The Sunday Oregonian., July 11, 1920, Magazine Section, Image 75

Watt
? -0
k i
"VOL. XXXIX.
PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 11, 1020
NO. 28
urns Cities
Into
e
owers
Whole Cities Are Changed Overnight
, Into Places of Fairy - Like Beauty
v r "
4
.XT. ,.- J
. ......
jTmfa' Zzujfizjn $ C&mrS Actons n by IZUfijcf 'rtrzz?
Cixr
cir
BY DB WITT HARRY.
(Copyright. 1920.)
CDERELLA sat disconsolate and
inder-stained by the cheerless
scullery fireplace while her more
fortunate sisters, bedecked and
bedizened, enjoyed the prince's ball.
She was by far the most beautiful
Eirl in tho country, possessed the
most charms, but lacked the proper
equipage and dress in which to make
her debut.
Portland, most beautiful city in
America .and possibly in the entire
world, courted more and more each
year by appreciative tourist princes,
was told in 1919 that the greatest
royal scion known and his court
would visit her in 1920.
Cinderella sought the aid of her
fairy godmother, attended the ball,
attained her proper recognition and
captivated the prince of her iieart.
Portland called to her assistance
Charles W. Goodman, took advantage
of her natural beauty and. with his
aid. transformed herself Into a fairy
city the like of which was never seen
before, and captured the hearts of
America's Shrinedom.
Seattle Is Home of Fairy.
Fairy Queen Goodman hails from
Seattle and has waved his magic
wand countless times with uniform
results, until today he is known
throughout the land, in the phrase
ology of the typical fairy tale, as the
master transformer of cities. Just
pive him a chance at your town and
you will not recognize it, for Good
man has perfected an unique profes
sion that of decorating, not houses,
but entire cities for special occasions,
lie and his myridons assail the usual
type of stable American city and in
a few short days even the usual resi
dents do not recognize it, eo wonder
ful is the change. It. M. and B. L.
Goodman, sons of Queen Charles, "are
the pixies who assist, and expert are
they, as all must be who work wi'li
this exacting cre.
unheralded and unsung until now
Goodman has managed to hide his
light to a great extent. Of course.
people, in a general way, realized
that someone must have been at work
on their city when they witnessed
the changes that were wrought, but
few have troubled themselves to
chase to their lair the genii of the
lamp. Way last summer, about this
time, the Goodman gang invaded
. Portland and looked the city over.
They studied the streats and their pos
sibilities for decorating, all on the
quiet, and as they have operated in
countless other cities in America 'n
the past ten years, and took num
berless photographs of streets and
buildings as they appeared in the
rough or ordinary run of things.
Then they were prepared to operate.
Artiiit Plans Result.
With palette and brush the master
fairy of them all, Charles W., set to
work on a great set of photographic
enlargements. He worked for week
creating a set of designs that would
rival the Imagination of even th
lave of Aladdin, and when the result
was complete carried his sketches to
the residents of Portland, sitting in
council as the supreme committee for
the impending visit of the Imperial
Shrine, and they were adopted. The
only hitch in the proceedings was
whether such a marvelous change
was possible, but when Goodman as
sured them that it was and that he
stood prepared to back his abilities
with hard cash and the proper bonds
insuring their completion and all
round satisfactoriness. They capitu
lated, for he dealt with them just as
any 20th century business man should
and not at all like a fairy.
The result we all know here. Port
land was changed, almost over night.
into a veritable oasis, a real Mecca
for the hosts of the Shrine, and their
more than gratified tribute, as paid
the city during their stay and since
their departure, is sufficient proof
that Goodman made sood once more.
Birth of Idea Comes.
Way back in 1911 an idea was born
Seattle, whence come many per
fectly good schemes, among others.
