property-man

“Resourcefulness” should be the middle name of the individual who is competent to occupy the position of property-man in a theatre.

The Property-man in Vaudeville maryrobinette 2009

After the act has been presented and the curtain has been rung down, the order to "strike" is given and the clearers run in and take away all the furniture and properties, while the property-man substitutes the new furniture and properties that are needed.

Writing for Vaudeville Brett Page

And there was the ubiquitous property-man drifting in and out among the performers, setting his fantastic house in order.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 156, April 16, 1919 Various

_ -- The offspring of opera-dancers are not, as is sometimes supposed, born with wings; the truth is that these cherubim are frequently attached by their backs to copper wires, and made to represent flying angels in fairy dramas; and those appendages, so far from being natural, are supplied by the property-man, together with the wreaths of artificial flowers which each Liliputian divinity upholds.

Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, October 23, 1841 Various

But, while these are all that are at the immediate command of the property-man, he is usually permitted to exchange tickets for the theatre with any dealer willing to lend needed sets of furniture, such as a desk or other office equipment specially required for the use of an act.

Writing for Vaudeville Brett Page

It is to the stage-manager and the stage-carpenter, the property-man and the electrician, that are due the working of the stage miracles that delight us in the theatres.

Writing for Vaudeville Brett Page

Mr. Simmonds, the property-man, immediately replied, "Madam, your fellow is not here."

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 12, No. 338, November 1, 1828 Various

And those that do not depend on exactness of illusion can usually secure the effects required by calling on the drummer with his very effective box-of-tricks to help out the property-man.

Writing for Vaudeville Brett Page

You had better get rid of the smoke, and the organ-pipes, both; leave them, and the Gothic windows, and the painted glass, to the property-man; give up your carburetted hydrogen ghost in one healthy expiration, and look after Lazarus at the door-step.

Harvard Classics Volume 28 Essays English and American Various

The property-man of the average vaudeville theatre is a hard-worked chap. Beside being an expert in properties, he must be something of an actor, for if there is an "extra man" needed in a playlet with a line or two to speak, it is on him that the duty falls.

Writing for Vaudeville Brett Page