Cunard: creation
{{Short description|Klondike Gold Rush-themed musical theater show in Skagway, Alaska}}
{{Infobox stage production
| name = The Days of '98 Show
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| genre = [[Klondike Gold Rush]]
| type = resident
| premiere =
| finalshow =
| location = Eagles Hall, [[Skagway, Alaska]]
| website = https://thedaysof98show.com/
}}
'''The Days of '98 Show'''{{efn|The show has also been called '''''Skaguay in the Days of '98''''',<ref name="Gottberg134">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=134}}</ref><ref name="Corrigan1986-06-22">Corrigan, Patricia (1986-06-22). "Alaska: The Cities" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175380/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175496/ 2]). ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175380/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175496/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> '''''Skaguay in the Days of '98 with Soapy Smith''''',<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19">{{cite news |last=Brumley |first=Richard |date=1986-06-19 |title=Alaska |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11791F1E04A2FFC3&f=basic |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11791F1E04A2FFC3&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> '''''Skagway in the Days of '98''''',<ref name="Reilly1984-05-06">Reilly, H.V. Pat (1984-05-06). "Legends of the Alaskan Gold Rush come to life" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175752/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175859/ 2]). ''[[Herald News]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175752/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175859/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> and '''''The Days of '98 with Soapy Smith'''''.<ref name="Aarons198">{{harvnb|Aarons|Johansen|2007|p=198}}</ref><ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13">{{cite news |last=Bessonette |first=Colin |date=1989-08-13 |title=Tombstones Tell Stories of Gunfighting Past |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB7C3F696BD44B3&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB7C3F696BD44B3&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Bunch2009-02-26">{{cite news |last=Bunch |first=Joey |date=2009-02-26 |title=Northward Ho! |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2009/02/26/northward-ho/ |newspaper=[[The Denver Post]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427204732/https://www.denverpost.com/2009/02/26/northward-ho/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}} is a [[Klondike Gold Rush]]-themed musical theater show performed in Eagles Hall in [[Skagway, Alaska]]. It is the longest running Alaskan theatrical show. Created in the 1920s, the show was put on by the Skagway chapter of the [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]] and performed infrequently in the 1930s. By the mid-20th century, the show was performed frequently in the summer, particularly on days when [[cruise ship]]s and [[passenger ship]]s docked. It was staffed by unpaid locals and used to fundraise for various causes including a local hockey team, an elderly care facility, and Christmas toys for all Skagway children.
Right after [[World War II]], ''The Days of '98 Show'' began being presented with a format that would be used into the 1970s. It featured mock gambling, [[can-can]] performances, [[period costume]]s from the Klondike Gold Rush era, and a recitation and pantomime of the [[Robert W. Service]] poem "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]". By 1977, the Eagles encountered dwindling membership and financial difficulties with their sole income stream, ''The Days of '98 Show'', not making a profit that year. They inducted new members into the organization including people who were performing in the play ''Soapy Lives'' about the conman [[Soapy Smith]]. The two shows merged in 1978 after the members rewrote the script, combining elements from both shows. The revised ''Days of '98 Show'' depicts various events from Skagway's frontier history. It portrays Smith and his gang's hold on Skagway and ends with the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] between Smith and vigilante [[Frank H. Reid]]. The show received positive reviews for being an engaging production that teaches about Skagway's history.
==Eagles Hall==
[[File:Centro histórico de Skagway, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-18, DD 42.jpg|thumb|The Eagles Hall in 2017 featuring a costumed performer sticking her leg out the windowsill. She is attempting to attract passersby to watch the show.]]
''The Days of '98 Show'' is put on by the Skagway Aerie No. 25, [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]] and Gold Rush Productions.<ref name="Spude158">{{harvnb|Spude|1983|p=158}}</ref><ref name="Gottberg143">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=143}}</ref> Established in June 1899, the Order purchased the Eagles Hall, where the show is performed. The Eagles Hall's predecessor was two hotels established in 1898: the Mondamin Hotel on Fifth Avenue close to Main and the Pacific Hotel on Sixth and Broadway. The Order acquired the Pacific Hotel in 1902. After the Pacific Hotel was partially relocated in 1920 to the Mondamin Hotel's posterior, the Eagles bought the building, refurbishing it into a hall and theater.<ref name="Spude158"/> Audrey Prest of the ''[[Daily News of Los Angeles]]'' in 1989 found Eagles Hall to be reminiscent of a red [[barn]].<ref name="Prest1989-08-27">{{cite news |last=Prest |first=Audrey |date=1989-08-27 |title=Klondike History Gold-Rushes at You From All Corners |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EF567624042ADF7&f=basic |newspaper=[[Daily News of Los Angeles]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EF567624042ADF7&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
Since the hall did not have a stage in 1979, the show was performed on the ground.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07">{{cite news |last=Koenig |first=Jean |date=1979-07-07 |title=Echoes of a lawless past |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal/146176082/|newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/edmonton-journal/146176082/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In 1984, the lobby was furnished with gambling tables, while the theater had "rough hewn walls".<ref name="Reilly1984-05-06"/> The building has offices and a theater with velvet curtains.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12">{{cite news |last=Munson |first=Melinda |date=2023-05-12 |title=Skagway staff befriend, placate ghosts: Three local businesses that coexist with their specters |url=https://skagwaynews.com/2023/05/12/...-businesses-that-coexist-with-their-specters/ |newspaper=[[The Skagway News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...-businesses-that-coexist-with-their-specters/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The ambiance in the theater resembles a saloon during the [[gold rush]].<ref name="Whitfield188">{{harvnb|Whitfield|2005|p=188}}</ref> Citing the creeky stairs and the "smells of decades of popcorn butter and a hint of whiskey", Mike Swasey of [[KHNS]] said that the theater "smells, sounds, and feels like a classic theatre".<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01">{{cite news |last=Swasey |first=Mike |date=2021-10-01 |title=Skagway's The Days of '98 Show wraps its 98th season |url=https://khns.org/skagways-the-days-of-98-show-wraps-its-98th-season |publisher=[[KHNS]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ays-the-days-of-98-show-wraps-its-98th-season |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> ''[[The Skagway News]]''{{'}}s Marc Bona said in 2023 that the aroma of aged wood and freshly made popcorn permeates the structure.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/> To attract people to watch the show, costumed women sing as they balance on the windowsill of the second floor.<ref name="Bona2022-08-31">{{cite news |last=Bona |first=Marc |date=2022-08-31 |title=Alaska cruise offers vantages, excursions, relaxation – and a few tips for the cruise line (photos) |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertain...nd-a-few-tips-for-the-cruise-line-photos.html |newspaper=[[The Plain Dealer]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...nd-a-few-tips-for-the-cruise-line-photos.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==History==
===Early history===
''The Days of '98 Show'' is a rowdy [[vaudevillian]] [[melodrama]], musical [[revue]], [[comedy (drama)|comedy]], [[extravaganza]], and [[historical play]].{{efn|{{Bulleted list|For the show's being rowdy<ref name="Chandonnet120">{{harvnb|Chandonnet|2006|p=120}}</ref>|For the show's being a [[melodrama]]<ref name="Chandonnet120"/><ref name="Cockerham2005-08-16">{{cite news |last=Cockerham |first=Sean |date=2005-08-16 |title=Skagway man out to conquer the continent - Body, Soul: Heart attack prompts Donahue's Florida-to-Alaska trek. |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10C0A540436049D0&f=basic |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10C0A540436049D0&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Mink1993-04-11">{{cite news |last=Mink |first=Randy |date=1993-04-11 |title=Cruises Take in Rugged Scenery of Alaska's Inside Passage |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB147BF5387BFAE&f=basic |newspaper=[[The State Journal-Register]] |agency=[[Copley News Service]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB147BF5387BFAE&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Strausfogel1986-03-16">{{cite news |last=Strausfogel |first=Sherrie |date=1986-03-16 |title=Cruising Alaska - Itineraries offer passengers more than ever before |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11319C3BB955F698&f=basic |newspaper=[[Daily Breeze]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11319C3BB955F698&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being [[vaudevillian]]<ref name="Maloney117">{{harvnb|Maloney|2020|p=117}}</ref>|For the show's being a musical<ref name="Maloney117"/>|For the show being a [[revue]]<ref name="Brooks1986-07-20">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Andree |date=1986-07-20 |title=The New Rush to Skagway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/20/travel/the-new-rush-to-skagway.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...986/07/20/travel/the-new-rush-to-skagway.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Mitchell1995-04-29">{{cite news |last=Smyth |first=Mitchell |date=1995-04-29 |title=Soapy Smith's reign of terror died with him |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10BC35F89F35C2E8&f=basic |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10BC35F89F35C2E8&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being a [[comedy (drama)|comedy]]<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01">{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Barry |date=2004-08-01 |title=Going for gold, but not Athens |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/104343B650A073A8&f=basic |newspaper=[[Sunday Mail (Adelaide)|Sunday Mail]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/104343B650A073A8&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being an [[extravaganza]]<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19"/>|For the show's being a [[historical play]]<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01"/><ref name="Belcher1997-06-22">{{cite news |last=Belcher |first=Nancy Hoyt |date=1997-06-22 |title=Gold Fever - Recalling the Rush for All That Glitters |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EAF9A3B99B5CE32&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Buffalo News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EAF9A3B99B5CE32&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} Sources have given different years for when the show began being performed: 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, or 1932.