Goodman had begun decorating ome
shows and carnivals in the Pacific
northwest, and, being high in Shrine
councils and appreciating the mani
fest difficulties of making a satis
factory setting for this great once-a-year
gathering of the proud nobles,
he decided to try out the experiment
of building a set of properties, for
they can be called by no other better
name, that could be used from year
to year to gve a setting for this
event. In 1911 he had gone to Olyra
pia and made a prreat success, one of
his first jobs that of the state con
vention of the B. P. O. Elks of Wash
ington. Then in 1912 came his oppor
tunity. Portland was to entertain
the grand lodge of Elks, and Good
man sketched out his idea of what
the city should look like when the
antlered herd came. It went big, he
got the job and put his crew of at
tendant fairies to work on the trans
formation. It was a revelation to all
who came, the court of honor on
Seventh street now Broadway be
ing admittedly one of the triumphs
of the decorators' art, and this gave
Goodman a reputation of carrying out
his designs faithfully, not slighting
any details.
IJallas, Tex.. got the Imperial
Shrine session in 1913, and right after
the 1912 job in Portland Goodman
went there and made his first big bid
for a Shrine convention and landed it.
He went at it right in the way he
had mapped out, had the properties
prepared to go ahead with the artists'
designs or the city as it would ap
pear after the decorations were in
place. Dallas, while somewhat skep
tical, even in the face of the proof of
his big success in Portland with the
Elks, gave him a trial; result, another
success, and one that practically as
sured his start in the business on the
scale he mapped out. The first fruits
of a creative mind began to blossom
for the decorations fromTthe Portland
show of 1914 as well as those from
the first Pendleton Round-up of that
year, - another uooaman job. were
gone over during the winter, and
what could be saved or made use of
was taken to Dallas and furnished
the base for the fabrication of the
then-admitted most elaborate set of
city decorations ever seen.
Triumph Follows Triumph.
One week each year the nobles of
the Mystic Shrine gather and the set
ting for their convention is always
one of the triumphs of the art of the
United States. Goodman lias achieved
six of these, and doubtless will stage
others as his business gets into a
larger phase of its development. His
firm foundation has been mainly due
to the fact that he realized the dif
ficulties most men had in realizing
just what they were buying in his
particular line. In the case of the
majority of merchants and business
men of any progressive city, their
spirit of civic pride is enongh to
make them feel as if they would put
their best foot forward in the event
of any number of visitors being ex
pected in their city, but they do not
know just how to achieve the proper
result.
Carnivals of yore invaded various
cities and the itinerant merchant who
followed the game with a shoddy line
of buntings and drapes usually reaped
harvest in trimming store fronts.
It was the style, and the merchant, if
he could not do the job himself,
usually fell prey to the suave line of
gab handed out by some salesman
for the decorating company. Inas
much as the merchant usually was
completely at sea as just to what he
had purchased in the line of decora
tions he was frequently imposed on.
Here Goodman saw an opportunity to
score.
Demonstration Proves Ability.
He came into any city, after he had
grabbed the main contract, and then
went after the business houses with
comprehensive scheme for the
blending and development of an en
tire decorative whole so that the town
would appear with some cohesion in
stead of there being so many jarring
notes in the ensemble. He first de
signed his main plan for the decora
tions and then worked out the gen
eral color idea. Then he took each
building that would fit in with the
plan, and, after enlarging photo
graphs, had the decorations placed in
the drawings with colors so that the
mercnam purcnaser naa an oppor
tunity to see just what he was buy
ing. A copy of the color and decora
tion plan is then left with the pur
chaser as part or the contract, for
they are all leases, .and when the
time comes the job must be up to the
graphic specifications or it will not
do.
In 1912 the Shrine had passed
through a bad experience In Los An
geles when a local decorator obtained
the job, so they were more than
pleased to discuss the contract at
Dallas with Goodman when he cam
there. It appears that the Los An
geles contract, a gorgeous one call
ing for a wealth of material on i
great scale, - was given to the con
tractor and oe, not rearing rain. In
I ji f
r
44 "f ;f& . '
ft- v : rA x, i. K
- s
2
it. I ;1
t V.
