A Sweet Baltimore Discovery at Johns Hopkins University (1879)

  In 1877, the H.W. Perot Import Firm, largest supplier of sugar in Baltimore at the time, had a large shipment impounded by the U.S. Government, which questioned its purity. The company hired Constantin Fahlberg (born in Tambov, Russia in 1850), an expert on sugar, to run tests and requested Johns Hopkins University Professor Ira Remsen (born in Harlem, NY in 1846) for use of the chemistry lab he managed.  H.W. Perot also hired Remsen, asking him to provide a laboratory for Fahlberg’s tests.

Constantin Fahlberg

  Dr. Ira Remsen founded the nation’s first journal of chemical research, and is considered the father of American chemistry. According to the book, "Sweet and low: A Family Story” by Rich Cohen, he had began tinkering with sulfobenzoic acids as a student in Germany eventually publishing 75 papers on these and related compounds, work that would be the research basis for what was to come – “saccharin”.

Ira Remsen,
Johns Hopkins Professor
and President

  In 1878, he became the second president of Johns Hopkins University and was less directly involved with the lab.  One day in June 1878, Professor Remsen suggested to his colleague, Fahlberg, that he experiment on testing substitution products of coal tar.  He had become so intensely interested and eventually forgot about supper until it was quite late, and then rushed off for a meal without stopping to wash his hands.

  Fahlberg sat down to dinner, picked up a roll with his hand and bit into a remarkably sweet crust – the result of having spilled an experimental compound over his hands from earlier that day. Realizing that it had to have come from the laboratory, according to his statement in a Baltimore Sun article he rushed back to it and “proceeded to taste the contents of every beaker and evaporating dish on the lab table.  Luckily for me, none contained any corrosive or poisonous liquid.”  Finally, he found the source:  an overboiled beaker in which sulfobenzoic acid had reacted to ultimately produce benzoic sulfinide which, to the taste, outsugared sugar.

Seal of the Fahlberg, List & Co.

  Remsen and Fahlberg jointly published an article describing the method of saccharin synthesis in February 1879, though initially neither discoverer seemed interested in its commercial use.  That would change in 1884 when, after Falhberg left Remsen’s lab and without notifying his co-discoverer, he applied for a German patent (which later transferred to an American patent) on a new method for cheaply producing greater quantities. By 1886, it was introduced to the public through a company he started the world’s first saccharin factory known as the Fahlberg, List & Co.

Chandler's Saccharin Pellets

  He then likewise quickly returned to the U.S. and set up shop in New York City, where he opened America’s first factory. Patent medicine companies like Chandler’s Distributors of St. Louis, MO, distributed saccharin in the United States as early as 1888 (see photo, left).  “Don’t Miss Your Sugar” was advertising headline.
  

 "Concentrated sweetness in handy form.  One pellet equals one teaspoon of sugar. Dissolves instantly – No bitter after-taste; which is experienced from the user of cheaper, inferior brands. Prescribed by doctors for persons unable to use sugar, also for reducing purposes.  A non-fattening, non-nutritive sweetening agent."

  By 1901, Monsanto was founded by John Francis Queeny, a 30-year veteran of the pharmaceutical industry, who gave the company his wife’s maiden name.  Oddly enough, the company’s first product was saccharin (in 1902) despite his father-in-law being a wealthy financier of a sugar company based in St. Thomas - this became the first commercial production of saccharin in the United States.   During the periods 1903 to 1905, Monsanto’s entire saccharin output was shipped (and later sold) to the growing soft drink company in Georgia, called Coca-Cola.  Its use became widespread especially during World War I due to sugar shortages.

Monsanto-brand Saccharin

  As early as 1907, the USDA investigated saccharin for being contradictory to the Pure Food and Drug Act, which had been enacted during President Theodore Roosevelt’s administration.  Teddy Roosevelt (being a consumer of saccharin) opposed the investigation and was stated saying, “Anyone who says saccharin is injurious to health is an idiot” when people questioned its use as a sweetener.  By 1917, the U.S. government filed suit over the safety of saccharin. 

  The safety of this now world-famous Baltimore-based discovery has been studied and written in volumes of literature and research.  Interestingly enough, it was one of the co-founders himself (Ira Remsen was the Johns Hopkins University acting president) who was quoted by the Baltimore Sun as he lectured before the Public School Teacher’s Association on an evening in February 1890, “It may interest you to learn that saccharin was discovered about ten years ago in the chemical laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, and that it is now manufactured on the large scale in Germany.  It is an open question whether its side effects upon the system are injurious or not.” 

