1920s Theater Enthusiast & Socialite Scrapbook with Original Costume Designs - Prohibition, Modern Woman, Woman Playwright

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1926. Poor to fair. Paper extremely brittle, text block and leaves chipping and loose. Toning, dust soiling, chipping and short tears. Corners bumped with a few unobtrusive water stains to cloth. Tape repairs.. A most charming scrapbook compiled by Philadelphia socialite Helen Marshall Eliason (1896-1985), containing ten (10) original costume designs in gouache signed by the designer "R. McRae". The costume designs are rather fabulous, and include theme costumes for women titled "Xmas", "Valentine", "Washington's Birthday", "4th July", "Tennis Girl", "Air Girl", and a a girl in full skiing attire. There is also a Pirate-themed (truncated) costume with an explanatory caption: "This chorus was a satire on prohibition and bootleg Pirates". The final costume design is broken into two designs. The first design shows the "back" of the performer, which is disguised to look like an old Victorian woman or "Grandma"; the "front" of the performer is stylized to look like a "Grandma of Today", i.e., a very stylish and modern looking woman. Art Deco reigns in these designs, and they would look right at home in a copy of Vogue circa 1925.

The remainder of the scrapbook is devoted to ephemera relating to stage productions of the musical comedy "Why Not", which Eliason patronized and presented while she was in her mid-twenties. There are newspaper clippings, programs, and tickets, as well as correspondence addressed to Eliason. One letter from theater critic Sarah Lowrie thanks her for giving an actress a part; another thanks her for supporting the American Committee for China Famine Fund with a performance of the show (there are also a couple slips writing off Eliason's contributions on her taxes). Perhaps the most salient piece of correspondence is the telegram pasted to the first leaf of the album, which is addressed to Eliason from the play's playwright Jacquelyn Green, reporting that the play is "completely finished" as of March 1920.

Measures 16.5" by 18.5", with approx. 25 leaves loosely contained in dark cloth album previously secured by dark shoestring. Aside from patronizing the arts, Eliason was a devoted member of the Victory Garden Committee in WWII, and authored the Committee's handbook. She moved from Philadelphia to Jamestown, Rhode Island after her husband's death. (Inventory #: 22006730)