Karl Germain the Wizard Magic Posters Printed by Schmitz-Horning Co.

By Janet Dodrill

In 1908, Schmitz-Horning Company (est. 1905), a Cleveland, Ohio lithographic printing company, manufactured a series of large color lithographic advertising posters for professional magician Karl Germain. Additionally printed was a brochure.

Karl Germain (Charles Mattmuller), 1878-1959, was a native of Cleveland, and performed unique magic of his own creation in both America and England until his stage career ended prematurely in 1916 due to blindness.

These posters, and those of other magicians, have become highly collectible in ‘magicana’ collections (antiques and collectibles related to magic and magicians). Several international auction houses (and eBay) have offered these rare magic lithographs, and other wall murals by the Schmitz-Horning Company, for sale since around 2010.

Potter & Potter Auctions of Chicago, Illinois has auctioned dozens of Schmitz-Horning Co. Karl Germain magic posters.

Recently, one of the Karl Germain’s magic posters became available in Google Arts & Culture for the public to enjoy and learn about.

Schmitz-Horning was known for their early large scale capacity printing presses. At the time they owned two of three such custom-built presses in the world, and the 40″ x 80″-plus plates were shipped-in from Germany.

Resources:

Potter & Potter Auctions
Google Arts and Culture, American Museum of Magic

Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.

Germain the Wizard Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before, three-sheet, 1908, 41″ x 76 1/2″, 1908, (Photo: Potter & Potter Auctions)

Germain the Wizard, 1908, 27 3/4″ x 42″, color lithograph (Photo: Potter & Potter Auctions)

Germain the Wizard, Witch’s Cauldron, 1908, 85″ x 44″, stone lithograph (Photo: Google Arts and Culture, American Museum of Magic)

Germain the Wizard, Witch’s Cauldron Detail, 1908, Schmitz-Horning Co. lithograph (Photo: Google Arts and Culture, American Museum of Magic)

Germain, the Man who Mystified All of London, three-sheet, 1908, 76 1/2″ x 41″, color lithograph (Photo: Potter & Potter Auctions)

The Master of Magic, Germain, 1908, 43″ x 28″, color lithograph (Photo: Potter & Potter Auctions)

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Cooper Hewitt’s Object of the Day, Schmitz-Horning Co. 1913-1914 Catalogue

By Janet Dodrill

The Outside Comes Inside, Cooper Hewitt’s Object of the Day, the Schmitz-Horning Company Catalogue.

Cooper Hewitt’s recent Object of the Day (December 17, 2017), The Outside Comes Inside, featured Schmitz-Horning Company’s San-Kro-Mura wall decoration catalogue from 1913-1914.

The Object of the Day webpage contains color images of selected catalogue pages and a brief audio recording about it and the company.

The Schmitz-Horning Company, established in 1905 in Cleveland, Ohio, designed and manufactured full-color chromolithograph high quality washable wall coverings, murals, decorative room panoramics, and friezes.

The wall decoration catalogue is available as part of an “adoption” program to gain funding to support the preservation of this book and others at the museum.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum currently has over 100 pieces in their collection from the Schmitz-Horning Company – the major collection was a gift from the Wallpaper Council, Inc. of New York, NY.

Schmitz-Horning was co-founded by Hugo M. Schmitz (my great-grandfather) and William Horning, artists and lithographers. It is believed the two became acquainted in the late 1800s in and around the Cleveland Art Club and artist’s community. Mr. Horning sold his interest in the company in 1920. Around 1926, Warren R. Schmitz (my grandfather), became vice president of the firm and assisted in company sales. In 1938 he became president of the company until it closed in 1960.

The Forest wall mural theme, Schmitz-Horning Co., 1914 catalogue

 

Hollyhocks wall mural theme, Schmitz-Horning Co. 1914 catalogue.

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Selected Schmitz-Horning Company Links at Cooper Hewitt:

Cooper Hewitt’s recent Object of the Day (December 17, 2017) The Outside Comes Inside, Schmitz-Horning Co. 1913-1914 Catalogue
cooperhewitt.org/2017/12/17/the-outside-comes-inside

The Schmitz-Horning Co.
collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/18046573

Cooper Hewitt WALLCOVERINGS
cooperhewitt.org/tag/wallcoverings

Urban Sketchers

By Janet Dodrill

Sketching with other artists over the past year has been a worthwhile experience. I discovered Urban Sketchers Cleveland chapter on Facebook. After participating in the group’s monthly sketch outings at various locations, I learned about the Urban Sketchers international organization.

