One patent model in particular has piqued my interest over the last few weeks: a Theater-Stage, invented by Marshall H. Mallory on June 8, 1880. Blame it on my middle and high school arts education, but I couldn’t resist looking into this patent model in a little more detail.
This patent model is visually interesting from all angles. The front shows the stage with an inset scene, while the back shows the hidden mechanics behind Mallory’s improvement to a “double-stage”. I was curious as to what this “improvement” might be.
2015.14.3210a,b, front; Patent Model – Theater-Stage
2015.14.3210a,b, side; Patent Model – Theater-Stage
2015.14.3210a,b, back; Patent Model – Theater-Stage
As it turns out, The Mallory Brothers backed a Mr. James Steele MacKaye in the renovation of The Madison Square Theater in New York City. MacKaye is a fascinating individual, as he was a teacher, director, and playwright all in one. Furthermore, MacKaye was the first to implement a totally electric lighting system in a theater. He also held a number of patents relating to theater safety, stage design, and special effects.
One of MacKaye’s patents was for an Improvement in Theater Appliances (Patent No. 222,143), patented on December 2, 1879, in which he describes a double-stage. MacKaye’s patent described two movable stages, set on top of each other, allowing for a quicker setting of scenery between scenes/acts. MacKaye’s stage was installed in The Madison Square Theater. An article from the New York Times on February 1, 1880 describes the double-stage as “undoubtedly the most unique” feature of the theater, and that “one entire set can be substituted for another in an interval of from one to two minutes.”[1]
Due to some “trouble”[2], MacKaye’s time at The Madison Square Theater ended in the spring of 1881. But the Mallory Brothers did not stop operating the theater. In fact, it seems that Marshall H. Mallory took an interest in MacKaye’s double-stage and went about to improve it even before MacKaye’s departure. Mallory’s 1880 patent describes “constructing two or more complete moveable stages, side by side on the same plane”, which cut down on the expense involved in “deep excavation” for stages built on top of each other, like MacKaye’s.[3]
This was an interesting case in which two inventors worked very closely in a professional setting. Perhaps the innovative spirit of MacKaye rubbed off on Mallory, resulting in his improvement to the double-stage. We may never know!
[1] THE MADISON-SQUARE THEATRE. (1880, Feb 01). New York Times
[2] Brown, Thomas A. (1903). A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901. Vol. 2. Dodd, Mead and Company. New York.
[3] Patent No. 228,468
Caroline Western is the Special Projects Cataloger at Hagley.