Mons. Nello, ‘The Renowned Bottle King,’ equilibrist and juggler

Mons. Nello (active 1881-1897), equilibrist and juggler, sometimes billed as ‘The Renowned Bottle King’ and ‘The Great Scandinavian Feet Equilibrist’
(cabinet photo: The Vienna Photo Art Company, 48 Donegal Place, Belfast, probably 1881)

‘THE LORENZI TROUPE, England’s Greatest Male and Female Acrobats, bar non. All should see this Troupe. Their Performance is acknowledge by Proprietors, Managers, Public, and Press to be the best Acrobatic Show of the Day. ‘All should see the Marvellous Female Serpent, the great Female Contortionist on record. All should see FRANCIS, the Wonder Worker, on the Carpet and Pedestal. See Mons. NELLO’s Performance on the High Pedestal, with his Barrel and wonderful Bottle, his first visit to England. All should see the Sisters KALOLO, the Accomplished Song and Dance Performers. ‘The above Troupe stands alone, Six in Number and all Performers. Great Success of Six Months in Spain and France last Summer. Mr Warden’s Pantomime. The Greatest success ever known. Cheered Nightly to the echo. Notice. – The above Troupe is at Liberty June 6th [1881], to accept Engagements for Home or Abroad. All communications to LORENZI Troupe, STAR MUSIC HALL, DUBLIN.’

(The Era, London, Sunday, 21 May 1881, p. 21c, advertisement)
At Christmas 1881, Mons. Nello appeared at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in the pantomime Whittington and his Cat as Pantaloon in the Harlequinade, with Fred Talbert as Harlequin, the Misses E. and M. Lorenzi as Columbine and Harlequina, Mr Bellwood at the policeman and the Lorenzo family as sprites.

(The Era, London, Saturday, 24 December 1881, p. 9b)
Theatre of Varieties, Warrington, Cheshire, week beginning Monday, 24 April 1881
‘… Mons. Nello (surnamed the continental wonder) gives a novel performance on a high pedestal with his magic barrel and wonderful bottle of champagne, 5ft. High.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 29 April 1882, p. 11c)

Gaiety Theatre, Halifax, Yorkshire, week beginning Monday, 8 March 1886
‘… Mons. Nello does some marvellous feats of equilibrium with his feet.’
(The Era, London, Saturday, 13 March 1886, p. 17d)

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Mena Brae in Dick Whittington, Edinburgh, 1912

Mena Brae (Mrs W. Dawnes, d. 1917), Scottish actress, singer and dancer as Zoe in the pantomime Dick Whittington, Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, 12 December 1912
(photo: unknown, UK, 1908)

This real photograph postcard (3444 E) of Mena Brae as she appeared in the pantomime Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, at Christmas 1908, was issued by The Philco Publishing Co of London. Miss Brae’s chief contribution on that occasion was her rendition of ‘Oh, Oh, Antonio’ followed by a step dance, for which she earned an encore. Other members of the cast were Jane Eyre in the title role, Ethel Erskine as Alice, Florence Warde as the Prince of Morocco, Molly Maguire as the Fairy Queen, Phil Ray as Alderman Fitzwarren, Will Evans as Idle Jack and Albert Felino as the cat. A group of Tiller’s dancers was also present, as were the Tintos Troupe of acrobats and George Kirby’s Flying Ballet.

Edna Loftus (d. 1916), English chorus girl
(photo: unknown, UK, circa 1906)

This postcard of Edna Loftus is a Photochrome, published in the ‘Celebrities of the Stage’ series (no. 4731) by Raphael Tuck & Sons, London, about 1906.

Miss Loftus’s modest career as an actress included chorus work at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in The New Aladdin (29 September 1906) in the small part of Madge Oliphant. That same year she featured in the Christmas pantomime Babes in the Wood at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. She later went to the United States, where she is said to have appeared on Broadway.