I’ve posted some recent sketches, and included information about the group below.

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Urban Sketchers is a network of artists around the world who draw the cities where they live and travel to. Our mission is to “Show the World, One Drawing at a Time.” Visit our main blog at www.urbansketchers.org for more information.

Sketchers in the Cleveland area share their drawings at www.facebook.com/groups/urbansketcherscleveland and www.urbansketchers-cleveland.blogspot.com.

OUR MANIFESTO

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.

2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.

3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.

4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.

5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.

6. We support each other and draw together.

7. We share our drawings online.

8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

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NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: This organization is turning drawing into a social pastime. Jan 20, 2018 – With more than 200 chapters worldwide, Urban Sketchers is helping people meet up and sketch together, taking what was once a solitary hobby and turning it into a social one. www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/this-organization-is-turning-drawing-into-a-social-pastime-1141734979947

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Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio.

5th Street Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio.

Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio.

Renaissance Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio.

Rockefeller Greenhouse & Gardens, Cleveland, Ohio.

Rockefeller Greenhouse & Gardens, Cleveland, Ohio.

Heritage Park, The Flats, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Arcade, Cleveland, Ohio.

Chalk Festival Inspires

By Janet Dodrill

The Cleveland Museum of Art held their annual Chalk Festival September 16 & 17, 2017. Here are some of the beautiful chalk drawings that caught my eye.

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Robin VanLear at Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival 2017

Robin VanLear at Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival 2017

Jan Stickney-Kleber at Cleveland Museum of Art Chalk Festival

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Alex Katz Exhibit Highlights

By Janet Dodrill

A trip to an exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Brand-New & Terrific Alex Katz in the 1950s, earlier this month proved to be very inspiring. The works were done in oil on linen, canvas, board and masonite, color lithograph, and collage with cut paper on watercolored paper. Here are selected photos from my visit to the show.

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Everett Dodrill, Writer, Actor, Director, Producer, Talent, and Artist

By Janet Dodrill

Career Highlights – Everett L. Dodrill Jr.

Everett Dodrill

1940s

Columbia College, BS Degree, Science and Literature, NY, NY

Morey, Humm & Johnstone, NY, NY, 3 years, wrote articles for 4-color magazine “House Organ”

Art School, one term, NY, NY

Pratt Institute for advertising design, NY, NY

Professional Magician, Ajax the Magician (1940s & 1950s), Larchmont, NY

Ballet Dancer, performance at Metropolitan Opera house of a Russian opera, NY, NY

1950s

Bedford Players theater group, Founder, Bedford, Ohio

Lakewood Little Theatre, actor & director, Lakewood, Ohio

Karamu House theater, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

Clague Playhouse, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

Penn, Hamicker, Meldrum & Fewsmith ad agency, writer, Cleveland, Ohio

Lang Fisher & Stashhower ad agency, writer, Cleveland, Ohio (1950s)

1960s

Chagrin Valley Little Theater, actor, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Dobama Theatre, founding theater company, actor & director, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (1960s through 2000s)

Story Craft, script writer for “On Location” radio shows and daily show “Speaking of Money”, Cleveland, Ohio

Editorial Features, and Editorial Services, writer with author Bill Ellis on book The Cuyahoga, Cleveland, Ohio

Mark V advertising agency (1960s & 1970s), Cleveland, Ohio

1970s

Dodrill-Vasilakes & Co. (1970s & 1980s), training and sales documents, technical writing, sales & educational scripts and presentations, articles for “Basic Utility Sales Techniques” industrial magazine, Cleveland, Ohio

“The Wandering Muse of Artemus Flagg” TV special, writer, starring Burgess Meredith, featuring the Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, WJW Channel 8, Cleveland, Ohio

“Say Older My Son, Not Old”, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25 an Emmy winning TV series, Cleveland, Ohio

Heartsong USA project, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25, Cleveland, Ohio

1980s

“Home Again”, wrote and produced, WVIZ Channel 25, Cleveland, Ohio (on rehabbing a Cleveland house)