{{efn|Sources have given different years for when the show began being performed:{{Bulleted list|For 1923<ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13"/><ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/><ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/><ref name="Bona2022-08-31"/><ref name="Sainsbury2022">{{harvnb|Sainsbury|2022}}</ref><ref name="Fowler112">{{harvnb|Fowler|2009|p=112}}</ref><ref name="Insight2021">{{harvnb|Insight Guides Alaska|2021}}</ref><ref name="Evans125">{{harvnb|Evans|2010|p=125}}</ref><ref name="Belcher1998-02-22">Belcher, Nancy Hoyt (1998-02-22). "The Rush to Alaska: Prospectors gone, Skagway lures tourists" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176534/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176608/ 2]). ''[[Miami Herald]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176534/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176608/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Ripp1997-07-15">Ripp, Bart (1997-07-15). "Skagway's gold: Tourism" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177135/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177239/ 2]). ''[[The News Tribune]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177135/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177239/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>|For 1926<ref name="Gottberg143"/><ref name="Spude165">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=165}}</ref><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06">Kalen, Barbara (1978-06-06). "Skaguway In The Days Of '98" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177331/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177404/ 2]). ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177331/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177404/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Smith1982-09-15">Smith, Elnora (1982-09-15). "Coffee break" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177487/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177563/ 2]). ''Houston Today''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177487/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177563/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Kalen1977-06-08">Kalen, Barbara (1977-06-08). "Park Do A Success" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177631/ 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177801/ 2], and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177703/ 3]). ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177631/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177801/ 2], and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177703/ 3]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>|For 1927<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01"/><ref name="Ballas2022">{{harvnb|Ballas|Besl|Cannamore|Fletcher|Smith|2022}}</ref><ref name="Wohlforth349">{{harvnb|Wohlforth|2007|p=349}}</ref><ref name="Romano-Lax149">{{harvnb|Romano-Lax|1997|p=149}}</ref><ref name="Jiang173">{{harvnb|Jiang|2018|p=173}}</ref>|For 1932<ref name="Stefanoni2014-06-22">{{cite news |last=Stefanoni |first=Andra Bryan |date=2014-06-22 |title=Andra Bryan Stefanoni: Travel memories attached to people met along the way |url=https://www.joplinglobe.com/archive...cle_1930f9be-96f2-59e8-a446-6c784af0b2b6.html |newspaper=[[The Joplin Globe]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...cle_1930f9be-96f2-59e8-a446-6c784af0b2b6.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} Festive gatherings in honor of the 1898 gold rush were held intermittently in the 1930s.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1973-08-13 |title="Days of '98" Show Still Big With Tourists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178053/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178053/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In its early years, the show would be performed a handful of occasions each summer.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Soon after [[World War II]], a show was put into place containing mock gambling, dancing, [[can-can]] dancers, and "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]". Ann True, the show's general manager in 1973, said that upon her arrival in Skagway in 1946, ''Days of '98'' had already been performed like this.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The author Robert L. S. Spude said in 1986 that of Alaskan shows, ''The Days of '98 Show'' had been performed the longest.<ref name="Spude158"/> The author Catherine Holder said in 2012 that of currently running Alaskan theater shows, ''The Days of '98 Show'' had the earliest premiere.<ref name="Spude165"/> Patricia Corrigan of the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' said in 1986 the show has been called "the longest running show on Broadway".<ref name="Corrigan1986-06-22"/> The initial iteration of the show featured local performers, while the modern shows are done by skilled actors.<ref name="Fowler112"/>
Numerous cruise ship excursions include the show as a possible activity.<ref name="Ludmer116">{{harvnb|Ludmer|2001|p=116}}</ref> In the mid-20th century, the show was performed in the summer, particularly on days when [[cruise ship]]s and [[passenger ship]]s like [[SS Prince George (1947)|SS ''Prince George'']] and [[SS Princess Louise (1921)|SS ''Princess Louise'']] docked.{{efn|{{Bulleted list|For the show being performed in the summer in the mid-20th century<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/>|For [[passenger ship]]s<ref name="Kiplinger's1968">{{cite news |date=July 1968 |title=Special entertainment for the summer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19 |magazine=[[Kiplinger's Personal Finance]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=19 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For [[SS Prince George (1947)|SS ''Prince George'']] and [[SS Princess Louise (1921)|SS ''Princess Louise'']]<ref name="Baxter120">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|p=120}}</ref>|For [[cruise ship]]s<ref name="Bee1969-03-23">{{cite news |date=1969-03-23 |title=Stage Attractions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee/146178210/ |newspaper=[[The Fresno Bee]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...spapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee/146178210/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Littick1957-11-24">{{cite news |last=Littick |first=Clay |date=1957-11-24 |title=Zanesvillians Visit Famed Yukon Trail Of '98: Sakgway Recalls Days of Big Gold Strike |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-times-signal/146178371/ |newspaper=Sunday Times Signal |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...rs.com/article/sunday-times-signal/146178371/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Holt1979-04-15">{{cite news |last=Holt |first=Kermit |date=1979-04-15 |title=Cruising southeast Alaska's Inside Passage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146178443/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146178443/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} In 1949, residents put on a "Days of '98 Dance" in which they wore clothes from the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] era. Example attire for men included "Christie-stiffs, wide-brimmed miners' hats, moth-eaten toppers [with] string ties and perhaps a scarlet weskit". To depict high-class women, residents wore feathered heats to represent "lady that's known as Lou" (the character from "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]") and "Diamond Lil". To depict women who would join men on the [[Chilkoot Pass]], they wore "high-buttoned boots and bustles". The show earned $300 on a regular successful evening in 1949.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03">{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=Lyn |date=1949-12-03 |title=Skagway Teams Up With Robert Service |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146178517/ |newspaper=[[Vancouver Sun]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146178517/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
The residents of Skagway began putting on the show to fund their hockey group after [[list of ships of the Princess fleet|Princess steamships]] began making stops in the city.<ref name="Evans125"/> In 1956, the show's proceeds were put towards paying the [[orchestra]] and compensating performers' babysitters and the remaining amount went towards the elderly care facility in [[Sitka, Alaska]].<ref name="Binford1956-09-12">{{cite news |last=Binford |first=William E. |date=1956-09-12 |title=The Alaskan Trip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-american/146178625/ |newspaper=[[Daily American (Pennsylvania newspaper)|Daily American]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ers.com/article/the-daily-american/146178625/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Funds earned from the show were used around 1963 were for causes including cancer charity and Christmas toys for children.<ref name="Baxter120"/> Funds in 1965 went to the Vancouver Sailors' Home and the Vancouver Crippled Children's Association.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/> Profits from the show in 1971 went to purchasing Christmas presents for the children.<ref name="Kalen1972-01-06">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1972-01-06 |title=Skagway News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178699/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178699/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
A 1964 newspaper article said the show required no fewer than 20 individuals to host each performance and none of them received compensation.<ref name="Fairbanks1964-07-22">{{cite news |date=1964-07-22 |title=The Big Show—Days of '98 Show in Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146178744/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146178744/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In 1965, ''Days of '98'' was performed between April and the beginning of October.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29">{{cite news |last=Holmes |first=Dunc |date=1965-10-29 |title=The Magic Carpet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146179003/ |newspaper=[[Vancouver Sun]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146179003/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The 1967 cast of more than 50 people put on more than 60 shows.<ref name="Whitehorse1967-09-11">{{cite news |date=1967-09-11 |title=Skagway's Can Can Line Wind Up Season |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179079/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179079/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Performed three to four times weekly, the ''Days of '98 Show'' in 1971 had two casts that took turns appearing in the production every other week. A subset of the cast had to appear in all shows since there were insufficient people to fill up both casts.<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05">{{cite news |date=1971-08-05 |title=Skagway Gives Visitor Enjoyable Days of '98 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179167/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179167/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> There were 90 planned performances in 1973.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/>