Remsen Hall, Johns Hopkins
(Courtesy: JHU)

  Although it was possibly stated with vengeance over not being credited for its discovery within patent or public venues, perhaps this forewarning by the true co-inventor might be the best input in determining your own opinion about its safeness

  Here in Baltimore, after his death in 1927, Dr. Ira Remsen’s ashes were placed behind a plaque in Remsen Hall on the Homewood Campus of saccharin’s discovery location at Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Constantine Fahlberg died in Aug 1910 and is buried at Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.

(Other Sources for this blogpost courtesy of: Chemical Heritage Magazine, Wikipedia, and Baltimore Sun articles)

Early Baltimore "Wireless Telephone" (Radio) Stations

War Questionnaire,
Calman J. Zamoiski

  Calman J. Zamoiski, Sr. was born in Baltimore (1896) to Joseph M. and Tena Zamoiski.  (An interesting side note: His father was nursed while wounded in the Crimean War by Florence Nightingale, and later supervised the construction of the Baltimore Belt Tunnel). Prior to World War I, he worked at his father’s electric supply and construction company, “Joseph M. Zamoiski Co. The Electrifiers.” Following his return from the war, he became interested in radio, the company began stocking Philco radio parts, and after received a radio operator’s license, he founded the Baltimore’s first commercial radio station.  According to published obituaries, Calman first began broadcasting in Baltimore from the bedroom of his home at 2527 Madison Avenue (across from Druid Lake) in November, 1921, under the call letters 3RM - initially featuring sermons by local clergymen but later included concerts and non-religious talks. 

  At that time, the term “wireless telephone” was used synonymously with the term “radio,” and as Baltimore's pioneer in radio, Zamoiski received a license on March 26, 1922, to operate a new station (call sign WKC), from the top floor of his radio and electronics store at 19 North Liberty street (currently at the location of the downtown Sheraton hotel).  The Evening Sun first public announced on March 30, 1922, that a “new broadcasting station of Baltimore … would give a concert” (the eight-piece Century Roof Dance Orchestra) that evening. One could imagine the local neighborhood crowd and spectacle on evenings when these performances would air. The WKC radio station would last until 1924.

  WEAR, owned by the Baltimore American was the second radio station on air by becoming operational on June 8, 1922. Frank Munsey was the owner of the Baltimore American at that time their studios were run from the 18th floor of the Munsey Building (7 N. Calvert Street).

Early WCAO, S&N Katz
Radio Advertisement

  Three months later, on September 4, 1922, WCAO, owned by Sanders and Stayman Piano Co (a musical instrument and phonograph store later to be known as Kranz-Smith) became the third on air radio station (at 600 kHz) by originally broadcasting from the piano company at 319 N. Charles Street.  It moved to Lehman Hall (852 N. Howard Street) and then to its last downtown location at Brager’s Department Store (corner of Eutaw and Saratoga Streets). The Upton Mansion, at 811 W. Lanvale Street, ended up being the residence of its big studio, radio offices, and transmitter location.  WCAO was one of the 16 original stations making up the United Broadcasting System, later renamed as the Columbia Broadcasting System, the network now known as CBS.  In the early 1930s, WCAO became the first national broadcast from a moving train (the B&O) by rebroadcasting the feed to CBS transmitters.

WCBM 1957 Postcard,
(Courtesy: dcrtv.com)

 "Where Christ Blesses Multitudes” became the moniker to represent Baltimore’s first religious radio station (at 1370 kHz, in 1941 at 1400 kHz and finally 680 kHz), call sign WCBM, which, according to a Jan 1949 Broadcasting magazine, began operating after its license was issued in May 1924 by the Seventh Baptist Church (30 E. North Avenue) at the corner of St. Paul Street.  In 1926, it then moved to its first formal studios in the Hotel Chateau (2-4 W. North Avenue, northwest corner of Charles Street).

Early WBAL Radio ad

  In late 1925, WBAL (1090 kHz) radio was advertising to find any man that felt they could qualify as a radio announcer and they began broadcasting of that year as a subsidiary of the Consolidated Gas Electric and Power Company on November 2 from their studio that existed in the 39 Lexington St Building, the location of the utility offices.   Though the name of the company’s owners was not broadcast or exploited in any way, the announcers quite often stated, “This is BALtimore.”  In its early days, (according to the Baltimore Broadcasting, From A to Z, by Thomas O’Connor) the first letters of each of the last names of the announcing staff coincidentally spelled out the station’s call sign (WBAL) – John Wilborne, Stanley Barnett, Delano Ames, and Walter Linthicum. 