Educational Research Council of America (1980s), wrote 50 educational stories including Truck Mechanic, Ecologist, and Market Researcher for its “Real People at Work” series, and 3 textbooks, Cleveland, Ohio

Freelance writer (1980s and 1990s), research, technical writing, training and development for user manuals and sales presentations for National Electrical Carbon Corp., General Electric, NASA Lewis Research Center, Union Carbide Corporation, and BFGoodrich, Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Playhouse, actor, Cleveland, Ohio

AFTRA male model (1980s & 1990s)

1990s

Rotary Club, president, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Cain Park Theater, actor, Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Cleveland Museum of Natural History, volunteer, molds/casts of fossils, Cleveland, Ohio

Case Western Reserve Medical School acting as a patient in its doctor training program, Cleveland, Ohio

Special effects makeup artist

2000s

“Christmas Classics by Cleveland”, producer and cast member, a two hour collection of original and classic Christmas narratives, recorded at WJCU 88.7 FM, Cleveland, Ohio

“A Christmas Carol”, starred as Scrooge, recorded at WJCU 88.7 FM, Cleveland, Ohio

Artist and sculptor

 

Everett Dodrill, Ajax the Magician Business Card

Everett Dodrill ballet dancer, 1940s

Marji Dodrill & Everett Dodrill, acting at Karamu House theater, early 1960s

Everett Dodrill in Caligula, Dobama Theatre, 1962

Everett Dodrill, model, talent, 1980s

Everett Dodrill special effects makeup artist, 1990s

Ceramic mask sculpture by Everett Dodrill

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Marji Dodrill, Actress, Model, and Talent

By Janet Dodrill

Tribute to Marjorie “Marji” Dodrill

Marji Dodrill, 1931-2004

 

Marji Dodrill, A Little Night Music (Mme Armfeldt), (Cain Park Theatre &) St. Louis Repertory/Great Lakes Theatre, Cleveland, 1998

 

Marji Dodrill, Driving Miss Daisy (Miss Daisy), Lakeland Community College, Cleveland, 1995

 

Marji Dodrill, Follies (Phyllis), (Baldwin Wallace College &) Cain Park Theatre, Cleveland, 1988

 

Marji Dodrill, My Fair Lady (Mrs. Higgins), (Lyric Opera &) Cleveland Opera, Cleveland, 1989

 

Marji Dodrill, Rape of the Belt, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland, 1962

 

Marji Dodrill, House Hunt (Hostess), weekly real estate television show, Cleveland, 1968

 

Marji Dodrill, Donald Bianchi’s Memorial Service, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland, 2003

 

Marji Dodrill, AFTRA talent guide head shot, Cleveland, 2000

 

Marji Dodrill, Modeling shot, NYC, 1950s

 

Testimonials About Marji Dodrill

My grandma, Marji Dodrill, taught me many important lessons. She taught me how to take pride in my falls, and to recover from them. She started off my career in acting at the Marylin Bianchi Kid’s Playwriting Festival at Dobama Theatre. She also taught me to enjoy life. Not until she died last summer from a reoccurrence of cancer did I realize she was and will be the most important person in my life. – Max Krieger (age 12)

MARJI – If there is any one thing to say about Marji – and there never was just one – it is that she made everyone feel good about themselves. When you talked to her you always knew you had a friend. On stage with her you could feel your own star shine. No play was insignificant, no role too small and a supporting role was often more important to her than any lead. Family and friends came first in her life and a friend could always count on Marji. At age seven she wanted to be an actor. With the Curtain Pullers and Cain Park she practically grew up in theater, but then she moved to New York City to begin her work all over again. “It’s going to be a long hard process,” she wrote home to her childhood friend, “but someday we’ll be great –and you’d better hurry up and get here so you can be great, too.” It is so wonderful to know we have friends like Marji and can all be great together. That’s how Marji made us feel. – Everett Dodrill

…Often after work I’d stop at Nighttown and have a drink with brand-new Cleveland friends – like Marji Dodrill, who worked at Marcus and was vital in helping us do run-throughs of the Cash Explosion show in the office to make sure the game worked. She was one of the best actresses I’ve ever met, and after I settled here three years later I saw her onstage many times in such plays as Driving Miss Daisy, Medea, and The Perfect Ganesh. We remained friends until she eventually lost the toughest and bravest fight I’ve ever seen anyone wage against cancer. She was my personal hero, and I was flattered and moved that her husband, Everett, asked me to be one of speakers at her memorial service. (By the way, the Dodrill house and the Alexander house were used as settings in my future novels. In my first Cleveland book, Pepper Pike, my descriptions of my detective hero’s former home, the one in which his ex-wife still lives, is reminiscent of Marj and Everett’s place in Cleveland Heights….) Source: Les Roberts, Author, We’ll Always Have Cleveland