===Merger of ''Days of '98 Show'' and ''Soapy Lives''===
Tom Biss, an actor, moved in 1973 from [[Anchorage, Alaska]], to Skagway.<ref name="Spude165"/> He performed that summer in a one-person play, ''Soap Pitch'' (later called ''Soapy Lives'') in a [[log cabin]]. The venue was in Skagway's American Legion Hall on Seventh and Broadway.<ref name="Spude165"/><ref name="Kalen1973-07-23">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1973-07-23 |title=Soapy's Back In Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179237/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179237/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In the winter that year, Biss performed the show in [[Juneau]] and [[Ketchikan]]. He returned to Skagway in 1974 to perform a more elaborate show in the Arctic Brotherhood lodge hall involving more actors.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1974-06-14 |title='Soapy' Smith Lives Again In Skagway Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179298/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179298/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> He established the company Soap Theatrical Co. for putting on the play.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> Judy Irving, the venue's [[spotlight (theatre lighting)|spotlight]] manager, used [[M. Mike Miller]]'s 1970 book ''Soapy'' as the foundation for penning the script of ''Soapy Lives'' for Biss. Written from the [[first-person narrative|first-person]] of the frontier gangster [[Soapy Smith]], ''Soapy'' offers a positive spin on his life in which he reflects on his youthful mishaps. Having worked as an ''[[Alaska Sportsman]]'' journalist, Miller likely relied on the magazine's 1950s and 1960s articles as research content for his book.<ref name="Spude165"/> Al Swingle wrote music for the play.<ref name="Kalen1973-07-23"/> The Arctic Brotherhood set was constructed using wood from a [[Dyea, Alaska|Dyea]] beach.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/>
The show starts with two members of Smith's gang, played by Jim Richards and Steve Hites. As they consume alcohol, the duo sing several songs as they nostalgically recall their interactions with Smith. Hites plays the [[piano]] and the [[guitar]] while Richards plays the guitar and the [[banjo]].<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/> A woman, a [[dance hall]] performer, appears in the play. Coming out of his saloon, Biss's Soapy Smith introduces himself to the viewers. He describes how he swindled people in Skagway and became the town's ruler. Bemoaning the vigilante "Committee of 101" that seeks his removal, he criticizes his associates for their foolish avarice in stealing from a man. He is resolute in thwarting Frank Reid, who wants to overthrow him.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show reaches its [[climax (narrative)|climax]] when Smith dies during the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] with Reid.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/>
While performing in his own show at night, Biss acted as Soapy Smith in the ''Days of '98 Show'' in the day and participated in its "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" performance.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show brought on a narrator and a pianist before Jim Richards purchased it from Biss in 1975.<ref name="Spude165"/> In ''Soapy Lives'', Richards had played a Soapy Smith gang member who was a [[banjo]] player and later started playing Soapy Smith.<ref name="Dunham2009-10-18">{{cite news |last=Dunham |first=Mike |date=2009-10-18 |title=Skagway's 'Soapy Smith' calls it quits |url=https://www.adn.com/our-alaska/article/skagways-soapy-smith-calls-it-quits/2009/10/18/ |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...agways-soapy-smith-calls-it-quits/2009/10/18/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In June 1977, Tyler Eccles played "Slim Jim" Foster, a member of Smith's gang. That year, ''Soapy Lives'' had been staged about 450 times.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> At the time, Eagles Hall had a community production called the ''Days of '98 Show'' that was performed in the late evenings. To avoid a head-to-head clash, ''Soapy Lives'' scheduled shows during the daytime hours, catering to [[cruise ship]]s.<ref name="Spude165–166">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|pp=165–166}}</ref>
The ''Days of '98 Show'' relied on a volunteer cast and scheduled 62 performances in the summer of 1977. That year, the Eagles introduced additional songs. The production was performed in 1977 every time [[SS Princess Patricia|SS ''Princess Patricia'']], and [[MS Prinsendam (1972)|MS ''Prinsendam'']] were in port and a number of the times ''[[SS Argentina (1958)|Monarch Star]]'' docked.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> Both ''Soapy Lives'' and the ''Days of '98 Show'' had trouble financially supporting the performers. Around 40,000 cruise ship passengers had docked in Skagway in 1975, a small number that could barely sustain ''Soapy Lives'' performers Richards, a musician, and an actress. Eagles Hall encountered financial problems in 1977 after its sole income stream, ''Days of '98 Show'', had failed to turn a profit that year. With few members left in the organization, they could not cover the [[property tax]] or the membership fees. Their inability to pay the oil bill led to the freezing of their pipes. Eagles Hall had six members left when, realizing they needed a change, members George Flemming and J. D. True suggested adding six young performers to the club's membership rolls. Their aim was to prevent the [[Grand Aerie, Fraternal Order of Eagles|Grand Aerie]] from taking over the property and to continue putting on showings of the ''Days of '98 Show''. The six members were inducted as Eagles members during a rite performed on a table in Flemming's kitchen. The new members included Jim Richards and Steve Hites. The initiation of these new members later led to a merger of the ''Days of '98 Show'' and the play ''Soapy Lives''.<ref name="Spude166">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=166}}</ref>
The process to revise the format and script of the ''Days of '98 Show'' began in December 1977. Jim Richards and Steve Hites were housemates. After spending hours fighting a house fire that month, Steve Hites returned to his own house and started sleeping in a chair without getting changed. According to Hites, Richards roused him from sleep and urged him to take notes as Richards outlined a new ''Days of '98 Show''. Richards suggested combining elements of the ''Soapy Lives'' show and the ''Days of 98'' show. The show would feature new songs. It would have [[William Moore (steamship captain)|William Moore]] narrate about finding the [[White Pass]]. It would feature the ''Days of 98 Show''{{'}}s [[can-can]] performers and discuss Skagway's history including Soapy Smith's death.<ref name="Spude166"/> Hites delivered the notes to Tom Healy, who refined the dialogue and acts. Richards, Hites, and Healy jointly came up with a revised script.<ref name="Spude167">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=167}}</ref> Hites wrote some of the new show's music, while Richards wrote two songs: "The Boomtown Saloon" and "Moonlight, the Yukon and You".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Heimbuecher1984-03-18">Heimbuecher, Ruth (1984-03-18). "Skagway: The gold rush era lives on" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179365/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179429/ 2]). ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179365/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179429/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>
Richards and Dorothy Shaplin founded the company Gold Rush Productions to put on the revised production in collaboration with the previous show's producer, the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Run by volunteers, the show's previous version was performed three to four times a week for three decades and depleted the pool of people willing to contribute their efforts without compensation. The new show's cast received compensation.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Hites, the director of the revised show, said in 2009 that 26 people made up the cast of the revamped show, while Barbara Kalen of ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]'' said in 1978 that the show featured a cast of 14 to 15 people.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Spude167"/> Kalen wrote that a number of people longed for the show's prior version. She concluded that the majority found "this new authentic historical sketch is really much better, and has wider audience appeal".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
In both ''Days of '98 Show'' and ''Soapy Lives'', the audiences are startled by the loud noises of [[blank (cartridge)|blank]]s being fired in the confined space of the theater during the shootout between Smith and Reid. According to Hites, the two versions portray the circumstances of Smith's differently. In ''Soapy Lives'', under muted red lighting, Smith and Reid meet and shout lines sourced from the event's eyewitnesses. Using black powder [[blank (cartridge)|blanks]], they exchange gunfire, causing flashes to appear. It is clear that Reid killed Smith. In contrast, in the revised ''Days of '98 Show'', Smith exits from the audience's view after readying his [[Winchester rifle]] and shouting "They can't take this town from me! I run this town!" The narrator discusses how Smith is traveling to the Juneau Company Wharf, where the vigilantes will confront him. The narrator says "A man like Reid did his deed", a blank is shot out of view of the audience, and the narrator concludes, "And sent poor Soapy home." Hites said the aim is to allow viewers to hint that Reid was responsible for pulling the trigger Smith but allow viewers to decide what happened.<ref name="Spude167"/>
in 1978, Jim Richards played the role of the protagonist, Soapy Smith, in the ''Days of '98'' and continued performing three days a week in ''Soapy Lives''.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Dunham2009-10-18"/> Over a period of 33 years, he made over 10,000 appearances as Soapy Smith. After experiencing a stroke in the middle of show on August 28, 2009, he performed his last show that year on September 17.<ref name="Dunham2009-10-18"/>
===Soapy Smith's wake===
Beginning in 1974, Soapy Smith's descendants and the show's actors attended an annual [[wake (ceremony)|wake]] for Smith on July 8, the anniversary of his death. The first wake was held at Smith's grave at the Gold Rush Cemetery. The revelers brought [[champagne]] to toast Smith. Since the cemetery did not have lavatories, they urinated on the grave of [[Frank H. Reid]], a guard who had died in [[shootout on Juneau Wharf|a shootout with Smith]].<ref name="AAP2009-01-30">{{cite news |date=2009-01-30 |title=Soapy Smith not just a slippery Yukon character |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/international/13504/Soapy-Smith-not-just-a-slippery-Yukon-character |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |agency=[[Australian Associated Press]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Gottberg136">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=136}}</ref> In the 1980s, after doing the final performance of the day, the actors visited Smith's grave on his death anniversary. During the celebration, Smith's grandson, who lived in California, brought [[champagne]] to share.<ref name="Gottberg136"/> Jeff Hall, the president of the Soapy Smith Preservation Trust, said the "horrid tradition" of urinating on Reid's grave was a factor in their decision to move the wake from the cemetery to Eagles Hall. Following discussions with Reid's family, Jeff Smith, Soapy Smith's great-grandson, apologized to them three decades after the first wake. Jeff Smith said, "I know how upset I would be were I to find that people were doing to Soapy's grave what we had begun doing to Frank Reid's in 1974."<ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/>