Early WFBR Radio Ad

  Originally owned and operated by the Fifth Maryland Regiment having studios at the Armory on Preston Street, WFBR Baltimore (an NBC network) was at 1180kHz, and it was a station that expanded the limits of mobility.  Its call sign was an an acronym for "World’s First Broadcasting Regiment.”  While it had offices on St. Paul Street, it operated Baltimore’s first mobile news truck, known as “Unit 2.” An October 4, 1925 Baltimore Sun article reported that it claimed to be the first station in the United States to successfully rebroadcast a program sent from a moving airplane. For a while it operated at 13 E. 20th Street and above the Center movie theatre (10 E. North Avenue).

WEBB Radio Announcer, Late 1950s

  By 1955, radio was in full bloom in Baltimore.  WEBB was established that year and named for the
legendary Baltimore-born and raised swing and jazz musician, William Henry “Chick” Webb.  From it’s beginnings, it was planned to serve Baltimore’s African-American community. Interestingly, Chuck Richards, one of WEBB radio’s best-known performers began his career as a vocalist with Chick Webb’s band, singing with Ella Fitzgerald. In 1969, soul singer James Brown purchased WEBB and owned it for 10 years.  Dorothy E. Brunson, a prominent local businesswoman, purchased it during bankruptcy proceedings in 1979 thereby becoming the first African-American woman in the country to own a radio station – it was later sold in 1990. 

  Baltimore’s first FM station was an experimental station designated as W3XMB, and later began licensed operation as WITH-FM, later known as WBSB (B104 FM).

(Sources: “The Free State of Maryland,” Kummer-Latrobe, Baltimore Broadcasting-From A to Z, Baltimore Sun newspaper, and Wikipedia)

The Lasting Products Company - Baltimore City's "Little Castles"

The Lasting Products Company ad, circa 1946

Until 1937, downtown Baltimore City homes looked like many other homes within urban landscapes across America - concrete or brick-faced or even slated wood - but U.S. Patent Number 2,095,641 would change all that.  Lewis Albert Knight (he went by "Albert") had a vision which eventually transformed the traditional row home-lined Baltimore City street only to become a distinctive part of its unique heritage. Mr. Knight graduated from Franklin High School in Reisterstown, studied at the Maryland Institute, and eventually received his bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins University.  He died in 1980 at the age of 76.

  On March 1, 1937, this Glyndon native filed his patent as an assignor to the Lasting Products Company where he was employed at the time - "A process of making artificial stone wall facings."  It was marketed to thousands of homeowners that it would "make your home the neighborhood showplace," "beautiful, long-lasting," and "maintenance free."

The FormStone Original, PlateMarker

  The parent firm of Formstone was the Lasting Products Company (see their ad, above), a paint manufacturing firm founded by Albert I. Rankin who was born in 1897 and immigrated to Baltimore as a young boy.  He began manufacturing paint, roof coatings, and putty at 200-212 S. Franklintown Rd, Baltimore, MD, the location of the company until it sold out in 1974, seven years after he died.

  Simulated stone was found in other cities, and while the Formstone patent expired 17 years later, it went by a multitude of other brands such as "Perma-stone," "Dixie Stone,""Rostone," "Silverstone," TruStone,""Bermuda Stone,"Modern Stone," "Romanstone," "Magnolia Stone," "Fieldstone," or "Stone of Ages."  It was the rage throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, given that homeowners seemed to love it as it covered up brick and other masonry imperfections, helped modernize home appearances, and was advertised to be near maintenance-free. Those who dreaded the idea of repeated, exterior wall painting, saw hope in the concept.

"Little Castles" Rowhomes in Baltimore
(Photo: Courtesy, theatlanticcity.com)

  Formstone and Permastone were similar in that they were created at the job site, much like interior plaster.   Decades later, there were surprises for homeowners and a nightmare for preservationists since its removal would often destroy the original detailing under the installation.  Mesh wiring was first applied to the exterior of the building, overlaid by a cement "scratch" coat.  Over that went a base coat followed by a color or textured material that was hand-sculptured on top - in Mr. Knight's case, rather than just coloring the stone mixture with pigment, he mixed colored stones from many parts of the country which enabled it to be color-resistant to outdoor elements.