Career Highlights

MARJI DODRILL
AFTRA, SAG, EQUITY
Height: 5’6” Hair: Blond Weight: 123 Eyes: Green

The Early Years: Cleveland & NYC
Dramatic Training:
Curtain Pullers: Cleveland Playhouse 1943-49

Cain Park Theatre 1943-49

Western Reserve College, Oxford, O. 1949-51

Tamara Daykarhanova, N.Y.C. 1951-52

Dramatic Experience:
Civic Little Theatre, Allentown, Pa. 1960, lead in “Once More With Feeling”

Pennsylvania Playhouse, Bethlehem, Pa. 1960, lead in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs”

Taught drama to crippled children in summer 1960, camp, Allentown, Pa.

Amateur Comedy Club, N.Y.C. 1951-55

One of top 10 national winners in 1st annual scholarship contest: Photoplay Magazine 1948 (dramatic reading)

Modeling:
Penna. Power and Light Co., Allentown, Pa. 1960 (series of color slides of young housewife and Reddy Kilowatt shown throughout state)

Saks Fifth Ave., N.Y.C. – Stag Shop (fashion) 1950-51

Henri Bendel, N.Y.C. (fashion) 1950-51

Garment Center, N.Y.C. (fashion) 1950-51

Photography – William Benedict, N.Y.C. (fashion & demo)

Radio:
Children’s story-telling – Oxford, Ohio 1949-51

Ohio Story – WTAM 1948-49

Know Your FBI – WGAR 1948

Fairytale Theatre (Ester Mullen) – WGAR 1946-49

Television:
Crime Syndicated – CBS, N.Y.C. (dramatic) 1950-52

Herb Shriner Show – NBC, N.Y.C. 1950-52

Agent – Ben Pratt 1950-52

And the Next 30 Years
Commericals, Industrial Films & Live Shows:
Weekly on-camera T.V. spots for Pick ‘N Pay 4 years

Female voice for Halles T.V. and radio 2 years

Dramatic Teacher – 3 yrs. Cleve. Hts. Bd. of Ed.; Chagrin Theatre

Fashion Coordinator, Bobbie Brooks 3 1/2 yrs.: Fashion Shows, Sales, Conventions, Grooming Clinics, Speeches

Broadcast Coordinator: Marcus Advertising

Hostess on weekly T.V. half hour series “House Hunt”, 1 Yr.

Weekly Cleveland Press radio and T.V. spots

News Reporter for Channel 5, 1 Yr. (anchor John Hambrick)

Weekly TV & Radio Voice for Cleveland Newspaper, 1 Yr.

Modeling Teacher – 1 yr. – Patricia Stevens

TV, Theatre & Movie Reviews

Acting Teacher, Children’s Theatre On The Heights & Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, 3 Yrs.

Acting Teacher – John Carroll University, 1-2 classes

Acting Coach, 5 Yrs.

Kronheims TV Commerical Producer

Radio and TV Spots (Local, regional and national)
Radio:
1st Nat. Bank of Cinci.
Bobbie Brooks
Bootie’s
C.E.I.
Central Cadillac
Central National
Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Dairylea Milk
Dramatic Shows: KYC TV
Drug Fair
East Ohio Gas
Fisher Foods
Fostoria China
General Electric
Giant Tiger
Goodyear
Higbees
Hoover Vacuum
Issue 31 Political Commercial (Arts Tax)
May Co.
National City
Ohio Bell
Ohio Power
Parma Mall
Peninsula Night Club
Pro Toothbrush
Procter & Gamble
Richman Bros.
Sherwin Williams
Sohio
Smuckers
Society National
Spaulding Cleaners, etc.
Spitzer Northfield (Voice)
Star Bronze
Superior Meats
Tub & Sink Jelly
Qua Buick
Westinghouse
White Motor
Women’s Federal
WKYC
Xerox