===Later history===
Directed by David Morgan, people from the drama department at [[Brigham Young University]] performed for the show in the early 1990s.<ref name="Smart1991-01-06">{{cite news |last=Smart |first=William B. |date=1991-01-06 |title=Alaska |url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/1/6/18899558/alaska/ |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427214234/https://www.deseret.com/1991/1/6/18899558/alaska/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The show had daytime and nighttime performances in the early 2000s.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320">{{harvnb|Readicker-Henderson|Readicker-Henderson|2006|p=320}}</ref><ref name="Golden358">{{harvnb|Golden|Brown|2005|p=358}}</ref> With a schedule significantly influenced by cruise ships, the show in the 21st century is performed between once and four times a day between the middle of May and the middle of September.<ref name="Maloney117"/><ref name="Sainsbury2022"/> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' said in 2011 that thousands of cruise ship tourists watched the show every summer.<ref name="Lewis2011-04-30">{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Mark |date=2011-04-30 |title=Prospecting for Gold-Rush Tales |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704570704576275541342832906 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |id={{ProQuest|864068828}} |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
Between circa 2010 and December 2019, Jonathan Baldwin and Jonathan Hays owned Gold Rush Productions, which put on the ''Days of '98 Show''.<ref name="Announcement2019-12-17">{{cite news |date=2019-12-17 |title=Jonathan Baldwin and Jonathan Hays announcement |url=https://www.facebook.com/TheDaysof9...ounce-that-charity-pomeroy-/2834657333264029/ |publisher=The Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith |via=[[Facebook]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ounce-that-charity-pomeroy-/2834657333264029/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Charity Pomeroy and Meredith Schmidt acquired Gold Rush Productions in December 2019 and became its joint artistic directors.<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/><ref name="Announcement2019-12-17"/> Pomeroy had moved to Skagway in 2001 to be a performer in the show.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/><ref name="Christensen2002-09-06">{{cite news |last=Christensen |first=Jake |date=2002-09-06 |title=Wildcat actors grace faraway stages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-signpost/146180095/ |newspaper=[[The Signpost (Weber State University)|The Signpost]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/the-signpost/146180095/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The next season, zero cruise ships docked in Skagway in 2020 owing to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska]]. The following year, the estimated number of summer cruise ship visitors was below 10% of previous seasons, so the two owners sought to minimize costs as they put on the performance. Pomeroy took on the role of Belle Davenport, while Schmidt performed as Squirrel Tooth Alice. Soapy Smith was portrayed by the proprietor of a nearby lodge, whom they paid to take on the role. They employed a Pennsylvania-based piano player and several [[lighting technician]]s. The ''Days of '98 Show'' performed 33 summer shows in 2021, far below the approximately 400 shows they would previously do. During the pandemic, COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government ensured the business remained afloat.<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/> Pomeroy rents an office in the hall where she fixes costumes.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/>
==Show==
===Background===
Skagway had over 20,000 inhabitants in 1898 when [[Klondike Gold Rush]] prospectors swarmed the town and [[Dyea, Alaska|Dyea]] which they used as their launching pad to journey through [[Chilkoot Trail]] and [[White Pass Trail]] to the [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]] territory of [[Yukon]]. An 1898 report from the [[North-West Mounted Police]] called Skagway "little better than a hell on earth". Mounties maintained control in Canada, while Skagway was a free-for-all. The conman [[Soapy Smith]] and his associates controlled the town.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/> His rule ended after a [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] involving the vigilante [[Frank H. Reid]] left the two men dead.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> By 1979, Skagway's population reached around 800, down from the over 20,000 in 1898.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
===Pre-show activities===
The ''Days of 98 Show'' had several pre-show activities in 1956. Visitors purchased $1 to receive $100 in fake money for an hour of mock gambling. They could play [[blackjack]] or visit two [[roulette]] tables and two [[dice]] tables. At the conclusion of the gambling, a prize was given to the person with the largest sum of money.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> The prize was an [[Eskimo]] carving made of [[ivory]] in a 1956 show.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04">{{cite news |last=Hand |first=Fred |date=1956-08-04 |title=Ship Day Lively In Old Skagway. Klondike Kate and Diamond Lil Dance to Tune of 'Gilded Cage' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-barbara-news-press/146180147/ |newspaper=[[Santa Barbara News-Press]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...m/article/santa-barbara-news-press/146180147/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> For a 1971 show, the prize was a small-scale model of the "Prospector" statue positioned outside the [[Sitka Pioneer Home]].<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05"/> Young women from the cast strode through the venue, attempting to get the men in the audience to join them in dancing.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> When guests went to the dance floor, a [[marshal]] squeezed them, making them pay $1 to post [[bail]] for dancing with dishonorable characters.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/><ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> The [[kangaroo court]] would give the guests a card saying they were apprehended for dancing with Klondike Kate, Diamond-Tooth Lil, or the Oregon Mare.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/> [[Vigilante]]s would fetch people who opted not to dance alongside the show's cast and bring them to a kangaroo court, which would impose a $1.00 penalty.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> An auctioneer peddled Lady Lou's [[garter]].<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05"/>
The pre-show activities of the revamped 1978 show resembled those of the prior version.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> The show's 21st-century iteration continued to have several pre-show activities.<ref name="Insight2021"/> For an hour before the show, [[ragtime]] music is played and there is "mock gambling" with "Soapy's money".<ref name="Maloney117"/><ref name="Insight2021"/><ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/><ref name="Pitcher162">{{harvnb|Pitcher|2007|p=162}}</ref> The writer [[M. Mike Miller]] said the gambling was "strictly-for-fun" and children could participate.<ref name="Miller237">{{harvnb|Miller|2008|p=237}}</ref> The show's actors serve as [[dealer (card game)|dealers]] at the casino.<ref name="Insight2021"/><ref name="Wohlforth349"/> A number of the card tables are from the [[gold rush]] era.<ref name="Insight2021"/> The gambling victor in the 1978 and in the 1980s received the prize of being able to take off a dancer's [[garter]].<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Gottberg143"/> In a 1982 show, an auctioneers sold the [[garter]] of "a well-endowed redhead sprawled on the bar" to the person willing to pay the most. He took her garter, and she asked him to visit her room situated on top of the bar. He also received a small part in the play.<ref name="Jones1982-09-01">{{cite news |last=Jones |first=H.G. |date=1982-09-01 |title=Hickory Man Relives Glory Of Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hickory-daily-record/146180209/ |newspaper=[[Hickory Daily Record]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/hickory-daily-record/146180209/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The show commemorates [[Robert W. Service]] in a segment called "The Vagabond of Verse".<ref name="Devine262">{{harvnb|Devine|2009|p=262}}</ref> His poetry is recited 30 minutes before the show starts.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/> Through his humorous poetry, Service chronicled the later years of the gold rush.<ref name="Wohlforth349"/>
===Main show===
====Post-World War II version====
Right after [[World War II]], a show with a format that would be used into the 1970s was put into place.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show had seven acts in 1963.<ref name="Fairbanks1963-03-01">{{cite news |date=1963-03-01 |title='Days of 98' Set Tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180440/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180440/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> It featured [[can-can]] performances: one lineup had high school students and another had married women.<ref name="Chronicle1957-05-26">{{cite news |date=1957-05-26 |title=Travel Talk: Alaska's Festive Season |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=10L |quote=Beginning with the first cruiseships to Skagway in June, the town residents put on its famed Days of '98 with the 'Shooting of Dan McGrew,' can-can dances, kangaroo court, beards and old-time costumes with pioneer atmosphere. }}</ref><ref name="Kalen1966-10-27">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara D. |date=1966-10-27 |title=News From Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180503/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180503/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Locals wore [[period costume]]s from the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] era.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/><ref name="Anderson1962-08-12">{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Albert |date=1962-08-12 |title=Historic Juneau Strikes Gold Again—Tourist Gold. Seattle Fair Visitors Go On to Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146180573/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Sunday Tribune]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146180573/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Songs from the '98 era were performed and danced to.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show begins with Rough House Rosie appearing on stage.<ref name="Baxter120–121">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|pp=120–121}}</ref> She is clad in furs adorned with violet-hued feathers and an ostrich-feathered hat and sings:<ref name="Baxter121">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|p=121}}</ref>
<poem>
''{{'}}Tis sad when you think of''
''her wast-ed life''
''For youth cannot mate with age''
''and her beauty was so-o-ld''
''For an old man's go-o-ld—''
''She's a bur-herd in a gilded ca-age.''
