The Schaffner Players was a traveling theatre group that performed in the Midwest Opera Houses, in traveling tent shows, and later on the radio for 72 years.
The Schaffner Players trace their beginning back to 1851. That was the year when "Yankee" Robinson, the first man in America to tour a dramatic show under a tent, moved to Davenport, Iowa and nearby Rock Island, Illinois. Finding no buildings large enough in which his cast could perform, he built a 1000 seat tent theatre with his own hands, hired a cast and transported his touring company by horse drawn wagons and riverboats to Quincy, Illinois where they opened their season on May 29, 1851. Billed as "The Robinson Family" they toured Illinois, Missouri and Iowa where they closed their first season in Davenport On September 9–10, 1851.
"Yankee" Robinson operated his traveling tent repertoire theatre until the 1880s when Charles Emerson bought it and operated it until 1910. J.S. Angell, widely known in the show world, next acquired the show and named it Angell's Comedians. Neil Schaffner started working for Angell in 1922 and later acquired a half partnership. In 1925 Schaffner acquired full ownership and the show remained in his hands until he retired after a heart attack in 1962. Jimmy Davis who had worked for Schaffner as leading man, since the mid-1950s, purchased the tent theatre company and the Schaffner Players name. For over three decades Davis continued to operate the touring company as the Schaffner Players, starring Toby and Susie.
In 1851 only "Yankee" Robinson's company toured in their tented theatre. By 1927, The New York Times estimated that 400 tent theatre companies had visited 18,000 communities and played to 76,800,000 customers while 500 legitimate theatres across the U.S. had played to only 48,000,000 customers. That same year, Billboard Magazine proclaimed the dawn of "The Tent Show Era". Jimmy Davis proclaimed the same theory used by the late Neil Schaffner. "Give the theatre audience what it wants to see and the audience will never stop supporting the theatre".
The Schaffner Players, starring "Toby and Susie" (Toby Tolliver), continued to exist until the death of Davis in 1998.
Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. It is located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, and is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population estimate of 382,630 and a CSA population of 474,226; it is the 90th largest CSA in the nation. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine Le Claire and was named for his friend George Davenport, a former English sailor who served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, served as a supplier Fort Armstrong, worked as a fur trader with the American Fur Company, and was appointed a quartermaster with the rank of colonel during the Black Hawk War. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 99,685. The city appealed this figure, arguing that the Census Bureau missed a section of residents, and that its total population was more than 100,000. The Census Bureau estimated Davenport's 2019 population to be 101,590.
The Quad Cities is a region of cities in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport and Bettendorf in southeastern Iowa, and Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in northwestern Illinois. These cities are the center of the Quad Cities metropolitan area, which as of 2013 had a population estimate of 383,781 and a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) population of 474,937, making it the 90th-largest CSA in the nation.
The Davenport Locomotive Works, of Davenport, Iowa, USA was formed as the W W Whitehead Company in 1901. In 1902 the company commenced building light locomotives. The Company was renamed the Davenport Locomotive Works in 1904.
Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a German immigrant, August Frederick Rüngeling, who changed his name to Ringling once he settled in America. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry. The Ringling family lived in McGregor, Iowa, for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The family then lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875. In 1907 Ringling Bros. acquired the Barnum & Bailey Circus, merging them in 1919 to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, promoted as The Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed on May 21, 2017, following weakening attendance and high operating costs.
Eagle Food Centers was a chain of supermarkets that operated in Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois for a number of years. The company was based out of Milan, Illinois, which is near the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. The company operated stores under many names, including BOGO'S, Eagle Country Market, Eagle Discount Centers, Eagle Discount Supermarkets, Eagle Food Centers, May's Drug and MEMCO. Eagle also operated stores in Houston known as Eagle Supermarkets until March 1985. The chain held a 6 percent market share and had 1,100 employees before leaving the area.
Maid-Rite is an American casual dining franchise restaurant chain. Before it became a restaurant chain, it was a single restaurant, opened in 1926 by Fred Angell. By the end of the 1920s, four franchises were granted; these four restaurants are still in operation.
Toby Tolliver was a character in the "Toby and Susie Show," a long-running act in early 20th-century American theatrical tent shows.