  According to "Old House Journal, 1982," Formstone was not the only affront to be sprayed, rolled, poured, or smeared over original exteriors.  For instance, there was the "Merit Wall Method"which was marketed by Merit Enterprises.  A thick rubbery material was sprayed over everything but the window glass -- cornices, gutters, and door frames were not exempted. Suspended in goo was fine stone dust and the effect was that of a huge metalflake balloon having been stretched over the house and then cut out at the doors and windows."  Fortunately, it never caught on to the extent of Formstone.

  Native son and avant-garde film director, John Waters, affectionately referred to it as the "Polyester of Brick" and went so far as to document it in one entitled "Little Castles: A Formstone Phenomenon."  Due to its prolific use in over 50 percent of Baltimore row homes, preservationists to this day debate over what is worthy of preservation - the pre-faux or the post-faux look. The idea of preserving Formstone in Baltimore has been creeping into the modernist mentality, while others have decided that tradition is what lies beneath.  A Baltimore Sun article, December 1, 2012, states that the Baltimore City Council seems to be of the impression that it is a rather tacky appearance and needs to henceforth be banned from further proliferation and use.  What opinion do you have, hon?

It's 2 O'clock. Do You Know Where Your Husband Is?

The 2 O'clock Club's Neon Marquee, best seen at night.

  In the mid 1800's, East Baltimore Street was not unlike much of the architecture on that street and throughout the city prior to the Civil War, being architecturally populated with four story commercial buildings.  By 1855, at 416 E. Baltimore, an auctioneer by the name of Samuel H. Gover determined to have a home for his auction gallery.  Interspersed with auction events, the hall was often used for public meetings. From 1860 for nearly four years, it was known as Apollo Hall and then Metropolitan Hall and then, between 1873 and 1891, it was known as Turner Hall.

  By 1892, the local chapters of the Grand Army of the Republic or "GAR" (a fraternal organization composed of veterans from the triumphant Union Army, US Navy, US Marines, and Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War) deemed it as their "Grand Army Hall" between 1892 and 1903. The GAR National Headquarters was rotated among various U.S. cities, however, unfortunately never was hosted by the City of Baltimore.

  The 1904 Great Fire of Baltimore was akin to an Etch-a-Sketch to much of the architectural and cultural landscape of the city.  Despite the tragedy, the original owners had high hopes and rebuilt to the original height.  Little would they know that their desire to build this building would be effectively sowing the seed for a cultural milestone within the U.S.

Harold Lloyd's Silent Film
 "Safety Last", 1923

  It was at this location where Marion Scott Pearce, motion picture pioneer, and his partner Philip J. Scheck (their firm here in Baltimore, known as Pearce & Scheck, originally built the Hippodrome Theater) operated their first theater in 1908, the Amusea (which first opened in a little room at 404-406 East Baltimore in 1906), showing some of Baltimore's first public showings of silent films.  The nickelodeon originally contained 75 seats operated 15 minute long reels non-stop for 12 hours daily but, due to the tremendous popularity of "moving pictures," they expanded to a 275 seat capacity auditorium and included "polite" vaudeville into their schedule of entertainment offerings.  You can read more about Mr. Pearce in the 1912 book "Baltimore: Its History and Its People," of the Lewis Historical Publishing Company.

  From the Amusea, they introduced the rather novel experiment of "talking pictures" which became interspersed with other venues - it was quite possibly the first instantiation of this concept in America.  In those days, these 'sound' movies were merely voice actors behind the screen who attempted to synchronize their voices and sounds of gunfire or other action with the silent visual screen display.

  According to the 1974 book "Headley's Exit: A History of Movies in Baltimore," when Pearce and Scheck began to have financial issues attempting to run the Hippodrome, they sold the Amusea to Milton Caplon who promptly changed the name to the Clover and expanded the seating capacity to 375.  By the 1930, the theater along with its environment on Baltimore Street became increasingly cheap and dirty.

Sol Goodman advertisement,
circa late 1930s

  In 1936, an enterprising Jewish man by the name of Solomon Goodman and his wife purchased the theater and opened the "2 O'Clock Club" which produced vaudeville and burlesque shows. By the 1951, Goodmans had pushed the envelope such that a Baltimore Sun article reported that Liquor Control Board was "horrified" over police descriptions of their floor shows.  In that instance, the club had its license suspended for 10 days due to a dancer named Zorita who it was reported during the "final part of her act the dancer held a snake close to her body and went through several indecent motions."