A flvnte. J Tore IViYTi Fej tiist z-&?fj
tailed an oriental bower from the
Japanese island. Wistaria cherry
blossoms and a wealth of Japanese
blooms and greens transformed the
city. The streets were canopied with
wonderful colors and hung with
myrids of lanterns, the work of In
stallation taking two weeks' time and
huge crew. The night before the
nobles were due came the rain and
destroyed, in half an hour, the labor
of two weeks, and when the conven
tion gathered all the decorations
there were to show were a number of
pink and purple streaks on the build
ing fronts where some of the ' dyes
had left their mark and the countless
pitiful skeletons of defunct lanterns
dangling dispiritedly from wires
stretching across the ' streets. It
totally failed to give a festive air to
the city, altogether in contrast to
that recently here.
Rains Do Xo Harm.
If the residents of Portland will
recollect, there were several fairly
hard rain storms during the time the
Shrine decorations were in place here
last, month, but none of them ap
peared the ' least bit bedraggeled
afterwards. The palms 'on the elec
troliers, the fezzes over the lamps on
the arches, the welcome court and
even the bunting on the buildings
even seemed refreshed by the mois
ture. To those who gave the subject
any thought it must have occurred
that it was a real workmanlike job
to stand the climate- as it did. That
was a fact.
One nice thing about Shrine decora
tions in the various cities where the
Imperial session is held is that they
are never the same. This story harps
on the Shrine above all others for the
reason that this is admittedly the
biggest yearly show that is held any
place in the country and the decorat
ing is always the best that can be
obtained. . Goodman has established a
new business and by his ability and
study in his highly specialized line
he has been able to cut prices to the
bone and make It a great and artistic
success. -
Taking up the running story of his
work he tells how, in the developing
of his idea, he first went after the
Dallas -job in -1913 and now,-after
, that was completed, be salvaged over
1 Vi M
I lait-i
! I ft i V
.11 t 1 t -
.M l t f I g --
iJ
J J J
w
i ttn; w-i
:iiulC34! rrt$
a carload of the props and shipped
them to Atlanta for 1914. Here Good
man was paid a tribute by Forest
Adair, who had charge of the enter
tainment features at Atlanta, when
Adair told him it must take some
nerve to come 3000 miles after a job
that he was not certain of landing,
but Adair did not know his man very
well, for. within a few weeks. Good
man came back to Seattle with the
contract in his pocket. He did it
merely by showing the members of
the committee in charge just how
their city would appear when he was
finished with it, and they were more
than pleased to allow him to go ahead
and carry out his designs.
Home Town Likci Goodnaa,
After the Atlanta show came that
at Seattle and here the decorators. In
their home town, went the limit.
They were on the scene early in
November, 1914, and began the busi
ness of creating the first set of
papier mache effects hat have been
such a great success in all of the
ensuing shows. The scimitar and
crescent and scimitar and star de
signs were first thought of here and
carried out in a system of novel crea
tions. Intended for street and open
ir use in a varied assortment of
zes. they made a great hit. Then in
Seattle they had the advantage of the
immense selection of natural foliage
from the great woods and made the
best use of it oh the streets and
buildings. At Seattle Goodman's men
built 24 life-sized camels, some of
them of the famed "Smile with Nile
design that is so well known to
Shrinedom of tfeis day.
The great Nile camel originated
when Seattle was at Atlanta after
the convention. The boys just had
to have a camel for their display in
order to assist in attracting attention
so they went to the zoo and made a
deal with ttie Keeper. He had an
ancient aniraaj of venerable dignity;
Goodman says that he was so old that
his humps sagged together; but from
his peaceful visage, nearly always
bearing a camel-like smile, there
radiated all of the wisdom of . the
deserts. Nile adopted him and used
him to great effect, and . the camel
took to Nile. : Goodman seized on him
as Just .the original model-that he
needed for his creative staff with the
result that several of them were
built in his image, and the Atlanta
beast's reproductions are known
wherever there is a temple in the
United States.
Buffalo llnstallatlon Klaborate.
Buffalo, 1916, was the place for the I
award of the biggest decorating con
tract that had been let as yet for the
entertainment of the Imperial coun
cil, and again Goodman was on the
job. His designs pleased and he got
the Job and went to work placing the
stuff in another novel arrangement.
