1909 THE MELTING POT Touring Co Program Tulsa OK Isreal Zangwill OriginofPhrase

Description

This is a 1909 program for a performance of Isreal Zangwill's play, and source of the popularization of America's descriptive phrase- The Melting Pot (wiki says the phrase had been used as early as the 1780s).  Originally opened Sept 5, 1908 in Washington, DC.  Then bypassed New York and began a run at the Columbia Theater in Chicago for 5 months, with Walker Whiteside the star, and in the touring company as well.  Leonora Von Ottinger and Louise Muldener were also in the premiere and the company listed here.
Program is from the Tulsa, Oklahoma Grand Opera House which opened in 1906 and struggled through the depression until it was demolished in 1973.  There is no date listed for the performance but it Could be after February 5, 1909 (the end of the initial run in Chicago) and September 6, 1909, when they settled in New York for 136 performances, again with at least the three named above still in the cast.  I say could because I have a note regarding a brief tour of mid-western cities that returned to Chicago on Dec. 5, 1908.  So there is a possibility this is even older, and closer to the premier than I thought.  This is not from the later run c1915-16 from the time the movie based on the play came out.  This program is from the first run with the original cast.
Hard to overstate the seminal impact this play had on American culture.  This play popularized the quintessential description of America (well until last summer when we were told we all hate each other, sigh).  This play may in fact be the origin of this usage too- earlier it was more likely to be called the smelting pot or crucible.  Wiki says the term has been criticized by "proponents of multiculturalism" in favor of mosaic or salad bowl.   If you are interested in talking about this stuff shoot me a line.  I would pro-offer the fact that having this discussion in English indicates we have already been in the crucible.  How many of your eight Great Grandparents spoke English as their first language?  Anyway, I like the metaphor but see why some have issues with it.
The story follows the Americanization of a Russian Jewish family.  It looks like Teddy Roosevelt was at the premiere and said "How long is this dang thing"...Kidding....  He said, or called out  "That's a great play Mr Z".
I have had this for close to 20 years and have not found another program with the original cast on the first run to compare from anywhere- Library of Congress, nothing..Even the WIki page uses a 1916 program image after the movie had come out.  The 1916 image is used in every later publication about this play it seems.
Admittedly, not possible to prove a negative, and happy to be shown more exist, but I have never found any information about another program from the original run of the play, not the Tulsa Grand Opera House performance but with the original cast of The Melting Pot itself.  I think it would be very difficult to find another.
12 very thin pages in remarkably good condition for its ephemeral nature and age. Interior ads are not very elaborate but do hawk great items of the period.