The grand opening program for the Haymarket was a precious bit of hand-bound ephemera.  A hard drive failure eradicated my images of it forever so you'll have to trust me when I say that it symbolized the hope and ambitions of a young Will J. Davis, determined to exhibit his vision of a proper theater.

In December, 1893, ten years before the Iroquois fire, on a similarly bitter cold day, Will J. Davis' first theater burned. The Haymarket caught fire at 10:00 am December 1, 1893 when a blaze started in the 5th floor space occupied by the Monarch Textile company. Though it was a week day and there were stores and offices in operation, everyone escaped and there were no injuries.  Thousands turned out to watch the Chicago fire department fight the blaze and when it was over Davis sent $150 to fire chief Swenie for the firemen's pension fund (around $4,000 in today's money) as appreciation for the department's success in saving the structure.

The five-story Haymarket structure remained standing but the interior was destroyed by fire and water, representing a $100,000 loss. Contents of stores and offices at the front of the building were damaged, as well as the theater foyer.   Other tenants included the Giller Drug Company, Besinger Cafeteria and Asa Bertrand Segar's industrial engineering company.

In The estate of Will J. Davis was an elaborately framed image of Thomas Keene in Richard III.

The Haymarket Theater was located on the north side of Madison street near Halstead, on Chicago's west side.  It was built new in 1887 with Davis' direction, financed by circus giant, William Cole.  Davis took the lease in May, 1887.

The 120' x 187' structure was designed by Flanders and Zimmerman. Built of St. Louis pressed brick, it was trimmed in carved Portage brown stone with polished granite columns and marble floors.

A forty-foot square grand salon, open to the floors above, featured a water fountain.

The 70' x 90' auditorium included eight private boxes and seating for 1,746 but a capacity of up to 3,000 people was asserted, so a full house would have included 400 people standing on each floor of the auditorium. The third floor gallery offered bench seating. The Haymarket had electric lighting but also a gas lighting system in case of electric failure. Davis boasted there were over 1,200 lamps – provided by the same company that supplied the Iroquois.

As he did in the Iroquois Theater program, Davis maintained that extra precautions were taken against fire at the Haymarket. There were thirty-eight fire escape exits that Davis claimed resulted in nearly twice the lineal feet of exit space as any other theater in Chicago.

The stage was 90' x 49' with a curtain opening of 38' x 36', seven miles of rigging and a Georgia pine floor.

The headliner dressing room was located at stage level and included a private bath and sitting area. A dozen other dressing rooms were in the basement, and four above the stage. All dressing rooms included sinks.

George A. Fair was treasurer and assistant manager at the Haymarket. (He also served as pall bearer when Will Davis' mother died in 1896.) Other officers in the Haymarket Theater Company: Walter T. Dwight, president, George W. Stanford, vice president, James F. Griffin, secretary and Herbert A. Beidler, treasurer.

Content of the program produced for the premier of the Iroquois in 1903 was almost identical to that of the Haymarket in 1887. Line art illustrations with detailed credits for suppliers, all of whom Davis probably arm wrestled to grant him a discount on their goods and services in exchange for being mentioned in the program. Among those cited: Dainty and Ward of the Marshall Field carpet and drapery department, a Steinway piano from Lyon & Healy in the grand salon, wood carvings by Steinmetz & Elenberger, a mantel by Healy & Millet, masonry work by Victor Falkenau, plumbing by William McGraw, gas and electric lighting by T. W. Wilmarth, ventilation by Ruttan Manufacturing, steam boilers from F. W. Lamb & Co, ornamental bronze and fountain from Winslow Bros., marble from K. M. Keating, plastering by Aug. Zander, painting by Perkins Bros., fire escape stairs by Globe Iron Works, copper cornices by Frank Kampe, light plant by United States Electric Lighting, cement paving beneath the theater by Portland Cement Company, stained glass used in private boxes by McCully & Miles, beveled glass in vestibule by J. D. Roberts, perforated rubber matting from Salisbury & Cline and

The grand opening was held December 24, 1887 with a performance by Thomas W. Keene in his signature Shakespearean role as King Richard III. Scenery was produced by Noxon, Ernest Albert and Toomey and music provided by the August Pellage Orchestra

In the program for the Haymarket's grand opening, Davis attempted to draw a similarity between his theater and the historic Haymarket in London but in later years he attributed the theater name to its close proximity to the Haymarket riots in Chicago.

The program included an advertisement for song sheets of tunes by a youthful looking Jessie Bartlett Davis.  Another advertiser, Andrews Chairs, pictures folding auditorium seats with a hat clip.

 A second fire befell the Haymarket in 1904 but Davis was no longer involved with the theater.

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