Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Stagekraft Toy Theater)
Christina Catrevas and Jean Wick (script), Sarah Noble Ives (scenery and costumes). New York: United Art Publishing Company, [circa 1915].
A rare surviving American toy theater kit from the Stagekraft series, published by United Art Publishing Company in the 1910s. This complete paper theater set includes the original script booklet titled Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp: An Arabian Nights Tale in Ten Scenes, written and arranged for home performance by Christina Catrevas and Jean Wick. The scenery and costumes were designed by Sarah Noble Ives, a well-known American illustrator working in children's publishing at the time.
Condition: Original stage frame is fragile with edge chipping and fold wear but complete. Scenes, characters, and script are clean and in very good condition. Original printed container is present with expected age wear. A remarkably well-preserved and complete set, suitable for research or display.
The kit includes a printed proscenium stage (with classical architectural motifs and footlights), four color scenic backdrops, multiple stand-up character figures, and the original printed folder-style container. The publisher’s imprint appears on the title page as “United Art Publishing Co., New York.”
Collector’s Corner:
United Art Publishing Company operated from 1901 to 1916, with offices at 31 East 17th Street and 119 Fourth Avenue in New York. They specialized in illustrated novelties including postcards, advertising calendars, story booklets, and paper-based amusements. In 1915–1916, the firm released a series of children’s books under the Stampkraft imprint. These small-format hardcover books (4 × 4.75 inches) included gummed, perforated “poster stamps” in glassine envelopes. Children were instructed to complete the story by pasting the stamps onto matching pages—a unique intersection of narrative, collectibility, and craft.
The toy theater line, Stagekraft, is far less documented than Stampkraft, and no bibliographic records exist for this edition of Aladdin. The company was absorbed by Barse & Hopkins, another New York book and gift publisher, in 1919. No holdings appear in WorldCat or major library catalogs, and no auction or dealer listings for this set were located at the time of cataloging. This example may represent one of the only surviving complete sets, making it an exceptionally rare piece of early American theatrical ephemera.
Sarah Noble Ives (1864–1944), credited with the design of costumes and scenery, was a prolific American illustrator active in the early 1900s. Her inclusion in this toy theater project suggests an effort by United Art Publishing to elevate the visual quality of their theatrical kits.
References:
New York City Directory, business listings for United Art Publishing Co., 119 Fourth Avenue (1901–1916).
U.S. Copyright Office, Catalog of Copyright Entries, June 21, 1916, listing Mother Goose, Stampkraft imprint.
Courtelis, Niko. “Done in Poster Stamps.” Poster Stamp Bulletin, no. 289 (February 2019): 4.
Undivided Back Postcard Directory, entry on United Art Publishing Co. and Barse & Hopkins, accessed June 2025.