Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Seating chart prepared by Frances Glessner

The Glessners celebrated Christmas in 1915 by hosting a dinner for 24 people at 1:00pm on Christmas Day.  Although the menu served was not recorded, the Glessner journal (by this time being written by John Glessner), and Frances Glessner’s dinner book both list the guests who were present.  Their dining room table was designed to accommodate 18; Frances Glessner noted, however, that the carpenter could extend the table to seat 24 when needed.

Mrs. Enrico (Juliette) Tramonti

Two of the dinner guests, Mrs. Tramonti and Mrs. Bernhard, had come on Christmas Eve to decorate the Christmas tree.  Regarding Christmas Day, John Glessner wrote:

“Mr. and Mrs. Tramonti came to breakfast, then went elsewhere, and our Christmas party came at 12 to see the tree lighted.  Our dinner was at one and the party broke up about 4 p.m.  There were Frances Lee and her children, Mr. and Mrs. Stock, Mr. and Mrs. Tramonti, Mr. and Mrs. Wessels, Mr. and Mrs. Voegeli, Mr. and Mrs. Bernhard, Mr. and Mrs. von Holst, Helen and Anna, Mrs. Kennedy, Frank Baird, Vera Stock, Nathalie Gookin.  In the evening we went to the orchestra concert and had Frances Lee and Frank Baird in our box.  To list the presents is beyond me.”

So who were the guests invited to dine with the Glessners?  Not surprisingly, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was well represented, and in fact there were more people at the table with CSO connections than there were Glessner family members.  It is also interesting to note that a number of the guests were the ages of the Glessners’ children, such as Hermann von Holst and Enrico Tramonti, something that was actually quite typical when examining the dinner books.  Here is a synopsis of those present:

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Stock and daughter Vera – Stock was appointed music director of the Theodore Thomas Orchestra (later the Chicago Symphony) in 1905, following the death of founding director Theodore Thomas.  Stock first came to the symphony in 1895 as a violist and was promoted to assistant conductor in 1899.  The Stocks were intimate friends, and in 1907, Stock had given a large portrait of himself to the Glessners for Christmas, inscribing it “to my best friends” (shown above).

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Wessels – Wessels was the business manager of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the treasurer of The Orchestral Association.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry E. Voegeli – Voegeli was the assistant manager of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  The Voegelis and the Wessels were both frequent guests at the Glessners’ summer estate, The Rocks, in New Hampshire.

Mr. and Mrs. Enrico Tramonti – Tramonti was appointed principal harpist with the Symphony Orchestra in February 1902, continuing in that position for 25 years.  He and his wife Juliette were close friends of the Glessners, frequently spending holidays with the family. (See blog posting dated September 30, 2013 for more information).

Mr. Frank T. Baird – Baird was a prominent vocal teacher and taught in Chicago for over forty years, in addition to serving as the long time organist at Third Presbyterian Church.  He was the accompanist for a number of well-known singers including Adelina Patti, Clara Louise Kellogg, and Annie Louise Carey.  Among his many students was the prominent actress and singer Lillian Russell.

Mr. and Mrs. Hermann von Holst – Von Holst was a prominent architect best remembered today for taking over Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural practice when Wright left for Europe in 1909.  Von Holst designed a number of buildings at the Glessners’ summer estate, The Rocks, including his first commission after opening his own office in 1905.  (See this 2012 blog article for more information).

Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm Bernhard – Bernhard was also an architect, a graduate of the polytechnic academy in Dresden.  He specialized in city planning and in 1913 won the first prize in the City Club competition for his layout of a model quarter section of land in Chicago.

Mrs. Nathalie Sieboth Kennedy – Kennedy had served as the reader for Frances Glessner’s Monday Morning Reading Class since the fall of 1902.  A lecturer and tutor, she served as president of The Fortnightly from 1910 to 1912, and was the daughter of Joseph Sieboth, a pupil of Felix Mendelssohn.  Her late husband, Prof. Horace Milton Kennedy of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, had died in 1885.

