Words by Crystal Hammon
“The Laugh Cure”
Americans have sequestered at home during the corona virus epidemic, but we have manifold ways to work, connect and entertain ourselves. Our 1918 ancestors weren’t so lucky during the Spanish flu pandemic. Movie theatres were one of their few modes of escape, and judging from an ad in the Indianapolis Star, attendance was down. Indianapolis theatres made a shocking effort to tout their safety and even urged audiences to try “the laugh cure.”
“Cheer up,” read a headline in an ad for a dozen local theatres. “Theatres Are Open. You can safely attend the following theatres. They are properly ventilated and constantly maintained in perfect sanitary condition.” The fine print is less enthusiastic. “Flu Masks Must Be Donned on Entering the Theatre and Worn Continuously During the Performance by Order of the Board of Public Health.”
Source: Indianapolis Star, November 1918
Music and the 1918 Pandemic
How did people engage with music during the 1918 pandemic? One way was to make music at home. You could buy a fine mahogany piano for $125 at the Pearson Piano Company at 128-130 North Pennsylvania Street. Or you could buy a ticket to a recital at one of the city’s many opera houses, where you would be required to don a mask.
For the fashion-forward concert-goer, masks were problematic, but L.S. Ayres had a solution for women: make a chiffon-bordered veil to conceal your mask for a mere $1.50 a yard. (The store also opened its rooms to volunteer seamstresses who made masks for the American Red Cross.) Source: Indianapolis Star, November 1918
Before Hometown Orchestras
Two important cultural features during America’s late 19th and early 20th centuries were traveling concert bands and solo pianists. Both performed in concert halls long before cities like Indy had orchestras. “Audiences would hear Beethoven symphonies performed by two pianists playing four hands,” says Charles Conrad, Ph.D., founder and music director of the Indiana Wind Symphony.
An Iconic Collaboration
Messiah of a Nation was a collaboration between composer John Phillip Sousa and poet James Whitcomb Riley, who wrote the lyric. It was planned for performance at the opening ceremony of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in 1902, but someone made an error on the program and the band was forced to substitute another piece of music. Messiah of a Nation was later played for the first time in Washington, D.C.
Source: Charles Conrad, Ph.D., founder and music director of the Indiana Wind Symphony
A Founding Story
The Ona B. Talbot Fine Arts Association started discussions in 1919 that led to the founding of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1930.