The Midwest Old Threshers Reunion is an annual event that takes place in the small town of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, United States, and runs for five days, ending on the Labor Day weekend. It was first held in 1950, and has taken place every year except 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it first started, it focused on steam engines and antique agricultural equipment, but has developed into an entertainment event with a wider remit. The tiny town of less than 10,000 inhabitants receives thousands of visitors from around the world.
The Rabbit's Foot Company, also known as the Rabbit('s) Foot Minstrels and colloquially as "The Foots", was a long-running minstrel and variety troupe that toured as a tent show in the American South between 1900 and the late 1950s. It was established by Pat Chappelle, an African-American entrepreneur in Tampa, Florida.
Colonel George Davenport, born George William King, was a 19th-century English-American sailor, frontiersman, fur trader, merchant, postmaster, US Army soldier, Indian agent, and city planner. A prominent and well-known settler in the Iowa Territory, he was one of the earliest settlers in Rock Island. He spent much of his life involved in the early settlement of the Mississippi Valley and the "Quad Cities". The present-day city of Davenport, Iowa, is named after him.
Toby Simkin is a theatrical producer and impresario most notable for his work on Broadway and off-Broadway and in London's West End. As of 2004, he is working throughout China, living in Shanghai developing a national theatre network and producing films and musicals for import and export.
The Mississippi Lofts and Adler Theatre is an apartment building and theater complex located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places by its original name, the Hotel Mississippi and RKO Orpheum Theater. The Hotel Mississippi was listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 2005. In 2020 the complex was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District.
The Col Ballroom is a historic building located in the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties as the Saengerfest Halle.
The Zoller Bros-Independent Malting Co. building is located on the edge of an industrial area in the west end of Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983.
The Burtis–Kimball House Hotel and the Burtis Opera House were located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It has since been torn down and it was delisted from the National Register in 2008. The theatre building has been significantly altered since a fire in the 1920s. Both, however, remain important to the history of the city of Davenport.
The Dispatch–Argus is a daily morning newspaper in East Moline, Illinois and circulated primarily throughout the Illinois side of the Quad Cities — Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Island County, but also for sale in retail establishments on the Iowa side of the Quad Cities — Davenport and Bettendorf. The Dispatch is circulated in and around Moline while The Rock Island Argus is circulated in and around that city. The two are essentially the same newspaper, only with different front covers. They have a combined circulation of about 25,000.
Black Vaudeville was based on performances that came out of the movement and style of African Americans. The vaudeville years were the early 1880s until the early 1930s. These acts were unique on the vaudeville scene because the performers brought in different experience that the white performers could not convey. Although African-American performers were mistreated, a Vaudeville gig was better than being a maid or farm worker. Vaudeville had what they called circuits to keep the show business at the time organized. It was difficult for a black performer to be accepted into the white circuit due to the racial issues of the time. Eventually, black circuits were created to give black performers more opportunities. Black Vaudeville made it possible for African Americans to enjoy entertainment through their own heritage.
Tent shows have been an important part of American history since the mid-to-late nineteenth century. In 1927, Don Carle Gillette gave "statistical evidence that the tented drama constituted 'a more extensive business than Broadway and all the rest of the legitimate theatre industry put together.'" The shows first began "in regions which couldn’t support full-time playhouses." Men such as Fayette Lodowick, one of the earliest tent show entrepreneurs, would travel around river towns all over the United States making money on traveling tent shows. These shows "were utilized for a variety of amusements including medicine shows, moving picture shows, vaudeville shows, circuses, musicals, concert companies, and any number of one-night stand dramatic troupes."
"Dr." Gilbert Reynolds Spalding, sometimes spelled Spaulding, was an American showman, circus owner and innovator, being the first to own his own showboat, constructed the first showboat to contain an entire circus and in 1856 the first to send an entire circus on tour in its own railroad cars.
The G. D. Sweet Famous Players was an American theater company that performed in tent shows and opera houses. The company was founded by George D. Sweet and was based in Storm Lake, Iowa. Its performers included Sweet's family members. The performances were named "Sunday school" shows because they were family friendly. The company performed well-known Broadway pieces including Abie's Irish Rose and Up in Mabel's Room. The theater company toured throughout Iowa including in Le Mars, Sioux City, and Humboldt. Sweet died on November 30, 1936, from injuries due to a traffic collision three days prior in Louisiana. The shows originally ended following his death, and Frank Gifford took over the company until 1941. At some point, Vincent Dennis took over the company and held performances in Spencer, Iowa, in May 1947.
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