</poem>
Played by a matriarch from the town, the singer shrieks in the raucous environment, and from time to time shows her red flannel panties by lifting her skirt.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/> A woman sings "[[(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey|Bill Bailey]]" and "[[Ain't She Sweet]]". The musicians include a pianist, two saxophonists, and two drummers.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> Backed by a pianist, another woman sings a tune about the difficulty in finding a quality man. The show's [[monologist]], Queenie, dances with a number of make-believe men including one who dances with his eyes shut, causing her foot to end up in a [[spittoon]]. Clad in a red vest, H.D. Kirmse tells historical anecdotes about Alaska such as his jeweler father's 1898 creation of a huge nugget chain for Pat Renwick, a gambler who used the chain as collateral.<ref name="Baxter121"/> Performing songs he wrote in both English and [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]], Richard Dick, a [[Klukwan, Alaska|Klukwan]] man from the Eagle [[Tlingit clans|Tlingit clan]], sings in a deep Tlingit accent while playing the guitar.<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15">"Fairbanks Flood Plays Cupid; Inspires Love Songs for Album" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180635/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180692/ 2]). ''[[Tundra Times]]''. 1968-11-15. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180635/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180692/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> Several people sing the state song "[[Alaska's Flag]]".<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/><ref name="Baxter121"/>
The show ends with a performer reading the [[Robert W. Service]] poem "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" and performers pantomiming it.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/><ref name="Anderson1962-08-12"/><ref name="Chico1964-08-06">{{cite news |date=1964-08-06 |title=Chico Attorney and Wife Return From Alaska Trip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-record/146180737/ |newspaper=[[Chico Enterprise-Record]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/enterprise-record/146180737/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> McGrew drinks a [[ginger ale]] as miners assemble at a table and his girlfriend, Lou, watch him. The narrator recites from the poem, "In stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty and loaded for bear." At this time, a man dressed in fur enters and plays the [[Johannes Brahms]] tune "[[Wiegenlied (Brahms)|Cradle Song]]" at the piano. The narrator says, "My God, but that man could play!" Dangerous Dan McGrew and the Stranger have a shootout as the room plunges into darkness.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/> Lou weeps over her boyfriend's lifeless body and takes the gold dust.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/><ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/>
====Post-1978 version====
The ''Days of '98 Show'' underwent a rewrite in 1978 and is about the [[Klondike gold rush]] and other events from Skagway history.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> It has six acts and a one-hour runtime.<ref name="Aarons198"/><ref name="Bellinger2010">{{harvnb|Bellinger|2010}}</ref> The show has [[audience participation]] in which some people near the stage are included in the performance.<ref name="Manning46">{{harvnb|Manning|Manning|2023|p=46}}</ref><ref name="Schuman2011-01-11">{{cite news |last=Schuman |first=Michael |date=2011-01-11 |title=Twin cities — one bustling, one a ghost town — tell tales of Klondike Gold Rush |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/01...-ghost-town-tell-tales-of-klondike-gold-rush/ |newspaper=[[Mercury News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...-ghost-town-tell-tales-of-klondike-gold-rush/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Banjo and piano players perform [[ragtime]], while [[dance hall]] performers dance the [[can-can]].<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19"/> The show features [[can-can]] performers named Molly Fewclothes, Belle Davenport, and Squirrel Tooth Alice.<ref name="Maloney117"/> It has humorous [[patter]] and songs from the era.<ref name="Cantor208">{{harvnb|Cantor|2020|p=208}}</ref>
The show's starring characters include [[William Moore (steamship captain)|William Moore]], the steamship captain who was Skagway's first [[settler]]; the con man [[Soapy Smith]]; Reverend Bowers, a member of Smith's gang; and J.D. Stewart, the Stampeder (a gold rush prospector). Steamship captain Moore begins the production by sharing his visions of the impending gold rush and the swarm of Stampeders that would descend upon the area. A separate scene depicts how Vernie Woodward brought back to life her partner, who had been trapped in the [[Chilkoot Trail]]'s April 3, 1898, [[avalanche]]. In a humorous skit, a horse gradually crumples under the load of the items stacked on the animal. The sketch illustrates how thousands of overburdened horses had died on the trail. The railroad contractor [[Michael James Heney]] and the London financier Thomas Tancrede talk about the potential for building a [[railroad]]. Heney pronounces, "If you give me enough dynamite and snoose, I'll build you a railroad to Hell."<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Heney constructs the railroad [[White Pass and Yukon Route]] leading from Skagway to [[Whitehorse]].<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/>
It depicts the chaos caused in Skagway between 1897 and 1898 by main character [[Soapy Smith]], who portrays himself as honorable person.<ref name="Belcher1997-06-22"/><ref name="Fowler112"/> During the gold rush, Smith swindles prospectors who stop at Skagway as they journey to [[Yukon Territory]] in pursuit of gold.<ref name="Lewis2011-04-30"/> Four days before city surveyor [[Frank H. Reid]] kills him, Smith is at the head of an [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] parade in 1898 with [[John Green Brady]], the governor of the [[District of Alaska]].<ref name="Fowler112"/><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Several days after the parade, J.D. Stewart, the Stampeder, brings back gold worth $2,400 {{USDCY|2400|1898}}.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> In Clancy's Saloon, Smith associate Reverend Bowers robs Stewart of the gold, triggering the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] that killed Smith and Reid.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/> The shootings unfold out of view of the audience with a [[blank (cartridge)|blank]] going off.<ref name="Spude167"/><ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/> The deafening gunshot in the enclosed theater startles the audience.<ref name="Spude167"/> The production ends with every cast member singing the state song "[[Alaska's Flag]]".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
==Notable performers==
* [[Michael Baish]] made his initial trip in 1985 to Skagway to be director of the ''Days of '98 Show''.<ref name="Quigley2010-03-26">{{cite news |last=Quigley |first=Roger |date=2010-03-26 |title=Dills Tavern heads north to Alaska |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/12EDFC05119E0668&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Patriot-News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/12EDFC05119E0668&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> During the summer, he visited Skagway, where he presented the poems of [[Robert W. Service]] for the show.<ref name="Burger2001-02-27">{{cite news |last=Burger |first=T.W. |date=2001-02-27 |title=Performer discovers niche // Man creates show featuring works of gold-rush bard |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10D98E783985AEB6&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Patriot-News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10D98E783985AEB6&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
* [[William Jefferson Brady]] in 1982 played the character J.D. Stewart, the gold prospector whom Soapy Smith and his associates rob in the ''Days of '98 Show''. He also participated in pre-show activities including as a casino [[dealer (card game)|dealer]] for the mock gambling as well as an an auctioneer who sells a [[garter]] to the top bidder. Brady founded ''[[The Skagway News]]'' in 1978.<ref name="Jones1982-09-01"/>
* [[Richard Dick]] began participating in the show around 1958.<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14">{{cite news |last=Hawk |first=Sandra |date=1968-03-14 |title=Visits—Now She'll Spent Half Lifetime There |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/146181051/ |newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...m/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/146181051/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Born in [[Angoon, Alaska|Angoon]],<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14"/> he was a [[Klukwan, Alaska|Klukwan]] man from the Eagle [[Tlingit clans|Tlingit clan]].<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15"/> While playing the [[electric guitar]], he performed songs he wrote in both English and [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] in a deep Tlingit accent.<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15"/> Alta Barger, a resident of [[Fort Worth, Texas]], visited Skagway in 1967 and watched Dick at the ''Days of '98 Show''. The two married in Skagway on January 19, 1968.<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14"/>
* [[Buckwheat Donahue]] tried out to be a [[Frank H. Reid]] [[understudy]]. He was selected to play Reid. During casting, he paused on reaching commas, something that other auditioners could not do. According to Donahue, the director chose him for that capability since directing him would be the most effortless.<ref name="Compton2013-03-23">{{cite news |last=Compton |first=Amanda |date=2013-03-23 |title=Man behind ski classic a fixture of Skagway |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/1453863E2E370248&f=basic |newspaper=[[Capital City Weekly]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/1453863E2E370248&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> He undertook additional parts in the production and took on the position of president for the Skagway [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]].<ref name="Tonin2019-10-17">{{cite news |last=Tonin |first=John |date=2019-10-17 |title=Remembering Robert Carlin "Buckwheat" Donahue |url=https://www.whitehorsestar.com/Sports/remembering-robert-carlin-buckwheat-donahue |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s/remembering-robert-carlin-buckwheat-donahue |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==Reception==
====Post-World War II version====
Lyn Harrington of the ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' said in 1949, "It isn't high art, perhaps, but it is an escape into a different world for travellers."<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/> Writing for ''[[Michigan Quarterly Review]]'', the academic [[Dow Baxter|Dow V. Baxter]] in 1963 praised Pauline Pribbenaw's performance as Rough House Rosie, saying she "puts some some awesome pathos into her number when she reaches for an emphatic crescendo".<ref name="Baxter120–121"/> Mrs. Harlow Kline of the ''[[Statesville Record & Landmark]]'' praised the show in 1958 for providing "fun and laughter for all" and cited the dancing, music, mock gambling, and "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" performance.<ref name="Kline1958-08-29">{{cite news |last=Kline |first=Mrs. Harlow |date=1958-08-29 |title=Klines Finds Interesting New Life In Fast Growing Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/statesville-record-and-landmark/146181284/ |newspaper=[[Statesville Record & Landmark]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...le/statesville-record-and-landmark/146181284/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Dunc Holmes of the ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' said in 1965, "The whole show is amateurish, but charming, and invariably gets a standing ovation", while the ''[[National Post]]''{{'}}s Kit Morgan found the show "amateurish but fun" in 1970.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/><ref name="Morgan1970-07-11">{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Kit |date=1970-07-11 |title=Alaska: 'The great land' beckons. You can still book passage for spectacular cruise this summer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/146181355/ |newspaper=[[National Post]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/national-post/146181355/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
====Post-1978 version====