A 2 O'Clock Club Matchbox Cover
Featuring Blaze Starr, c1960
(Courtesy: Hakes.com)

  The 2 O'Clock Club became most known through the efforts of a particular stripper and burlesque star by the name of "Blaze Starr" who, according to The Selvedge Yard blog, was born Fannie Belle Fleming and commanded the stage with a voluptuous 38D-24-37 figure.  Blaze began performing at the  club in December 1950 and soon Mr. Goodman became her personal manager.  He eventually sold her the club in 1968 and over the next four years, Ms. Starr worked to elevate the reputation of The Block.  While she owned it, in addition to the building housing a burlesque theater, it housed an envelope factory, violin factory, and a gypsy shop.  So far, the 2 O'Clock Club is still alive and kicking, a remnant of Baltimore's illustrious and tawdry past on a slowly vanishing, somewhat seedy, section of town near Baltimore's Finest back doorstep.

Celebrating the Marvels of Light at 39 West Lexington

1916 Old BG&E Building,
Gas Light Panel
(Courtesy: Anomalous_A,
Flickr.com)

  Early Baltimore Gas and Electric History - On March 11, 1802, the Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser reported on a “new light,” the invention of a young scientist named Benjamin Henfrey, being demonstrated as gaslights – it was a novelty, but gained no financial support at first.  It would take several years until Dr. Charles Kugler, a Philadelphia merchant, in an effort to bring his gas manufacturing techniques to public attention, convinced Rembrandt Peale to illuminate a room on June 11, 1816 in his Peale Museum (also known as the Municipal Museum of the City of Baltimore, 225 N. Holliday Street) with burning gas lamps.

  The public was so impressed that, by June 14th, 1816, a small group of men convinced by the demonstrations formed the Gas Light Company of Baltimore (the earliest predecessor of today’s Baltimore Gas and Electric (BG&E)) and petitioned the Mayor and the Baltimore City Council with a plan to begin lighting some of the city streets.  Franchise rights were granted along with a contract.  On December 2^nd of that year, the General Assembly of Maryland approved the incorporation of the first gas company in the New World. 

  In 1888, rival gas companies merged into the Consolidated Gas Company of Baltimore. Several years earlier, in 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrated his incandescent lamp in Menlo Park, NJ that heralded a new era in light.  While the first electric company in Baltimore was the Brush Electric Light Company, incorporated in 1881, the United Electric Light and Power Company was the primary electric service provider for Baltimore.  When they joined in 1906 with Consolidated Gas to become Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company of Baltimore, it became the city’s first fully integrated gas and electric company.

Gas Electric Company,
NW Corner, Liberty
& Lexington, c1906

  In 1915, the integration was by name only and buildings were not only dispersed around the city but the electric division was separate from the gas division.  In leased locations were The House Electric was at a building on 325 North Charles Street, the legal and claims department was in the Title Building, the gas industrial fuel department was at the corner of Saratoga Street and Park Avenue, the electric office was at the Continental Building (near Calvert and Baltimore Streets). The one owned building on the opposite corner of Liberty and Lexington Streets (shown, left) housed the headquarters of the gas division executive, bookkeeping and accounting offices, and sales and commercial departments.  Consolidation would become a reality.

Prior to the Lexington Building
SE Corner, Liberty & Lexington, c1915

 Negotiations began nine years after Baltimore’s Great Fire for the property at the southeast corner of Liberty and Lexington Streets and what was Little Sharp Street (see photo of the site prior to construction, right). On Feb 24, 1915, the Baltimore Sun reported that Boston architect Parker, Thomas & Rice would design the new office building to be erected by J. Henry Miller, Inc. at what is now 39 West Lexington Street to house its corporate leadership and possibly the Pennsylvania Water and Power Company.  Mr. Miller had also built Union Station in Baltimore.

  While construction progressed, on June 16 and 17, 1916, the company celebrated the American Gas Centenary as it was publicized throughout the country, distinguished scientists and engineers gathered in Baltimore for events surrounding the celebration with great fanfare.  On the first day, City Hall’s great bell pealed 100 times (one for each year since Peale added gas illumination to Baltimore Museum exhibits) followed by a four-mile, two hour long, parade in which 2,500 employees marched along with over 10 bands, 200 horses, and 52 decorated floats (some were 40 feet long) depicting among other themes – “The Evolution of Light”, “ The Evolution of Power”, “The Industrial Growth of Baltimore”, and “Household Economics.”  Nothing like it had ever been seen in Baltimore before.

