The Beer Mug Decorations executed by Maxfeld Parrish 
THE ARTISTIC HOME OF THE MASK AND WIG CLUB 
OK THE UNIVERSITY OK PENNSYLVANIA 
By HELEN HENDERSON 
W HEN the members of the “Mask and 
Wig Club of the University of Penn¬ 
sylvania” determined upon securing a perma¬ 
nent abode, they were confronted with a more 
than ordinarily difficult problem in house¬ 
hunting. The vicissitudes of their transient 
occupancy of the several attic apartments 
dedicated briefly to their use in earlier years 
were many. The Mask and Wig Club had 
proved an unpopular tenant. On a number 
of occasions its removal 
had been at the sug¬ 
gestion of the property 
owner, egged on by 
the other occupants of 
the house in question 
and by the building 
inspector. It might al¬ 
most be said that the 
Club on these occasions 
had suffered the igno¬ 
miny of ejection. 
The vigorous nature 
of the entertainments, 
for whose production 
the club exists, had in¬ 
variably inspired both 
fear and disapproval in 
the minds of each suc¬ 
cessive landlord long 
before the expiration 
of his tenant’s lease. 
The singing, shouting, 
168 
marching and dancing incident to the re¬ 
hearsals of the great annual histrionic pro¬ 
ductions, as well as of the two preliminary 
performances given yearly, were readily 
construed a “nuisance” by neighbors 
and a menace to property so shaken and 
disturbed. 
So it became imperative in the Club’s rapid 
rise to importance in the college life that 
provision be made for a habitation where the 
peculiar features of 
its dramatic entertain¬ 
ments might be de¬ 
veloped unmolested. 
Mr. Wilson Eyre had 
already been chosen 
architect of the pro¬ 
posed dwelling. Aided 
by a city map he and 
an influential member 
of the Club instituted 
a thorough investiga¬ 
tion of that labyrinth 
of “back streets” 
which cut old Phila¬ 
delphia into a tangle of 
criss-crossings running 
into the very heart of 
the once most fashion¬ 
able district. 
Their efforts were 
rewarded by the dis¬ 
covery of an old dis- 
NEW KRONT OK THE MASK AND WIG CLUB 