Slide Films:
Bobbie Brooks
Diamond Crystal
Durkees
Kodak
Memory Lessons

(Industrial) Films:
Carrier Air Conditioning
Dupont
Goodyear
Kirby Vacuum

Additional Slide Narrations, Industrial Films & Live Industrial Shows:
American Greetings
Arkansas Power & Light
Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio
Bullock’s
East Ohio Gas
General Electric
Procter & Gamble
YWCA

Ad Photo:
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Issue 14 Political Commercial (Cleve. Schools)
Issue 31 Political Commercial (Arts Tax)
Ohio Lottery
Richman Bros.
Severance Center
Society for the Blind Annual Fur Sale
Timken Products
Warren-Teed Laboratories (Modane)
White Sewing Machine
Weiss Furs

Industrial Shows:
Bobbie Brooks
East Ohio Gas
Ohio Power

Narrator:
“Arlie The Alligator” Story Book on Tape

Film/TV Features:
Mischief, the mother, 1985
Principal United Artists

Presumed Guilty, the judge (starring Martin Sheen, Brandon Fraser), 1991
Supporting NBC

Wednesday’s Children, the mother
Principal Venture Productions

Unsolved Mysteries, Episode: The Countess, 1991
Principal ABC

Slide Narrations, Industrial Films & Live Industrial Shows:
American Greetings
Arkansas Power & Light
Blue Cross of Northeast Ohio
Bullock’s
East Ohio Gas
General Electric
Kirby Vacuum
Ohio Bell
Ohio Power
Procter & Gamble
YWCA

Special Skills:
TV, Drama & Acting Coach, Character Singing & Dancing, Makeup: Straight & Character, Fashion Coordinator/Stylist, Most Sports, Most Dialects, EAR Prompter

The Domino Heart, Dobama Theatre, Acting Coach, 2003

Stage
Theater:
A Delicate Balance, Claire, Dobama Theatre, 1980

A Kiss for Cinderella, Queen, Cleveland Play House, 1999

A Little Night Music, Mme Armfeldt, Cain Park Theatre 1998

A Little Night Music, Mme Armfeldt, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis/Great Lakes 1998

A Perfect Ganesh, Katharine, Dobama Theatre

A Touch of the Poet, Deborah, Cleveland Play House

Angels in America Part I, Hannah, Dobama Theatre

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (starring Barbara Eden), Doatsey Mae, Kenley Players

Big River, Cain Park, 1997

Company, Joanne, Cain Park Theatre

Cripple of Inishman, Kate, Dobama Theatre

Cyrano de Bergerac, Duena, Great Lakes Theater Fest

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Anita, Cleveland Play House

Driving Miss Daisy, Daisy, Lakeland Community College, 1995

Fallen Angels, Jane, Cleveland Play House

Fantastics, Henry, Cain Park Theatre, 1996

Follies, Phyllis, Cain Park Theatre, 1988

Follies, Phyllis, Baldwin Wallace College

Foxfire, Annie, Porthouse Theatre

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (starring Loni Anderson), Lady Beekman, Kenley Players, 1995

Hay Fever, Myra, Cleveland Play House

Heart’s Desire, Jocko’s Mama, Cleveland Play House

Lady From Maxim’s, Mme Vidauban, Great Lakes Theater Fest

Loot, Nurse Fay, Cleveland Play House

Man and Superman, Mrs. Whitefield, Great Lakes Theater Fest

Medea, Nurse, Lakeland Community College

Much Ado About Nothing, Ursula, Actor’s Theatre Louisville

My Fair Lady, Mrs. Higgins, Cleveland Opera, 1989

My Fair Lady, Mrs. Higgins, Lyric Opera

Rape of the Belt, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland, 1962

Richard III, Elizabeth, Cleveland Play House

Richard III, Duchess of York, Great Lakes Theater Festival

Talkin’ With, Big Eight, Dobama Theatre, 1986

The Best Man (w/ Victor Jory), Alice, Actor’s Theatre Louisville

The Cherry Orchard, Cuyahoga Community College

The Children’s Hour, Martha

The Interview, Bracha, Halle Theatre, JCC, 2002

Three Penny Opera, Betty, Great Lakes Theater Fest

Young Man from Atlanta, Ensemble Theatre

W.I.T., Evelyn, Dobama Theatre

…and many more…

 

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