‘WANT DRIVES HER TO TRY SUICIDE
‘Edna Loftus Rheinstrom Lies Seriously Ill at Roadhouse as Result of Attempt.
‘SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21 [1910] – Since her attempt last week to drown herself in an effort to end her tragic career, Edna Loftus, who, as a chorus girl in New York and London charmed thousands, and whose marriage to Harry A. Rheinstrom, son of the late millionaire brewer of Cincinnati, furnished some sensational gossip some months ago, has been lying seriously ill at Cairn’s roadhouse.
‘While her husband has been confined in an asylum at Stockton, Edna has been finding it difficult to maintain herself, and her attempt at suicide fallowed three weeks of unsuccessful effort to make both ends meet.
‘STRUGGLE TOO GREAT.
‘Disheartened and discouraged by the constant struggles and buffeting with which she has been contending, and brooding over her husband’s absence and the fact that the guardianship of Rheinstrom was taken from her by the courts when he was sent to the Stockton asylum, she went to Golden Gate park and threw herself in the cold, shallow water of Spreckels lake The water was not as deep as she supposed and as she plunged in, she screamed for help, all idea of suicide gone.
Her screams attracted a man in a passing automobile. He stopped his car and hurrying to the lake, dragged the unhappy but repentant Edna to shore. The man, who did not make known his identity took her to Carin’s at Thirty-sixth avenue and Fulton street, where she has since been living.
‘WEDS JOCKEY.
‘Edna Loftus was married to Jockey Winnie O’Connor before the couple first met. She divorced him and eloped with Rheinstrom to Covington, Ky., where they were married. They came west to Los Angeles, and then to San Francisco. Rheinstrom engaged in business in Oakland, but neglected it sadly, and was forced to live on his allowance, which his wife found much too small. Finally they were forced to move from their Oakland home by importunate collectors. Rheinstrom then displayed symptoms of insanity, and was committed to Stockton. As his allowance will end on January 1, his wife will be forced to earn her own living entirely.’
(Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, Wednesday, 21 December 1910, p.5b)

‘EDNA LOFTUS DIES IN WARD FOR PAUPERS
‘A life story, in which fame, wealth, poverty, gayety, sorrow and sin played on the soul of a girl who had beauty and talent, came to an end yesterday when Edna Loftus, London music hall singer [sic], who was once the wife of Harry A. Rheinstrom, son of a Cincinnati millionaire, died of tuberculosis at the City and County Hospital in San Francisco.
‘The last chapter in Edna Loftus’ story is like that of the homely novel that is read for the moral contained. The body of the girl who heeded not, so long as money and beauty lasted, will be buried in the potters’ field unless her former husband’s family claims it.
‘When Miss Loftus eloped with Rheinstrom she was at the height of her career, inspired by a desire to put behind them the doubtful pleasures of the night life the couple came to California and attempted to live simply. Rheinstrom’s father would give them no money and soon the wife pined for the lobster palaces and the flowing champagne to which she was accustomed. Then fate, in earnest, began to take from under her one by one the steps of the ladder on which she had climbed to position. Desperately she tried to keep from slipping, but surely, sometimes slowly and often long spaces at a time, she went down.
‘Rheinstrom was sent to the insane asylum at Stockton in 1913 after the couple had achieved notoriety in the night life. He was released a year later, divorced the actress and returned to his home in the East.
‘Three years ago, at Angel Island, she faced deportation as an undesirable alien. It was said that instead of leaving San Francisco, as she had promised the police, she had purchased a share in an infamous resort on Commercial street. There were stories of police investigation of her part in the disappearance of a valuable gold watch belonging to a young hardware merchant of San Francisco.
‘At the time of her death Miss Loftus was the keeper of the Art Hotel, 883 Kearny street, a pathetic figure pointed out in the tenderloin as a bit of a curiosity because once she had been famous on two continents.’
(Oakland Tribune, Oakland, California, Friday, 16 June 1916, p.13b)

Lily Landon

Lily Landon (fl. late 1880s/1890s), English music hall serio-comic and pantomime principal girl

This real photograph cigarette card, published about 1900 by Ogden’s of Liverpool for its Guinea Gold Cigarettes, features a portrait of the English music hall serio-comic and pantomime principal girl, Lily Landon. (Photo: unknown, probably Hana, London, circa 1897)

Hungerford music hall, London. ‘A little lady called Lily Landon did much to dispel our aversion to the appearance of precocious children upon the stage; there is real talent in this youthful personage, and her clear and unstrained articulation might with advantage be emulated by many maturer aspirants upon the boards. There should be a successful future in store for Lily Landon.’ (The Entr’acte, London, Saturday, 6 June 1885, p.11a)

Oxford music hall, London. ‘The younger members of the serio-comic sisterhood find fascinating representatives in Miss Queenie Lawrence, who has happened on a very good song, “The Duchess of Leicester-square;” in Miss Lily Landon, who looks pretty in an old gold costume; in Miss Marion Keates, a promising recruit who is piquant in an “answer” song; and in Miss Ray Maskell, a capital dancer.’ (The Era, London, Saturday, 21 July 1894, p.14a)

At Christmas 1898 Lily Landon appeared in the title role of the pantomime Cinderella at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Other members of the cast included Evie Greene, Mark Sheridan, Nellie Christie, George Spry and Harry Lupino.

Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. ‘Dick Whittington has achieved an immediate artistic and financial success, and it is admitted on all sides here that this beautifully illustrated edition of the always-popular pantomime story is the most expensively mounted and best acted pantomime that Howard and Wyndham have yet given us. Scenery and dresses are provided in lavish profusion and magnificence, and the company is strong and well equipped for the enjoyment of holiday audiences. The theatre has been packed in every corner nightly all week, and the morning [matinée] representations have drawn equally large houses. As Idle Jack Mr Mark Sheridan is the very epitome of fun, his droll humour and peculiarly amusing style causing peals of merriment all through the evening. Mr W.E. Richardson, who proves as effective in pantomime as in comedy and drama, gives able support as the Cook, a judicious and clever performances that will please the most exacting. Mr Harry Cole invests the rôle of Fitzwarren with many diverting features, and Messrs Drew and Alders, whose grotesque antics provoke shouts of laughter, are decidedly happy in all they say or do. Miss Cissy Fitzgerald is successful in no ordinary degree as Dick, and is a welcome recruit to the rather limited ranks of first-class pantomime boys; while a great deal of admiration is centred in Miss Lily Landon, who plays Alice so prettily, and sings so delightfully. Miss Nellie Christie is immensely amusing as Queen Susantusan, and Miss Violet Englefield’s violin solo remains a conspicuous feature of the performance.’ (The Era, London, Saturday, 30 December 1899, p.8a)

Lily Landon (fl. late 1880s/1890s), English music hall serio-comic and pantomime principal girl

This real photograph cigarette card, published about 1900 by Ogden’s of Liverpool for its Guinea Gold Cigarettes, features a portrait of the English music hall serio-comic and pantomime principal girl, Lily Landon. (Photo: unknown, probably Hana, London, circa 1897)

Hungerford music hall, London. ‘A little lady called Lily Landon did much to dispel our aversion to the appearance of precocious children upon the stage; there is real talent in this youthful personage, and her clear and unstrained articulation might with advantage be emulated by many maturer aspirants upon the boards. There should be a successful future in store for Lily Landon.’ (The Entr’acte, London, Saturday, 6 June 1885, p.11a)

Oxford music hall, London. ‘The younger members of the serio-comic sisterhood find fascinating representatives in Miss Queenie Lawrence, who has happened on a very good song, “The Duchess of Leicester-square;” in Miss Lily Landon, who looks pretty in an old gold costume; in Miss Marion Keates, a promising recruit who is piquant in an “answer” song; and in Miss Ray Maskell, a capital dancer.’ (The Era, London, Saturday, 21 July 1894, p.14a)

At Christmas 1898 Lily Landon appeared in the title role of the pantomime Cinderella at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Other members of the cast included Evie Greene, Mark Sheridan, Nellie Christie, George Spry and Harry Lupino.

Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. ’Dick Whittington has achieved an immediate artistic and financial success, and it is admitted on all sides here that this beautifully illustrated edition of the always-popular pantomime story is the most expensively mounted and best acted pantomime that Howard and Wyndham have yet given us. Scenery and dresses are provided in lavish profusion and magnificence, and the company is strong and well equipped for the enjoyment of holiday audiences. The theatre has been packed in every corner nightly all week, and the morning [matinée] representations have drawn equally large houses. As Idle Jack Mr Mark Sheridan is the very epitome of fun, his droll humour and peculiarly amusing style causing peals of merriment all through the evening. Mr W.E. Richardson, who proves as effective in pantomime as in comedy and drama, gives able support as the Cook, a judicious and clever performances that will please the most exacting. Mr Harry Cole invests the rôle of Fitzwarren with many diverting features, and Messrs Drew and Alders, whose grotesque antics provoke shouts of laughter, are decidedly happy in all they say or do. Miss Cissy Fitzgerald is successful in no ordinary degree as Dick, and is a welcome recruit to the rather limited ranks of first-class pantomime boys; while a great deal of admiration is centred in Miss Lily Landon, who plays Alice so prettily, and sings so delightfully. Miss Nellie Christie is immensely amusing as Queen Susantusan, and Miss Violet Englefield’s violin solo remains a conspicuous feature of the performance.’ (The Era, London, Saturday, 30 December 1899, p.8a)