Miss Nathalie Gookin – 16 year old niece of Nathalie Kennedy.  Her father, Frederick William Gookin, also a good friend of the Glessners, was the long time curator of Japanese prints at the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Miss Helen Macbeth and Mrs. Anna Robertson – Frances Glessner’s sisters

Frances Glessner Lee – The Glessners’ daughter (she had divorced by this time)

John Lee (age 17), Frances Lee (age12), and Martha Lee (age 9) – children of Frances Glessner Lee and grandchildren of John and Frances Glessner

Note:  The CSO program for December 25, 1915 consisted of the following:
Pastorale from "Christmas Oratorio" - Bach
A Short Serenade for String Orchestra (Köchel 525) - Mozart
Sonate, "The Flute of Pan" - Mouquet
Symphonic Poem "La Belle au Bois Dormant" - Bruneau
Symphony No. 2, D Minor, Opus 70 - Dvořák
The Mouquet was orchestrated and performed by Alfred Quensel, principal flutist with the CSO from 1896 to 1926.  It was the first performance of this piece in Chicago. The Dvořák Symphony No. 2 is now listed as Symphony No. 7.
(Thank you to Frank Villella, CSO archivist, for providing this information)

Harpist Enrico Tramonti

John and Frances Glessner were deeply involved with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the time of its founding in the fall of 1891.  Their support went far beyond being merely financial – conductors Theodore Thomas and Frederick Stock were intimate friends, and many of the musicians in the orchestra enjoyed the Glessners’ hospitality at 1800 South Prairie Avenue through the years.  Perhaps no one benefitted from the Glessners’ friendship more than harpist Enrico Tramonti and his wife Juliette.

Enrico Tramonti was born in Palermo on the island of Sicily on October 3, 1874.  He began studying music as a young teen and had settled on the harp by the time he was 15.  In 1896, he made his debut before Queen Margherita of Italy and two years later performed for Queen Victoria.  He was married in 1900 to Juliette Oltramare (born May 8, 1880 in Geneva, Switzerland), and assumed the position of harpist with the Chicago Symphony in February 1902.  The Tramontis had two sons – Albert (born January 1901) and Jacques René (born May 1902). 

It is interesting to note that Enrico Tramonti was the exact age of the Glessners’ second son John Francis (who died as an infant), and Juliette Tramonti was two years younger than their daughter Fanny.  The fact that the four became close friends is not surprising – the Glessners frequently befriended individuals whom they respected for their talent and intellect, regardless of the difference in age.  In addition, Frances Glessner’s ability to provide a warm and inviting home for those arriving in Chicago is well documented in numerous letters from the Tramontis and many others.  

An excerpt from a letter written by Juliette to Frances Glessner in November 1911 is typical:

“Now, dear dear Mrs. Glessner you are spoiling us, you do so much for our happiness – what can we do for you?  Love you and Mr. Glessner with all respect and devotion – Yes, but this we have done for a long long time, and no presents could increase it.  Only it is awfully good to be spoiled!!  Especially when you are so far from home.”

In February 1903, Frances Glessner noted in her journal, “Today we had the Reading Class luncheon.  I had Tramonti, the new harpist in the orchestra come up and play for us.  I introduced him to the ladies and made up a French speaking table for him.”  Frances Glessner also invited Juliette Tramonti to become a member of the Reading Class, an honor which she greatly cherished.  The Tramontis took a flat at 2218 South Prairie Avenue and became frequent guests at the Glessners’ home, and their summer estate, The Rocks, in New Hampshire. 

Frances Glessner made sure to include the Tramontis in holiday events as well; aware of the fact they were far away from their home and family.  Her journal records numerous holidays where the Tramontis were among the small group of invited guests.   In 1911, Frances Glessner recorded the following entry, “Mrs. Tramonti came to breakfast on Sunday morning (Christmas Eve) and was here nearly all day helping to decorate the tree.”  The Tramontis also spent Christmas Day with the Glessner family.   Juliette Tramonti wrote the following letter of thanks:

“My dear Mrs. Glessner,

I have not thanked you half as much as I felt yesterday, for the beautiful Christmas you made for us!  It will be a long remembered one, the beautiful, inspiring tree, the fine family dinner, our beautiful present, and above all the sweet comforting feeling of being in a family (and such a one!) and being made almost to believe you belong to it – all that is above words, but I just want to tell you that we feel it deeply!