The ''Kerrville Mountain Sun''{{'}}s Marjorie Peters in 1979 found the production to be "an enjoyable evening [that] gave us an insight into Skagway's bawdy, notorious past".<ref name="Peters1979-08-29">Peters, Marjorie (1979-08-29). "Adventure In Alaska" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181405/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181491/ 2]). ''Kerrville Mountain Sun''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181405/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181491/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> Referring to Canadian shows put on in [[Whitehorse]] and [[Dawson City]], Jean Koenig of the ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'' found in 1979 that the show was unable to replicate the Follies performances' sparkle and flair but was at least as expensive if not more so than those shows. But she concluded "it's a fun evening for visitors and does illustrate the community spirit of a town that has survived, and today lives by tourism and the railway".<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/> ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]''{{'}}s Donnis Baggett in 1984 called the show "a good local theatrical production" that gives the audience "a colorful look at the town's rambunctious past".<ref name="Baggett1984-03-11">{{cite news |last=Baggett |first=Donnis |date=1984-03-11 |title=Remodeled Red Onion brings back Alaska's mining days |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/146181542/ |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |agency=''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/146181542/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
The authors Ed and Lynn Readicker-Henderson praised ''The Days of '98 Show'' for providing a "good, entertaining history of Skagway" that featured [[Soapy Smith]] and Frank Reid's altercation.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/> [[Rough Guides]] called it "an entertaining, if somewhat cheesy, historical musical".<ref name="Cook1314">{{harvnb|Cook|Perry|Ward|2004|p=1314}}</ref> Audrey Prest of the ''[[Daily News of Los Angeles]]'' lauded the show for giving viewers a sense of "the rough-and-tumble frontier era from the high-energy cast of swaggering scoundrels and petticoated dance-hall girls" and "an entertaining way to get your history lesson".<ref name="Prest1989-08-27"/><ref name="Prest2002-03-03">{{cite news |last=Prest |first=Audrey Ramsay |date=2003-03-03 |title=Town of Skagway treasures its gold rush history |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/146181593/ |newspaper=[[The Commercial Appeal]] |agency=''[[Los Angeles Daily News]]'' |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/the-commercial-appeal/146181593/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]''{{'}}s Colin Bessonette deemed the show to have "noisy overacting and slapstick routines" and would not work on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] but called it "perfect here in small-town Alaska".<ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13"/> ''[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]]'' travel writer Dan Gindling considered the production "thoroughly delightful", citing the mock gambling before the show, the women dancers, and the shootouts.<ref name="Gindling1986-01-26">{{cite news |last=Gindling |first=Dan |date=1986-01-26 |title=Ferry and bike go a long way |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/117919644053ADFB&f=basic |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-22...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/117919644053ADFB&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
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* {{cite book |date=2021 |title=Insight Guides Alaska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y47EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT331 |location=London |publisher=[[Insight Guides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=978-1-83905-302-3 |ref={{harvid|Insight Guides Alaska|2021}} |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Jiang |first=Yurun 蔣育荏 |date=2018 |title=阿拉斯加 |trans-title=Alaska |language=zh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1R0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 |location=Taipei |publisher=Mook 墨刻 |via=[[Google Books]] |page=173 |isbn=978-9-86289-421-7 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Maloney |first=Lisa |date=2020 |title=Moon Alaska: Scenic Drives, National Parks, Best Hikes |edition=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arNnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT177 |location=Berkeley, California |publisher=[[Avalon Travel]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=117 |isbn=978-1-64049-814-3 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=Robert |last2=Manning |first2=Martha |date=2023 |title=Walks of a Lifetime from Around the World: Extraordinary Hikes in Exceptional Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhjIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[FalconGuides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=46 |isbn=978-1-4930-7237-8 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=M. Mike |author-link=M. Mike Miller |orig-date=1983 |date=2008 |title=Alaska's Southeast: Touring the Inside Passage |edition=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KX3beQoY9f4C&pg=PA237 |location=Guilford, Connecticut |publisher=[[Morris Communications]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=237 |isbn=978-0-7627-4535-7 |issn=1545-1941 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Pitcher |first=Don |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Sabrina |orig-date=1983 |date=2007 |title=Moon Alaska |edition=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZANbcDJN8K0C&pg=PA162 |location=Emeryville, California |publisher=[[Moon Publications]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=162 |isbn=1-56691-929-0 |issn=1547-0261 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Readicker-Henderson |first1=Ed |last2=Readicker-Henderson |first2=Lynn |date=2006 |title=Adventure Guide Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska |edition=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARFyz_5UXK8C&pg=PA320 |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Hunter Publishing |via=[[Google Books]] |page=320 |isbn=978-1-58843-515-6 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Romano-Lax |first=Andromeda |date=1997 |title=Walking Southeast Alaska: Scenic Walks and Easy Hikes for Inside Passage Travelers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ETAQAAIAAJ&q="Days+of+'98+Show" |location=Berkeley, California |publisher=[[Wilderness Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=149 |isbn=978-0-89997-208-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sainsbury |first=Brendan |date=2022 |title=Lonely Planet Alaska |edition=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NI6cEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT243 |location=Oakland |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page= |isbn=978-1-83758-094-1 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Spude |first=Catherine Holder |date=2012 |title="That Fiend in Hell": Soapy Smith in Legend |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC |location=Norman, Oklahoma |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC&pg=PA165 165]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC&pg=PA167 167] |isbn=978-0-8061-4280-7 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Spude |first=Robert L. S. |date=1983 |title=Skagway, District of Alaska, 1884–1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BvvuKT9MjH0C&pg=PA158 |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=158 |number=36 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Whitfield |first=Paul |date=2005 |title=The Rough Guide to Alaska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZMdTR8_DYMC&pg=PA188 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |page=188 |isbn=0-7645-6941-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wohlforth |first=Charles |date=2007 |title=Alaska For Dummies |edition=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPzNWXp9wdIC&pg=PA349 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=349 |isbn=978-0-471-94555-0 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
==External links==
* [https://thedaysof98show.com/ Official website]
[[Category:1920s establishments in Alaska]]
[[Category:American musicals]]
[[Category:Historical musicals]]
[[Category:Klondike Gold Rush in fiction]]
[[Category:Melodramas]]
[[Category:Musicals set in the 1890s]]
[[Category:Revues]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Vaudeville]]
Okumaya devam et...
{{Short description|Klondike Gold Rush-themed musical theater show in Skagway, Alaska}}
{{Infobox stage production
| name = The Days of '98 Show
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| genre = [[Klondike Gold Rush]]
| type = resident
| premiere =
| finalshow =
| location = Eagles Hall, [[Skagway, Alaska]]
| website = https://thedaysof98show.com/
}}
'''The Days of '98 Show'''{{efn|The show has also been called '''''Skaguay in the Days of '98''''',<ref name="Gottberg134">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=134}}</ref><ref name="Corrigan1986-06-22">Corrigan, Patricia (1986-06-22). "Alaska: The Cities" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175380/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175496/ 2]). ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175380/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/146175496/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> '''''Skaguay in the Days of '98 with Soapy Smith''''',<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19">{{cite news |last=Brumley |first=Richard |date=1986-06-19 |title=Alaska |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11791F1E04A2FFC3&f=basic |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11791F1E04A2FFC3&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> '''''Skagway in the Days of '98''''',<ref name="Reilly1984-05-06">Reilly, H.V. Pat (1984-05-06). "Legends of the Alaskan Gold Rush come to life" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175752/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175859/ 2]). ''[[Herald News]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175752/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news/146175859/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> and '''''The Days of '98 with Soapy Smith'''''.<ref name="Aarons198">{{harvnb|Aarons|Johansen|2007|p=198}}</ref><ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13">{{cite news |last=Bessonette |first=Colin |date=1989-08-13 |title=Tombstones Tell Stories of Gunfighting Past |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB7C3F696BD44B3&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB7C3F696BD44B3&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Bunch2009-02-26">{{cite news |last=Bunch |first=Joey |date=2009-02-26 |title=Northward Ho! |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2009/02/26/northward-ho/ |newspaper=[[The Denver Post]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427204732/https://www.denverpost.com/2009/02/26/northward-ho/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}} is a [[Klondike Gold Rush]]-themed musical theater show performed in Eagles Hall in [[Skagway, Alaska]]. It is the longest running Alaskan theatrical show. Created in the 1920s, the show was put on by the Skagway chapter of the [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]] and performed infrequently in the 1930s. By the mid-20th century, the show was performed frequently in the summer, particularly on days when [[cruise ship]]s and [[passenger ship]]s docked. It was staffed by unpaid locals and used to fundraise for various causes including a local hockey team, an elderly care facility, and Christmas toys for all Skagway children.
Right after [[World War II]], ''The Days of '98 Show'' began being presented with a format that would be used into the 1970s. It featured mock gambling, [[can-can]] performances, [[period costume]]s from the Klondike Gold Rush era, and a recitation and pantomime of the [[Robert W. Service]] poem "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]". By 1977, the Eagles encountered dwindling membership and financial difficulties with their sole income stream, ''The Days of '98 Show'', not making a profit that year. They inducted new members into the organization including people who were performing in the play ''Soapy Lives'' about the conman [[Soapy Smith]]. The two shows merged in 1978 after the members rewrote the script, combining elements from both shows. The revised ''Days of '98 Show'' depicts various events from Skagway's frontier history. It portrays Smith and his gang's hold on Skagway and ends with the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] between Smith and vigilante [[Frank H. Reid]]. The show received positive reviews for being an engaging production that teaches about Skagway's history.
==Eagles Hall==
[[File:Centro histórico de Skagway, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-18, DD 42.jpg|thumb|The Eagles Hall in 2017 featuring a costumed performer sticking her leg out the windowsill. She is attempting to attract passersby to watch the show.]]