The main job was on one street, two
and a quarter miles in length, with
several great squares that were on
the way from the Erie dock to Utica
street and a number of side streets.
In Lafayette square there was a very
elaborate installation and the same
was true of McKinley square. Four
hundred electric Shrine emblems had
been built for Seattle and for the
Atlanta show 250 more were con
structed and installed. These were
hung over the streets on tables, two
on each wire over opposite sides of
the roadway.
Men who take in the various con
ventions recall most of them and
Goodman does also as he carried with
him photographs of most of the famed
organizations of the order as well as
samples of the decorations in the dif
ferent cities that have entertained
the nobles. He shows how in Seattle
each lamp post bore an electric scimi
ter and crescent bracketed with flags
and the 1914 headquarters of the Se
attle delegation in the Piedmont hotel
with their invitation in Si wash that
helped draw their guests to Seattle.
At Buffalo views show how the posts
were used to bear a shield with the
name and location of the various tem
ples and with the berlbboned posts,
just as the citizens of Cairo used rib
bons and streamers.
War Suspends Festivities.
Then came the war with the result
that there has been no great session
until this year when Portland got her
innings.- . In Minneapolis in 1917 there
was4 just a business 'session, but a
happening at that time will serve to
show what the troubles of a decorator
really are. The camel herd that trav
els with the Goodman shows to their
different stands are made in knock
down form, so that they can be un
jointed and nested for shipment. Half
a dozen of the beasts are taken apart
in the middle and then fitted together
for their journeys. When the 6hips
of the desert arrived in Minneapolis
it was found that the warehouse that
had been picked for their reception
was fully occupied and that there was
no room. For this reason it was im
perative that another place be located
at once, and this was done with the
result .that the nested herd were
stowed away-In s, good-looking celiar
that was carefully inspected for mois
ture, for it would not do for a self
respecting camel to appear in public
with a splotch of mold on his hip.
But when the time came for the
Leasts to be set out in their place of
vantage to survey the crowd they
were in no condition to venture forth
as they had been serving as a lunch
for rats for several months and were
sadly mangled. Result, loss of two
dozen fine camels, for their carcasses
were just left for the rats to play
with.
Taking the Portland job into con
sideration it is by far the greatest
in the annals of Shrinedom and it is
doubtful if it will ever be eclipsed.
The only thing that held things back
the least bit here was that there was
not enough materials for the decora
tors to work with, the city and mer
chants wanting more that could be
supplied. This is another phase of
this unique business that calls for a
great deal of care and attention at
the hands of the directing genius,
supplies. Just think about these
buntings and props that have to be
used in such great assortment in the
different jobs, reflect on the scarcity
of materials in other lines today, on
the shortage of dyes, and then try
and place it home in the carnival
lines.
Laundry G(ta Kite-Mile Job.
Each bit of bunting that was
placed on a building in Portland was
taken down as soon as it could be
moved and then placed in the store
houses of the company. Since that
time skilled workers have been strip
ping the decorations to pieces, sort
ing out the damaged sections for re
pairs when possible and preparing the
rest for the laundry. Last Wednes
day the laundry man called and took
several miles of the cloth to the
washing machines and it will come
back with mo.?t of the dye removed.
The aim is to renew the red, yellow
and green building buntings every
year, and this is done by manufactur
ing as far as possible for it is nearly
impossible to get new materials. The
dyes of today are far from fast col
ors, and especially is this the case in
the greens and yellows. The most
feared enemy of the red is the sun.
and most of the stuffs come to the
storerooms after such a show as Port
land's last, having been out in the
rain and in the most intense of sun
light for several weeks, in a sadly be
draggled condition. After the return
from the laundry the stuffs are re
dipped in dyes and then stowed away
for the next convention. Eight thou
sand pieces went from the Goodman
stocks to Portland laundries this last
week.
As soon as this stock is picked up it
is packed and shipped. Each year the
herd of camels, the army of papier
(.Concluded on Page 7.
i
105.5v I