Having finished her Salad-Days and into her Main-Course days, Sheila answered a general announcement to present a lecture at an ASID National Conference in Baltimore. When she told her friend who was President of her chapter that she had thrown her name into the ring, he said, “Don’t get your hopes up, it’s pretty much of an “in-crowd.”
Post 11, Hmmm, what the in-crowd said.…???
Truth be told, I had no lecture, no research, nada, zilch. I threw out a title and then trotted back to working with clients.
A few weeks later, a resounding whirrr ….a long distance phone call from Washington DC, ”We’d like you to present three one-hour lectures this coming July.” Pure Incredibility! 
There were no lectures! There was just a bunch of stuff who knew where?
(This was February and the call was from Barbara Henn, Director of ASID Education and soon to be a cherished friend.) Time to solidify my bird-brained whim of the moment idea as to how a group of ladies decided reinvent the wheel!….the Interior Decorating Wheel.
*Whims, sometimes do open doors to new life-long explorations and late one afternoon, I drove 75 miles to hear brilliant, quick-witted and warm hearted stories of “The Master Decorators” by Hutton Wilkins. During my long drive home (late at night) on the dark California freeways, I reflected on Hutton’s knowledge and wanted to pursue my feelings of a deep connection to “Those Trend Setters.”
I don’t know if those lady trend setters heard Ralph Waldo Emerson emote with his great quote, (he was a bit before their time….1800’s), “Go forth into the busy world and love it. Interest yourself in its life, mingle kindly with its joys and sorrows.”
“Don’t Forget Elsie, Syrie, Ruby & Frances!” **
Elsie Syrie Ruby Frances
They looked for a change. There was a restlessness and the need for an income. Superbly creative, they were the first to turn their talents into dollars and cents. Elsie, Syrie, Ruby and Frances became the lifeblood and oxygen of decorating.
Was one better than the other? Such comparisons would be inconsequential—unrealistic. All were known for their attention to detail. They willingly gave up traditional family life for their careers. Their aggressive egos propelled them toward success, and what they did for interior decoration was revolutionary.
Elsie de Wolfe was a New York stage actress.
Syrie Maugham was part of the smart Mayfair set and a socialite.
Ruby Ross Wood was a journalist and a ghost writer.
Frances Adler Elkins was a concert pianist and a composer.
Wouldn’t that be Camelot? Start at the top? No, they did not
“Reinvent the Wheel,” but they were
Time to discover their stories:
But, the trillion amounts of Google information was, sob….not up yet. Happily, my husband was a university professor allowing me full access to hunt, check-out and fill my rolling suitcase with early 20th Century books and magazines. Used books stores became my next great love and my office became wonderfully cluttered. Then, a sizable glitch glitched. How to transfer original pictures into slides.
Again, my husband and the university saved me with a remarkable overhead stationary camera. It was a tabletop 2′ high contraption with long arms holding the camera upside down to position magazine pictures under it. Phew, I had to learn how to manually set the settings because pictures from 1907 magazines transferred into dark renderings as I balanced on a high stool to be above the camera. 
Processing early 21st century photos was hard, a bit intimidating with flukes/photo take-overs and my upside down camera that became a new appendage. Amazingly, many years later, Google has identical and closely identical picture/slides to the ones I slaved over with my high trapeze standing-on-a stool-act for my slide presentations.
I loved the research as more pictures and information unfolded because their designs captivated me with their daring exploitations. For starters:
Elsie virtually created the profession of interior decoration in 1905 by replacing heavy Victorian plush and dark Jacobean furniture with Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture. Her rooms had a light style—-chintz fabric, interior treillage and scaled down furniture to make rooms less formal.***
Legends are what Syrie Maugham was about. She was the first English woman to enter interior decorating which in the early twenties was scarcely a recognized profession. Syrie was generally thought of as the creator of the all-white room.
Ruby Ross Wood was a gifted decorator. She was the first to use blue-and-white striped bed ticking for drapes and upholstered furniture accented with white lacquer floors.
Francis Elkins was the first great California decorator who had the conviction to decorate with daring spirit. She mixed periods and countries with unforced grace and is often given credit for starting the look we embrace today, “Eclectic”.
Enchanting Trend Setters, Elsie, Ruby, Syrie & Frances
Salient Points:
Even in my Main-Course Days, Retirement as a way of life seemed unappealing; lecture opportunities offered sparks of inspiration and opened countless doors.
Eclectic interiors offer a joie de vivre….mixing antique, Asian, modern, rustic, etc. Versatility+
(Word to the wise: maybe not all in one room at the same time!)
*Hutton Wilkins curator, historian and lecturer: 1991 Decorative Arts Study Center, San Juan Capistrano
** The title of a 3-hour lecture given by Sheila Yates, Original Title/Proposal/Intro, ASID Conference, Baltimore, Maryland 1993. I recall balancing on that stool and peering into my camera. Thank goodness the lecture went well!
***Sheila Yates, Lecture Excerpts, Baltimore 1993
Happy 16th Birthday & Thanksgiving, Blaire