''The Days of '98 Show'' is put on by the Skagway Aerie No. 25, [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]] and Gold Rush Productions.<ref name="Spude158">{{harvnb|Spude|1983|p=158}}</ref><ref name="Gottberg143">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=143}}</ref> Established in June 1899, the Order purchased the Eagles Hall, where the show is performed. The Eagles Hall's predecessor was two hotels established in 1898: the Mondamin Hotel on Fifth Avenue close to Main and the Pacific Hotel on Sixth and Broadway. The Order acquired the Pacific Hotel in 1902. After the Pacific Hotel was partially relocated in 1920 to the Mondamin Hotel's posterior, the Eagles bought the building, refurbishing it into a hall and theater.<ref name="Spude158"/> Audrey Prest of the ''[[Daily News of Los Angeles]]'' in 1989 found Eagles Hall to be reminiscent of a red [[barn]].<ref name="Prest1989-08-27">{{cite news |last=Prest |first=Audrey |date=1989-08-27 |title=Klondike History Gold-Rushes at You From All Corners |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EF567624042ADF7&f=basic |newspaper=[[Daily News of Los Angeles]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EF567624042ADF7&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
Since the hall did not have a stage in 1979, the show was performed on the ground.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07">{{cite news |last=Koenig |first=Jean |date=1979-07-07 |title=Echoes of a lawless past |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal/146176082/|newspaper=[[Edmonton Journal]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/edmonton-journal/146176082/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In 1984, the lobby was furnished with gambling tables, while the theater had "rough hewn walls".<ref name="Reilly1984-05-06"/> The building has offices and a theater with velvet curtains.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12">{{cite news |last=Munson |first=Melinda |date=2023-05-12 |title=Skagway staff befriend, placate ghosts: Three local businesses that coexist with their specters |url=https://skagwaynews.com/2023/05/12/...-businesses-that-coexist-with-their-specters/ |newspaper=[[The Skagway News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...-businesses-that-coexist-with-their-specters/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The ambiance in the theater resembles a saloon during the [[gold rush]].<ref name="Whitfield188">{{harvnb|Whitfield|2005|p=188}}</ref> Citing the creeky stairs and the "smells of decades of popcorn butter and a hint of whiskey", Mike Swasey of [[KHNS]] said that the theater "smells, sounds, and feels like a classic theatre".<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01">{{cite news |last=Swasey |first=Mike |date=2021-10-01 |title=Skagway's The Days of '98 Show wraps its 98th season |url=https://khns.org/skagways-the-days-of-98-show-wraps-its-98th-season |publisher=[[KHNS]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ays-the-days-of-98-show-wraps-its-98th-season |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> ''[[The Skagway News]]''{{'}}s Marc Bona said in 2023 that the aroma of aged wood and freshly made popcorn permeates the structure.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/> To attract people to watch the show, costumed women sing as they balance on the windowsill of the second floor.<ref name="Bona2022-08-31">{{cite news |last=Bona |first=Marc |date=2022-08-31 |title=Alaska cruise offers vantages, excursions, relaxation – and a few tips for the cruise line (photos) |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertain...nd-a-few-tips-for-the-cruise-line-photos.html |newspaper=[[The Plain Dealer]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...nd-a-few-tips-for-the-cruise-line-photos.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==History==
===Early history===
''The Days of '98 Show'' is a rowdy [[vaudevillian]] [[melodrama]], musical [[revue]], [[comedy (drama)|comedy]], [[extravaganza]], and [[historical play]].{{efn|{{Bulleted list|For the show's being rowdy<ref name="Chandonnet120">{{harvnb|Chandonnet|2006|p=120}}</ref>|For the show's being a [[melodrama]]<ref name="Chandonnet120"/><ref name="Cockerham2005-08-16">{{cite news |last=Cockerham |first=Sean |date=2005-08-16 |title=Skagway man out to conquer the continent - Body, Soul: Heart attack prompts Donahue's Florida-to-Alaska trek. |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10C0A540436049D0&f=basic |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10C0A540436049D0&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Mink1993-04-11">{{cite news |last=Mink |first=Randy |date=1993-04-11 |title=Cruises Take in Rugged Scenery of Alaska's Inside Passage |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB147BF5387BFAE&f=basic |newspaper=[[The State Journal-Register]] |agency=[[Copley News Service]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EB147BF5387BFAE&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Strausfogel1986-03-16">{{cite news |last=Strausfogel |first=Sherrie |date=1986-03-16 |title=Cruising Alaska - Itineraries offer passengers more than ever before |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11319C3BB955F698&f=basic |newspaper=[[Daily Breeze]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/11319C3BB955F698&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being [[vaudevillian]]<ref name="Maloney117">{{harvnb|Maloney|2020|p=117}}</ref>|For the show's being a musical<ref name="Maloney117"/>|For the show being a [[revue]]<ref name="Brooks1986-07-20">{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Andree |date=1986-07-20 |title=The New Rush to Skagway |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/20/travel/the-new-rush-to-skagway.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...986/07/20/travel/the-new-rush-to-skagway.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Mitchell1995-04-29">{{cite news |last=Smyth |first=Mitchell |date=1995-04-29 |title=Soapy Smith's reign of terror died with him |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10BC35F89F35C2E8&f=basic |newspaper=[[Toronto Star]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10BC35F89F35C2E8&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being a [[comedy (drama)|comedy]]<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01">{{cite news |last=O'Brien |first=Barry |date=2004-08-01 |title=Going for gold, but not Athens |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/104343B650A073A8&f=basic |newspaper=[[Sunday Mail (Adelaide)|Sunday Mail]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/104343B650A073A8&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For the show's being an [[extravaganza]]<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19"/>|For the show's being a [[historical play]]<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01"/><ref name="Belcher1997-06-22">{{cite news |last=Belcher |first=Nancy Hoyt |date=1997-06-22 |title=Gold Fever - Recalling the Rush for All That Glitters |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EAF9A3B99B5CE32&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Buffalo News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-20...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/0EAF9A3B99B5CE32&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} Sources have given different years for when the show began being performed: 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, or 1932.{{efn|Sources have given different years for when the show began being performed:{{Bulleted list|For 1923<ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13"/><ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/><ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/><ref name="Bona2022-08-31"/><ref name="Sainsbury2022">{{harvnb|Sainsbury|2022}}</ref><ref name="Fowler112">{{harvnb|Fowler|2009|p=112}}</ref><ref name="Insight2021">{{harvnb|Insight Guides Alaska|2021}}</ref><ref name="Evans125">{{harvnb|Evans|2010|p=125}}</ref><ref name="Belcher1998-02-22">Belcher, Nancy Hoyt (1998-02-22). "The Rush to Alaska: Prospectors gone, Skagway lures tourists" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176534/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176608/ 2]). ''[[Miami Herald]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176534/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald/146176608/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Ripp1997-07-15">Ripp, Bart (1997-07-15). "Skagway's gold: Tourism" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177135/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...apers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177239/ 2]). ''[[The News Tribune]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177135/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune/146177239/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>|For 1926<ref name="Gottberg143"/><ref name="Spude165">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=165}}</ref><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06">Kalen, Barbara (1978-06-06). "Skaguway In The Days Of '98" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177331/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177404/ 2]). ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177331/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177404/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Smith1982-09-15">Smith, Elnora (1982-09-15). "Coffee break" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177487/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177563/ 2]). ''Houston Today''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177487/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/houston-today/146177563/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref><ref name="Kalen1977-06-08">Kalen, Barbara (1977-06-08). "Park Do A Success" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177631/ 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177801/ 2], and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177703/ 3]). ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177631/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177801/ 2], and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146177703/ 3]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>|For 1927<ref name="O'Brien2004-08-01"/><ref name="Ballas2022">{{harvnb|Ballas|Besl|Cannamore|Fletcher|Smith|2022}}</ref><ref name="Wohlforth349">{{harvnb|Wohlforth|2007|p=349}}</ref><ref name="Romano-Lax149">{{harvnb|Romano-Lax|1997|p=149}}</ref><ref name="Jiang173">{{harvnb|Jiang|2018|p=173}}</ref>|For 1932<ref name="Stefanoni2014-06-22">{{cite news |last=Stefanoni |first=Andra Bryan |date=2014-06-22 |title=Andra Bryan Stefanoni: Travel memories attached to people met along the way |url=https://www.joplinglobe.com/archive...cle_1930f9be-96f2-59e8-a446-6c784af0b2b6.html |newspaper=[[The Joplin Globe]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...cle_1930f9be-96f2-59e8-a446-6c784af0b2b6.html |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} Festive gatherings in honor of the 1898 gold rush were held intermittently in the 1930s.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1973-08-13 |title="Days of '98" Show Still Big With Tourists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178053/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178053/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In its early years, the show would be performed a handful of occasions each summer.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Soon after [[World War II]], a show was put into place containing mock gambling, dancing, [[can-can]] dancers, and "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]". Ann True, the show's general manager in 1973, said that upon her arrival in Skagway in 1946, ''Days of '98'' had already been performed like this.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The author Robert L. S. Spude said in 1986 that of Alaskan shows, ''The Days of '98 Show'' had been performed the longest.<ref name="Spude158"/> The author Catherine Holder said in 2012 that of currently running Alaskan theater shows, ''The Days of '98 Show'' had the earliest premiere.<ref name="Spude165"/> Patricia Corrigan of the ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'' said in 1986 the show has been called "the longest running show on Broadway".<ref name="Corrigan1986-06-22"/> The initial iteration of the show featured local performers, while the modern shows are done by skilled actors.<ref name="Fowler112"/>
