In 1917, the editor of Edison's Monthly looked disdainfully back on the era of gas in the theatre: “Stage lights,” he said, “took up almost as much room as the scenery itself. Long yards of rubber pipe trailed across the stage and wings. Only the footlights were permanent and only the crudest stage effects were possible.” He might have mentioned the unbearable heat they generated and their malodorous fumes. This house organ for the electrical industry had, of course, a vested interest in deprecating gas and extoling the virtues of electricity. But there were also enthusiasts for gas; in 1923, for example, Louis Hartmann reported that one of the best of the old gas men—William Hall—had told him:I have always claimed that the electric switchboard and dimmer equipment is only the evolution of the old gas table or switchboard, not a new creation. With the gas table of the other days we accomplished the same results you obtain today—in a crude way, we will admit, but with wonderful results. I will state without fear of contradiction that the combination of old gas lighting equipment and the calcium [i.e., lime] light apparatus, we have given productions that even in this era of advancement have never been equalled, that is so far as stage spectacular effect is concerned.
If anyone is in Christ – new creation!