An Original Photo of Lotta Crabtree

[Bob Boze Bell]

April 18, 2012

Some residents of San Francisco meet today at a fountain located at the intersection of Market St. and Kearny to mark the anniversary of the 1906 earthquake. The fountain was donated by the legenary actress and comedienne Lotta Crabtree. Known as "Miss Lotta the San Francisco Favorite" the young Ms. Crabtree performed in the mining camps of northern California and went on to major acclaim on the stage earning up to $5,000 a week. Her mother wisely invested her earnings (demanding payment in gold) and when Lotta died in 1924 she left $4 million in a charitable trust that is still going today.

 

About fifteen years ago I bought an original photo of Lotta Crabtree at the Argonaut Booksstore on Sutter. I have posted the photo over on our True West Facebook page. You can access it right here.

 

Also working on several new characters. Here's one—Jennie Burns—who will be featured in an upcoming Graphic Cinema on Wyatt Earp.

 

"Some choice is liberating. Too much choice is paralyzing."

—Barry Schwartz

[Chet Rollins]

Here is the fountain

I've read a couple books on Lotta and correct me if I'm mistaken, but she had the fountain built for watering horses as she noticed that there weren't any watering places for equestrian travel in downtown SF?

I have a question about Lotta and Tombstone, I know that she had a brother who was part owner of a livery in Tombstone, financed by Lotta. The Birdcage Theater say's she performed there, however her mother who was her agent and traveled with her everywhere she performed was quoted, prior to her death, that she (mother) had never been to Tombstone. So did Lotta ever perform at the Birdcage?

Lotta's life traveling with her dominant mother/agent was not unlike the Jane Seymour character in "Somewhere In Time."

[anthony martin]

  Chet,

      Yes,the relationship between  Lotta and her mother was rather like that between the characters portrayed by Seymour and Plummer in Somewhere In Time.There characters were largely based on the relationship  between the actress Maude Adams(Peter Pan-1903) and her theatre owner/impressario/ lover and personal manager Charles Frohman.He was a brilliant but difficult man and fended off those who tried to get close to her.Interestingly although Frohman died while still rather young Maude Adams never was involved(to public knowledge) in a romantic relationship after that.

   Bob,

      It would be nice if you found yourself a copy of a photo of Lola Montez the actress who mentored and encouraged young Lotta.It would make a nice companion piece.I acquired a Napoleon Sarony image of Montez a few years back.Copies of their photographs were made by the thousands for mass consumption and pop up on the market fairly frequently .Both were beautiful,talented,charismatic women.

[Bob Boze Bell]

Anthony, I would love to see your photo of Lola Montez. Can you share it here?

[anthony martin]

  Bob,

     I'll look for it.I have a pile of about1200 loose 19th century photos and upwards of around 30 odd Victorian albums.It's somewhere in there!My real prize is a Brady CDV called The Fairy Wedding Party depicting Charles Stratton(General Tom Thumb),his wife Lavinia,her sister and brother in law-all Barnum circus midgets decked out in formal attire for the wedding.Now this was a popular seller so there's a few around but what makes this image very special is that it is autographed by all four!

    A group of five Camillus Fly CDV's and cabinets surfaced here in Riverside about a year ago,all depicting the same man or with his wife.None were signed to identify the parties.You'd be surprised just how much Boomer material ended up here as Southern Ca. was the last venue for the pursuit of the good life for many of thes folks well into the 20th century.People still find Tombstone material here.

[Bob Boze Bell]

Yes, Anthony, this is in fact one of the themes of my next book on Wyatt Earp in Hollywood. How so many Western icons landed in Cali and helped shape the dream. Emmett Dalton, Charlie Siringo, Charlie Russell, Jesse James' son, etc. I am fascinated by this "end of the trail" phenom and how it shaped the movies and Westerns especially. Love to hear your comments and insights on this. Thanks.

[Bob Boze Bell]

Oh, and one more thing: historian John Gilchriese used to talk about "Arizona Row" in downtown LA at the turn of the century. It was supposedly a row of mansions built by the merchant class, who all made their fortune selling goods in Arizona in the 1800s and retired to Cal. Do you know where this was?

[anthony martin]

  Bob,

    No,I don't know the street but it should be easy enough to find out-I'll ask my curator pal or one of her friends.I used to own an item owned by George Parsons until I sold it to an old west collector two years ago.One of my "holy grail"obsessions is to find the citrus label associated with John Clum when he owned a grove and before he finally settled in L.A. proper.It may not still even exist but as I do own a couple of one of a kind labels the search goes on.Here in the Inland Empire(pretentious name)I'm literally smack dab between Clantons and Earps ,which is pretty cool-the "end of the trail " indeed!

[Bob Boze Bell]

Anthony, if you find that, I will buy you a holy grail!