HYLAND
A majority of New York theatrical managers had learned
simply to call a halt during the hottest months, closing their
shows until cooler weather set in. But this performance of
Hazel Kirke was taking place in May, not in July or August.
Everyone understood that midsummer theatergoing was
out-and-out masochism;
theatergoing in the late
spring was more of a
game of roulette, a bet
against the weather.
Once the thermometer
had started climbing, this
audience had lost the bet.
On the night of the one-
hundredth performance,
playgoers entered the
doors of the Madison
Square Theatre with grim,
set expressions, wishing
they were anywhere else.
However, as they
stepped from the lobby
into the auditorium, they
were in for a shock. The
streets were registering
a temperature above
90 degrees—but the temperature inside the building,
astonishingly, was an invigorating 70 degrees. One
audience member was the English novelist Mary Duffus
Above: Dressing for the weather, 1861.
Even though it might be August, ladies
were required to smother themselves in
up to a dozen petticoats. The little boy
probably didn't have it much better, as his
playtime outfit would be sewn of "sturdy"
wool. (New York Public Library).
