Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana celebrates 50th anniversary

Ever wonder what it was like to be part of a traveling show? Do you ever imagine that you are part of a musical act that’s playing in a large tent show that moves from town to town?

The Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana at the Old Threshers grounds in Mt. Pleasant is just the place to visit to fuel your imagination and give you a glimpse into the life of a traveling actor. Musical display with a Tom Thumb piano at The Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana in Mt. Pleasant.

Laden with memorabilia dating back to the 19th century, the museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary since its groundbreaking in 1972. Reflecting the longtime dream of repertoire theatre company owner and actors Neil and Caroline Schaffner, the museum is dedicated to the preservation of memorabilia and artifacts of early repertoire theatre.

The collection in the museum includes numerous painted curtains, costumes and equipment used be individual performers and technicians. It also includes archived playbills, advertising sheets and promotional posters.

The Theatre museum additionally houses an extensive research library of rare scripts, correspondence, tour schedules, production photos, and other original source materials.

“My grandfather had a tent show, that started in 1917, said Grace Swank-Davis, the vice president of the National Society for the Preservation of Tent, Folk and Repertoire Theatre. “His show ended at about 1938. He had eight children that he raised on the road, and I grew up hearing the stories about being on a tent show from my mother.”

Swank-Davis married Jimmy Davis, a tent show owner who was the last professional to have a traveling tent show out on the circuit.

Some of the exhibits that are shown in the Theatre Museum are collections from days gone by. Many of which, like the pressed Theatre Glass collection with its seashells, and the Alphonse Mucha posters of artists such as Sara Bernhardt, are rare finds.

The Schaffners had their own traveling tent show from 1926 until the early 1960s when Jimmy Davis purchased the show from them. Some of the collection comes from their show belongings. Shaffner knew in the 50s that the business of traveling tent shows was dying out, and he wanted to start a museum dedicated to the craft.

Much of what is within the museum collection is from other artists that donated articles from their own personal collections from when they were on the circuit. Items such as opera house set curtains are from local opera houses date from at least 1905 and later. These curtains were used as backdrops for the performances and contained local advertising on their facades.

Many famous actors such as Clarke Gable started in tent shows. Some of the more famous television actors of the 1970s were also from the business. As the tent shows died out, many went into acting as an effort to keep their careers alive.

Many advertisements were created for the tent shows as the shows went from town to town. The museum has a very large collection of advertising sheets and promotional posters that were created for each of the various acts that traveled the circuit.

“Music was a big deal with all of the shows,” said Swank-Davis. “They would have a band that would play out in town at the local park and then they would play in the orchestra for all of the shows within the tent.”

“The depression really started killing off the traveling shows,” said Swank-Davis. “It got increasingly harder for people to pay to go see a show. Nobody had any money, so many shows died off. And then the business never really recovered after that. The war then made it difficult to get supplies and young men to be able to run a show.”

“When my husband had his show in 1962, there were about seven shows total out on the circuit,” said Swank-Davis. “Some of the older shows would act in the opera houses in the winter, and then they would do their tent acts during the summer months.”

Some of the acts even had their own rail cars. The tent shows could be a profitable business to those that had quality acts and knew what they were doing. Many acts would travel far and wide and would get called back to towns year after year to perform.

The museum has just completed a new renovation, and will be having a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June commemorate the event. There also will be a convention that will take place on June 10-12 that is open to the public and will feature actors and members of the society that will be presenting papers.

The Theatre Museum, located at 405 East Threshers Road, is open Thursday through Saturday Memorial Day through Labor Day and by appointment throughout the year.

Contact Michelle Hillestad at michelle.hillestad@southeastiowaunion.com