of the house her father had sent her to rob, she is persuaded to contemplate her life as a thief. Eventually, Leah returns the jewels she stole, abandons her father, and leaves Paris to work on the country farm where she was raised. The story comes to a happy conclusion when a few years later Sylvaine reunites with Leah and a romance ensues.[42] The Columbus Evening Dispatch describes the plot as "a girl who, through love, is awakened to a spiritual purification after she has lived in an atmosphere of criminality and sordidness all her previous life."[28]

The Man from Home

"The Man from Home" is a comedy written in 1907 by Newton Booth Tarkington, the author of The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams, and Harry Leon Wilson. According to Google Books, "the play follows wealthy brother and sister Horace and Ethel Simpson as they tour Europe. They fall prey to Russian conmen, one of whom plans a marriage with Ethel. The executor of their fortune, Daniel Pike, assisted by Grand Duke Vasili, exposes the Russians' devious game."[43] Albert Roscoe played Daniel Voorhees Pike, Stuart Fox played the English fop, Leonora Von Ottinger played Lady Creech, and Frances Ring played the heiress. George Farren, Burke Clarke, George Tilton, and Sydney Mather also held roles. The Cincione orchestra provided the music. The Columbus Evening Dispatch called it "one of the homeliest, most likable plays of a decade."[44]

This play is available to read for free through the Gutenberg Project here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15855

The Rule of Three

"The Rule of Three" is a comedy. According to the Columbus Sunday Dispatch, the plot involves an attractive young woman, played by Frances Ring, who has three living husbands. She goes on a Vermont trip with her third husband, played by Sydney Mather, to a mountain retreat where she usually honeymoons. There, she meets her ex-husbands. It turns out that she is really in love with her second husband, played by Albert Roscoe, and never really was divorced from him. The matter is straightened out, and the woman marries off her two other husbands to her friends. She settles down with husband number two. Stuart Fox played her first husband.[34]

Elevating a Husband

"Elevating a Husband" is a comedy-drama by Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman with a plot involving a man named Charlie Sample, who grew rich from five-and-ten-cent stores and had no time for romance.[36]

Music Performances

Philip Cincione's orchestra provided afternoon and evening open-air concerts and many theater performances.

Orchestra Members[45]

  • First Violin/Leader: Maurice Sharr
  • Second Violin: Mr. Thorne
  • Piano: Ed Lee
  • Bass: R. Losch
  • Clarinet: Alphonse Cincione
  • Clarinet: O. Mannestroon
  • Cornet: Frank Carbone
  • Trombone: Philip [or Philipe] Cincione
  • Horn: L. Manaco
  • Cello: Mr. Kank
  • Drum: Mr. De Bloom

Other Performances

Ila Lorbach sang for two Sundays in the summer with Cincione's band.[12]

Activities

Sports

On Thursday, June 29, 1916, for the park's "Red Letter Day" for the Columbus's letter carriers, Young Joe Thomas, Columbus featherweight boxed in a match against Battling Phillips from Toledo. Thomas won. A wrestling match later that day featured Young Gotch from Columbus up against Jack Mills and Walter Reer.[46] Gotch agreed to pin his opponents in 15 minutes. He was able to pin Mills in 6 minutes but could not pin Reer in time.[47]

List of Activities

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "To Open Olentangy." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, April 9, 1916.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Park Opening." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch,. April 23, 1916.
  3. ↑ "Real Opener Sunday." Columbus Evening Dispatch, April 25, 1916. Page 20.
  4. ↑ "The Original Clusters." Columbus Evening Dispatch, April 26, 1916. Page 22.
  5. ↑ "Park in Full Operation." Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 1, 1916. Page 16.
  6. ↑ "Hope for Better Weather." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, April 30, 1916.
  7. ↑ "Park Amusements." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 8, 1916. Page 10.
  8. ↑ "Again Open Sunday." Columbus Evening Dispatch. May 18, 1916. Page 18.
  9. ↑ "Park Open on Sundays." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, September 3, 1916. Page 23.
  10. ↑ "Last Day for Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, September 9, 1916. Page 10.
  11. ↑ "Boys' Club Started Thefts at Olentangy." Columbus Evening Dispatch. February 1, 1916. Page 17.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Wild West Doubled." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 3, 1916. Page 12.
  13. ↑ "Wild West Starts Today." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 4, 1916. Page 13.
  14. ↑ "Many See Wild West." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 5, 1916. Page 20.
  15. ↑ "Miss Prentice in Parade." Columbus Evening Dispatch. July 14, 1916. Page 26.
  16. ↑ "Admit Looting Clothes of Man in Swimming." Columbus Evening Dispatch. August 7, 1916. Page 3.
  17. ↑ "Park Opening." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch. April 23, 1916. Page 7.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Sunday at Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 13, 1916. Page 10.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "News of Stock and Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 25, 1916. Page 20.
  20. ↑ "Record Holiday Business." Columbus Evening Dispatch. June 1, 1916. Page 20.
  21. ↑ "To Play 'Cinderella'." Columbus Evening Dispatch. August 3, 1916. Page 16.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "$131 in Tickets; Free to Olentangy Park Theater 'Under Cover' - Opening Week of May 29th." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, May 21, 1916. Pages 24-25.
  23. ↑ "Company is Complete." Columbus Evening Dispatch, May 19, 1916. Page 30.
  24. ↑ "The Marriage Game." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 7, 1916. Page 20.
  25. ↑ "Miss Servoss II. Appears." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 16, 1916. Page 28.
  26. ↑ "Mounting His Pedestal." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 23, 1916. Page 28.
  27. ↑ The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, July 2, 1916. Page 30.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Strong Magnet at Park." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 4, 1916. Page 13.
  29. ↑ "Comedy Role for Roscoe." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 8, 1916. Page 10.
  30. ↑ "Olentangy Stock." The Billboard, 28 (30): 17. July 22, 1916.
  31. ↑ "Clarke the Chameleon." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 20, 1916. Page 16.
  32. ↑ "Stocklets." The New York Clipper, July 22, 1916. Page 16.
  33. ↑ "Von Ottinger a Scream." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 27, 1916. Page 16.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Miss Ring as Trigamist." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, July 30, 1916. Page 45.
  35. ↑ "Was Protege of Fitch." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 3, 1916. Page 16.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "Roscoe in Mann Role." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 14, 1916. Page 12.
  37. ↑ "Park Raves Over Her." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 19, 1916. Page 10.
  38. ↑ "The Charm of Miss Servoss." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 31, 1916. Page 14.
  39. ↑ "First Play of Stock Company." The Columbus Sunday Dispatch, May 28, 1916.
  40. ↑ "The Woman (1915)." AllMovie, Accessed January 30, 2022. https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v68157
  41. ↑ "Politics and Telephones." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 13, 1916. Page 18.
  42. ↑ "Mrs. Fiske and Wyndham in Striking New Plays." The Washington Post, December 18, 1904.
  43. ↑ Tarkington, Booth and Harry Leon Wilson. 2006. The Man from Home, Google Books. Accessed on February 10, 2022. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Man_from_Home/ovs6CEmuYlQC?hl=en
  44. ↑ "Tarkington Play Returns." Columbus Evening Dispatch, July 11, 1916. Page 22.
  45. ↑ "Orchestra Personnel." Columbus Evening Dispatch, August 25, 1916. Page 22.
  46. ↑ "Olentangy Thronged For Postmen's Outing." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 29, 1916. Page 13.
  47. ↑ "Joe Thomas Wins From Toledo Pug." Columbus Evening Dispatch, June 30, 1916. Page 24.


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