Universal Producing Company: Iowa Time Machine September 7, 1929

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On September 7, 1929, the first ad for the Universal Producing Company of Fairfield appeared in a local newspaper. Universal Producing Company of Fairfield was seeking college graduates to direct “Home Talent” shows, asking applicants whether they could sing, dance, and organize amateur productions.

Raymond Stewart, a Fairfield native and son of a Methodist minister, had worked his way through part of his education at Grinnell College through theater-related sales and other entrepreneurial ventures. In 1926, he moved to Cedar Rapids and began the company with help from three brothers, Wilson, Merle, and Weston Stewart. By 1929, the brothers had relocated the growing concern to 110 North Main Street in Fairfield. Universal Producing Company offered a live, local counterpart to mass entertainment: scripted shows performed by neighbors rather than by distant stars.

Universal sought college graduates to become traveling directors, promised salary, commission, and expenses, and stressed work with “worthy civic and service organization[s].” A director arrived in a new community with a local contact, recruited a cast that could range from 100 to 500 amateur actors, singers, and dancers, rehearsed the production, organized publicity, sold program advertising, and managed ticket sales. The show opened within two weeks, usually on a Saturday night, after which the director moved on to another town. The company was already reaching well beyond Iowa in 1929.

The company’s shows eventually involved more than one million amateur performers and reached more than six million audience members across the United States and southern Canada. Universal’s touring home-talent business was overwhelmed by canceled engagements in the mid-1930s and ceased operating sometime afterward. #Iowa #OTD #History #Theater #Acting