Thank you for all, dear Mrs. Glessner and believe me yours, all devoted

Juliette Tramonti”

The Glessners’ granddaughter Martha, born in 1906, remembered the Tramontis and their frequent visits to the family home.  No doubt the Tramontis felt closeness with the Glessners’ grandchildren, who were all about the same age as their own two sons.  Martha Batchelder recalled many years later:

“They were just plain nice people and fun of course.  He was Sicilian and she was Swiss.  They had two sons which they always left with the grandmother in Switzerland, so they were never in Chicago with them.  They went home in the summer to be with the children.”

Enrico Tramonti, in addition to being an accomplished harpist, was also a talented metal worker.  No doubt this connection strengthened the friendship between him and Frances Glessner, who was a talented silver smith.  Tramonti presented Frances Glessner with several objects including a beautiful trinket box now on display in the parlor, shown below.  The box displays masterfully crafted metalwork featuring a beetle at the center of the box.

Tramonti also crafted two hanging telephone registers for holding names and telephone numbers, which the Glessners hung above their telephone table in the library.  The two pieces are now displayed on the library desk, and the brass tops of both are shown below.

Enrico Tramonti left the symphony in 1927 after 25 years of service and he and his wife returned to Europe.  He died in Geneva, Switzerland on August 10, 1928 at the age of 53.  The Tramontis move back to Europe and his subsequent passing the next year must have been difficult for the Glessners with whom they had enjoyed a quarter century of friendship.  Juliette Tramonti died in 1943.

100 years ago, Christmas lights come to the Glessner house

Frances Glessner’s journal records an amazing amount of information on the house, including the yearly Christmas celebrations which took place.  Because of this, we know that it was exactly 100 years ago – 1911 – when the Glessners first used electric Christmas lights on their tree.  The following excerpt from her journal records this modern technology being introduced to the family and their guests:

“Cheney the electrician spent all of Saturday and Sunday (December 23 and 24) over our Christmas tree, and it was wonderfully pretty.  Mrs. Tramonti came to breakfast on Sunday morning and was here nearly all day helping to decorate the tree.  The tree itself was one of six that came from The Rocks, and was placed in an alcove made of curtains in the main hall, had many and various colored lights that “flashed” and twinkled; there were spot lights of various colors thrown on it, and snow fell from the canopy over it.  It was lighted first at 9 p.m. for our company at Sunday supper – 19 in all at table, and again at 10 o’clock on Christmas morning for the benefit of the children and our guests and the servants – 36 or 37 in all, so that the tree blazed for about two hours on Sunday night and about two hours on Monday morning and then was taken down.  It had its day and was no more.  And before evening we were back to the original condition with only the memory.”

Guests included architect Hermann H. von Holst and his wife, and a number of individuals connected with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra including conductor Frederick Stock and wife,  Frederick Wessels (Treasurer and Business Manager) and wife, Henry Voegeli (Asst. Treasurer and Asst. Business Manager) and wife, and harpist Enrico Tramonti and his wife Juliette.   The Tramontis, who lived at 2218 S. Prairie Avenue, were favorites of the Glessners, and Mrs. Tramonti sent the following note the day after Christmas:

“My dear Mrs. Glessner,

I have not thanked you half as much as I felt yesterday, for the beautiful Christmas you made for us!  It will be a long remembered one, the beautiful, inspiring tree, the fine family dinner, our beautiful present, and above all the sweet comforting feeling of being in a family (and such a one!) and being made almost to believe you belong to it – all that is above words, but I just want to tell you that we feel it deeply!

Thank you for all, dear Mrs. Glessner and believe me yours, all devoted

Juliette Tramonti”

No photograph exists of the Christmas tree from 1911.  The photo above shows the current tree on display in the museum, which also came from The Rocks estate.  It will be on view through December 31.