The Walter Scott booth,
with bagpipe accompaniment, was an acquisition to the various
representations. The rustic harbor in the Italian booth was complete
and a pleasant retreat. The music and tableaux in this booth were
worthy of the immense audience which crowded the space each night. The
Italian poets and authors were represented here and it was not at all
unusual for Dante, Michael Angelo, Petrarch and Boccaccio to hobnob
over a glass of lemonade with a sprightly fairy from the Jacob Grimm
booth or some other personage diametrically opposite in legend and
dress. The matinees during the week were prepared in many ways for the
amusement of the school children. One special tableau from the
Egyptian booth was the finding of Moses in the bulrushes. Moses was
played by a beautiful baby a few weeks old, and the young people were
ever ready to crowd the pavilion to behold this tableau. There were
many quaint curiosities exhibited in the Old Curiosity Shop, loaned by
the owners. It took much of my time to borrow and arrange the articles
that were from 100 to 200 years old and very rare heirlooms. My aim
was to make the shop as perfect a counterpart of the original as was
possible. The gladiatorial sports, enacted by the 100 picked men of
the Olympic club of San Francisco, was a nightly attraction which
brought out much cheering.
During the carnival week the Dickens booth had several large groupings
and tableaux that created a storm of hilarity and amusement.
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