P a g e s From Our P a st
By Kenneth L. Holmes, writer historian
TRAVELING “PROFESSORS”
IN FRONTIER TOWNS
There were many character
types on the frontier. One whose
fascination draws our interest like
a magnet was the traveling “pro
fessor.” These men were migrant
actors and lecturers combined. A
noted member of this clan was
“Professor” Vanderhoof, who ad
vertised in Oregon City in 1857,
“A Panoramic Entertainment in
cluding a Scientific Lecture deal
ing with the Planetary System.”
He combined this with “Spiritual
Manifestations. . .and Exhibitions
of Mesmerism and Ventriloquism.”
The story of these brave troop
ers is told in the book we wrote
of recently, Alice Ernst’s “Troup-
ing the Oregon Country,” (Ore
gon Historical Society) and in an
older publication (University of
Washington Press, 1944), “A His
tory of Variety-Vaudeville in Se
attle,” by Eugene C. Elliott. In
both of these studies the “profes
sor” takes stage center during the
1850's and 1860’s.
“The professor,” writes Elliott,
"was the first entertainer in the
Northwest wilderness: He traveled
alone, of necessity, for transpor
tation was uncertain and expen
sive and the population too small
and scattered to support ‘a com
pany.’ He differed from previous
entertainers in two important re
spects. First, he did not merely
pass through the territory but re
visited it again and again, year
after year, making friends, noting
Demonia Eagle
8 THURSDAY, NOV. 15, 1962
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changes, marking progress. This
was his life, amiable and, in a
sense, leisurely. He wandered up
and down the waterways, stopping
at each landing for a day or two.
He would arrive in town, give one
of his ’inimitable performances’ in
the local hall, arrange for another
two weeks later, and until then go
down the Sound. ‘We would ad
vise our readers in the different
localities he may visit, not to al
low the opportunity pass of listen
ing to his lectures.’ ” The last part
of the quote is from the Seattle
Weekly Intelligencer, Feb. 8, 1869.
A second distinguished charac
teristic of the professor, says El
liott, was that for all his “profes-
soring’ and ‘lecturing’ he catered
to the taste and inclinations of his
frontier audiences, “nor was he
less the artist for it.” He made
use of the homely language of the
untutored westerner, indulged in
topical comment and rough politi
cal satire.
One of the most popular of these
travelers was "Professor” Plum
mer, or “Yankee Plummer,” as he
was called by the Washington
Standard of Olympia. He was de
scribed as the “elocutionist and
mirth-provoking delineator of
‘hewman natur ginnerally.’ ” On
January 25, 1869, the Standard re
ported his visit as follows:
“He is a thorough Dutchman; a
genuine Yankee; and unmistak
able broth of an Irieshman; a
shrewd Attorney; a zealous
Preacher, saturated with the air
of sanctimony; an accomplished
Reader; an exquisite Actor. One
man insisted that there must be
a troupe of ‘Plummer Brothers,
who popped up and down through
a trap-door as occasion required.
‘Why,’ he said, ‘they don’t look a
bit alike.’ ”
The “professor” was an “open,
honest charlatan.” He could lec
ture on science, religion, phrenol
ogy, mesmerism, the classics, and
recite from great poetry and dra
ma. He built up his image by ex
aggerated advertising, as is shown
in the following quote from the
Standard:
"Prof. Herrmann, the World-re
nowned Prestidigitator,. . .has by
special command, had the honor of
appearing at the palaces of the fol
lowing heads of Europe: Queen
Victoria of England, Emperor of
Russia, Emperor of Prussia, Em
peror of Austria. He has also given
special entertainments for the gra
tification of three Presidents of
the United States—Abraham Lin
coln, Andrew Johnson and U. S.
Grant, who all pronounced him to
be the Greatest Living Magician!
Eclipsing in his marvelous feats
of Legerdemain the great Hindoo
Jugglers.”
The “professor” was known and
loved by pioneer folk all over the
Pacific Northwest. We who have
never heard a “World-renowned
Prestidigitator,” who could also
discourse on phrenology, or in
rolling tones mesmerize his aud
iences, would like to have shared
the experience.
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