A Century of Swindles by Railey Jane Savage

Author:Railey Jane Savage
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 2021-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

One of Herrmann the Great’s greater advertising posters.

“HERRMANN THE GREAT CO. 3RD ANNUAL TOUR OF THE HERRMANN THE GREAT ...” ADVERTISING POSTER, 1898, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, LC-USZC4-13441 (COLOR FILM COPY TRANSPARENCY OF TOP) LC-USZC4-13442 (COLOR FILM COPY TRANSPARENCY OF BOTTOM), http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/var.1972/.

Not just any agent but one of the foremost theatrical booking men in America, James W. Randolph. She called him to the Temple to arrange terms for the gangbuster tour she envisioned. Their one meeting covered an impressive amount of ground, but the gist was that, on April 4, Princess and Randolph signed a contract for a three-month engagement of exhibitions at Randolph’s discretion, all proceeds to be divided equally after costs.28 Standard stuff. To keep the marketing machine well ginned up, a response to Herrmann’s challenge, now set for April 8, was drafted and signed and Randolph immediately began to make arrangements for his newfound cash cow.

By April 6, Princess had pulled out. She was mercurial and her temper was volcanic, but this was breakneck vacillating. Herrmann was unruffled and vowed to perform Princess’s tricks anyway, at some future date. Randolph was less understanding. So incensed was he that the following day, April 7, his repudiation of the Princess made headlines and only further bolstered her doubters’ suspicions that she was not what she said but exactly as she seemed.

Randolph’s one tour of the Temple was enlightening, to say the least. Princess led him through the massive brownstone, pointing out Marsh’s extensive collection of pictures and baubles, many of which had since been claimed for the Temple. Over the course of their tour, they discussed business.

“Now you are my manager and confidential man,” Princess said imperiously to Randolph, who was no slouch but was also susceptible to wiles. “How do you like the looks of my house?” she asked while broadly gesturing to the Marsh mansion.

“It is a fine establishment. You are a fly mug to work a man as smart as Marsh for such a big prize.” Randolph—her confidential man—quickly slipped into the street vernacular common among showbiz types and crooks.

His hushed tones and smart slang let Princess know she was okay to let her tongue wag: “I can give you fellows with sawdust on your feet pointers on working soft snaps. Before the end of April I will have $150,000 more, and you are in with it.”

“Do you mean to say that I am in with all your work out of Marsh?” Randolph asked, trying to wrap his head around the scope of the scheme he was undertaking with the massive medium.

“If you will work with me, and as I want you to, I will divide every dollar. Do you understand me?” Princess was clear in her terms as the tour continued upstairs. It came out in court that Princess made “a little love” to Randolph that afternoon. Confidential man, indeed!29

“There are too many in this picture business. It will all go up in a balloon before long. But we have got a new scheme I am working on, and it is this marble business.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.