Early Lexington Building photo
circa 1925

View of the Lexington
Building, from present
Liberty Dog Run, c1920

  In December 1916, the new Lexington Building (later to be renamed the Gas and Electric Building) was occupied.  It was built of granite and terra-cotta layered between floors upon a steel structure.  The entire basement, mezzanine, second and third floors were used for showrooms and retail shops highlighting gas and electric appliances and ornamentals of the day (see photos, below). It boasted eight high-speed elevators, filtered water and fountains on each floor as well as hot and cold washstands.

50 Kilowatt Lightbulb,
redisplayed in 1939

  Interestingly enough, it was on the roof of the 39 West Lex building that in order to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Edison’s invention of his incandescent lamp, for the week of October 14-21, 1929, the largest incandescent light bulb in the world at the time was illuminated – 50 kilowatts!  According to the Sun, “the bulb is 20 inches in diameter.  Its output approximately 1,400,000 lumens.” 

Early BG&E sales room,
39 West Lexington Building,
1st Floor, c1950s

  The building continued to be used for sales showrooms and as BG&E's headquarters throughout the 2000s (see photos, left).  It was placed on the National Register of Historic places and, under guidance by the National Park Service, preserved and restored as it was sold by BG&E to Southern Management Corporation for use as luxury apartments.

(Sources: “A History of Consolidated Gas Electric Light and Power Company of Baltimore, by Thomson King, 1950” and Baltimore Sun Articles)

(Photos: Courtesy of Southern Management Corporation, 39 West Lex; Thomas King book; and Flickr.com)

The Paint and Powder Club - Early Baltimore Drag

  Although you may find drag at some of Baltimore’s finest gay venues such as the Hippo or Central Station, as early as the Fall of 1893 in the Charm City, the rather novel practice was exhibited when two young men of the ‘high-browed’ society set determined to shed their dapper trousers for padded corsets, white brocades, pink chiffon, and low necked gowns for the theatre.

Alfred Baldwin Sloane,
"Mustapha" author

  A group of young debutantes by the name of Reese Cassard, Harry Semmes Lehr, Alfred Baldwin Sloane, and others founded a peculiar amateur performance group known as the Paint and Powder Club, one of the oldest of its kind in America. Mr. Sloane (pictured left) penned the operetta entitled “Mustapha” and the members of the group studied dramatic and operatic art with the intent of raising funds through a charity performance for under privileged children to attend summer camp near the Relay at the Country Home for Children. With the exception of a break to give a dance along with local young women at Lehman’s Hall on January 3, 1894, they rehearsed throughout that winter.

Harry S. M. Lehr as Marie Papillon
in "Mustapha"

  The male only club first appeared with the public debut of Mustapha at Ford’s Grand Opera House on February 5th and 6th, 1894 during which another art group was introduced, the Maryland Mandolin Club. During the play, Harry Lehr (pictured right) played the character Marie Papillon of Paris, a freshwoman at Vassar College and Alfred Sloane played Mustapha IV, Sultan of Turkey (a winsome widower). While novel in Baltimore at the time, as was often the case in theatre, since early 17th Shakespearean plays in England, males played the female part dressed as a female.

J. Randolph Mordecai in
"Joan of Arc"

  The first performances received rave reviews and resulted in over $5,800 that went to the  Home. With newfound notoriety they went on to give performances in Washington, D.C. and Richmond. Within a year the Paint and Powder Club had become incorporated under Maryland law and they proceeded to the 1895 season by performing Joan of Arc on February 19th and 20th at Ford’s Grand Opera House (J. Randolph Mordecai is shown, left, in costume). By Easter of that year they traveled to perform for what was to be the largest audience in the history of the Harrisburg Opera House, followed by a performance to a Philadelphia audience composed partly by members of the University of Penn equivalent amateur group known as the Mask and Wig Club.

  Harry Lehr eventually moved to New York City and became a regular in the exclusive social set there and Alfred Sloane went on to become a Broadway composer, writing the scores “The Hen Pecks” and “The Never Homes.” Women were eventually allowed in the productions in 1931 and while most of the original founders died by the 1940s, this club with a drag origination, now over 100 years old, remains to this day still holding on to their charitable traditions.

(Source: History of the Paint and Powder Club)