Numerous cruise ship excursions include the show as a possible activity.<ref name="Ludmer116">{{harvnb|Ludmer|2001|p=116}}</ref> In the mid-20th century, the show was performed in the summer, particularly on days when [[cruise ship]]s and [[passenger ship]]s like [[SS Prince George (1947)|SS ''Prince George'']] and [[SS Princess Louise (1921)|SS ''Princess Louise'']] docked.{{efn|{{Bulleted list|For the show being performed in the summer in the mid-20th century<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/>|For [[passenger ship]]s<ref name="Kiplinger's1968">{{cite news |date=July 1968 |title=Special entertainment for the summer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA19 |magazine=[[Kiplinger's Personal Finance]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=19 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>|For [[SS Prince George (1947)|SS ''Prince George'']] and [[SS Princess Louise (1921)|SS ''Princess Louise'']]<ref name="Baxter120">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|p=120}}</ref>|For [[cruise ship]]s<ref name="Bee1969-03-23">{{cite news |date=1969-03-23 |title=Stage Attractions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee/146178210/ |newspaper=[[The Fresno Bee]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...spapers.com/article/the-fresno-bee/146178210/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Littick1957-11-24">{{cite news |last=Littick |first=Clay |date=1957-11-24 |title=Zanesvillians Visit Famed Yukon Trail Of '98: Sakgway Recalls Days of Big Gold Strike |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-times-signal/146178371/ |newspaper=Sunday Times Signal |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...rs.com/article/sunday-times-signal/146178371/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Holt1979-04-15">{{cite news |last=Holt |first=Kermit |date=1979-04-15 |title=Cruising southeast Alaska's Inside Passage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146178443/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146178443/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>}}}} In 1949, residents put on a "Days of '98 Dance" in which they wore clothes from the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] era. Example attire for men included "Christie-stiffs, wide-brimmed miners' hats, moth-eaten toppers [with] string ties and perhaps a scarlet weskit". To depict high-class women, residents wore feathered heats to represent "lady that's known as Lou" (the character from "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]") and "Diamond Lil". To depict women who would join men on the [[Chilkoot Pass]], they wore "high-buttoned boots and bustles". The show earned $300 on a regular successful evening in 1949.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03">{{cite news |last=Harrington |first=Lyn |date=1949-12-03 |title=Skagway Teams Up With Robert Service |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146178517/ |newspaper=[[Vancouver Sun]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146178517/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
The residents of Skagway began putting on the show to fund their hockey group after [[list of ships of the Princess fleet|Princess steamships]] began making stops in the city.<ref name="Evans125"/> In 1956, the show's proceeds were put towards paying the [[orchestra]] and compensating performers' babysitters and the remaining amount went towards the elderly care facility in [[Sitka, Alaska]].<ref name="Binford1956-09-12">{{cite news |last=Binford |first=William E. |date=1956-09-12 |title=The Alaskan Trip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-american/146178625/ |newspaper=[[Daily American (Pennsylvania newspaper)|Daily American]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ers.com/article/the-daily-american/146178625/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Funds earned from the show were used around 1963 were for causes including cancer charity and Christmas toys for children.<ref name="Baxter120"/> Funds in 1965 went to the Vancouver Sailors' Home and the Vancouver Crippled Children's Association.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/> Profits from the show in 1971 went to purchasing Christmas presents for the children.<ref name="Kalen1972-01-06">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1972-01-06 |title=Skagway News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178699/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146178699/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
A 1964 newspaper article said the show required no fewer than 20 individuals to host each performance and none of them received compensation.<ref name="Fairbanks1964-07-22">{{cite news |date=1964-07-22 |title=The Big Show—Days of '98 Show in Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146178744/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146178744/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In 1965, ''Days of '98'' was performed between April and the beginning of October.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29">{{cite news |last=Holmes |first=Dunc |date=1965-10-29 |title=The Magic Carpet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146179003/ |newspaper=[[Vancouver Sun]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun/146179003/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The 1967 cast of more than 50 people put on more than 60 shows.<ref name="Whitehorse1967-09-11">{{cite news |date=1967-09-11 |title=Skagway's Can Can Line Wind Up Season |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179079/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179079/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Performed three to four times weekly, the ''Days of '98 Show'' in 1971 had two casts that took turns appearing in the production every other week. A subset of the cast had to appear in all shows since there were insufficient people to fill up both casts.<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05">{{cite news |date=1971-08-05 |title=Skagway Gives Visitor Enjoyable Days of '98 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179167/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179167/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> There were 90 planned performances in 1973.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/>
===Merger of ''Days of '98 Show'' and ''Soapy Lives''===
Tom Biss, an actor, moved in 1973 from [[Anchorage, Alaska]], to Skagway.<ref name="Spude165"/> He performed that summer in a one-person play, ''Soap Pitch'' (later called ''Soapy Lives'') in a [[log cabin]]. The venue was in Skagway's American Legion Hall on Seventh and Broadway.<ref name="Spude165"/><ref name="Kalen1973-07-23">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1973-07-23 |title=Soapy's Back In Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179237/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179237/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In the winter that year, Biss performed the show in [[Juneau]] and [[Ketchikan]]. He returned to Skagway in 1974 to perform a more elaborate show in the Arctic Brotherhood lodge hall involving more actors.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara |date=1974-06-14 |title='Soapy' Smith Lives Again In Skagway Show |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179298/ |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/whitehorse-daily-star/146179298/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> He established the company Soap Theatrical Co. for putting on the play.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> Judy Irving, the venue's [[spotlight (theatre lighting)|spotlight]] manager, used [[M. Mike Miller]]'s 1970 book ''Soapy'' as the foundation for penning the script of ''Soapy Lives'' for Biss. Written from the [[first-person narrative|first-person]] of the frontier gangster [[Soapy Smith]], ''Soapy'' offers a positive spin on his life in which he reflects on his youthful mishaps. Having worked as an ''[[Alaska Sportsman]]'' journalist, Miller likely relied on the magazine's 1950s and 1960s articles as research content for his book.<ref name="Spude165"/> Al Swingle wrote music for the play.<ref name="Kalen1973-07-23"/> The Arctic Brotherhood set was constructed using wood from a [[Dyea, Alaska|Dyea]] beach.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/>
The show starts with two members of Smith's gang, played by Jim Richards and Steve Hites. As they consume alcohol, the duo sing several songs as they nostalgically recall their interactions with Smith. Hites plays the [[piano]] and the [[guitar]] while Richards plays the guitar and the [[banjo]].<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/> A woman, a [[dance hall]] performer, appears in the play. Coming out of his saloon, Biss's Soapy Smith introduces himself to the viewers. He describes how he swindled people in Skagway and became the town's ruler. Bemoaning the vigilante "Committee of 101" that seeks his removal, he criticizes his associates for their foolish avarice in stealing from a man. He is resolute in thwarting Frank Reid, who wants to overthrow him.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show reaches its [[climax (narrative)|climax]] when Smith dies during the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] with Reid.<ref name="Kalen1974-06-14"/>
While performing in his own show at night, Biss acted as Soapy Smith in the ''Days of '98 Show'' in the day and participated in its "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" performance.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show brought on a narrator and a pianist before Jim Richards purchased it from Biss in 1975.<ref name="Spude165"/> In ''Soapy Lives'', Richards had played a Soapy Smith gang member who was a [[banjo]] player and later started playing Soapy Smith.<ref name="Dunham2009-10-18">{{cite news |last=Dunham |first=Mike |date=2009-10-18 |title=Skagway's 'Soapy Smith' calls it quits |url=https://www.adn.com/our-alaska/article/skagways-soapy-smith-calls-it-quits/2009/10/18/ |newspaper=[[Anchorage Daily News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...agways-soapy-smith-calls-it-quits/2009/10/18/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> In June 1977, Tyler Eccles played "Slim Jim" Foster, a member of Smith's gang. That year, ''Soapy Lives'' had been staged about 450 times.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> At the time, Eagles Hall had a community production called the ''Days of '98 Show'' that was performed in the late evenings. To avoid a head-to-head clash, ''Soapy Lives'' scheduled shows during the daytime hours, catering to [[cruise ship]]s.<ref name="Spude165–166">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|pp=165–166}}</ref>
The ''Days of '98 Show'' relied on a volunteer cast and scheduled 62 performances in the summer of 1977. That year, the Eagles introduced additional songs. The production was performed in 1977 every time [[SS Princess Patricia|SS ''Princess Patricia'']], and [[MS Prinsendam (1972)|MS ''Prinsendam'']] were in port and a number of the times ''[[SS Argentina (1958)|Monarch Star]]'' docked.<ref name="Kalen1977-06-08"/> Both ''Soapy Lives'' and the ''Days of '98 Show'' had trouble financially supporting the performers. Around 40,000 cruise ship passengers had docked in Skagway in 1975, a small number that could barely sustain ''Soapy Lives'' performers Richards, a musician, and an actress. Eagles Hall encountered financial problems in 1977 after its sole income stream, ''Days of '98 Show'', had failed to turn a profit that year. With few members left in the organization, they could not cover the [[property tax]] or the membership fees. Their inability to pay the oil bill led to the freezing of their pipes. Eagles Hall had six members left when, realizing they needed a change, members George Flemming and J. D. True suggested adding six young performers to the club's membership rolls. Their aim was to prevent the [[Grand Aerie, Fraternal Order of Eagles|Grand Aerie]] from taking over the property and to continue putting on showings of the ''Days of '98 Show''. The six members were inducted as Eagles members during a rite performed on a table in Flemming's kitchen. The new members included Jim Richards and Steve Hites. The initiation of these new members later led to a merger of the ''Days of '98 Show'' and the play ''Soapy Lives''.<ref name="Spude166">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=166}}</ref>
The process to revise the format and script of the ''Days of '98 Show'' began in December 1977. Jim Richards and Steve Hites were housemates. After spending hours fighting a house fire that month, Steve Hites returned to his own house and started sleeping in a chair without getting changed. According to Hites, Richards roused him from sleep and urged him to take notes as Richards outlined a new ''Days of '98 Show''. Richards suggested combining elements of the ''Soapy Lives'' show and the ''Days of 98'' show. The show would feature new songs. It would have [[William Moore (steamship captain)|William Moore]] narrate about finding the [[White Pass]]. It would feature the ''Days of 98 Show''{{'}}s [[can-can]] performers and discuss Skagway's history including Soapy Smith's death.<ref name="Spude166"/> Hites delivered the notes to Tom Healy, who refined the dialogue and acts. Richards, Hites, and Healy jointly came up with a revised script.<ref name="Spude167">{{harvnb|Spude|2012|p=167}}</ref> Hites wrote some of the new show's music, while Richards wrote two songs: "The Boomtown Saloon" and "Moonlight, the Yukon and You".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Heimbuecher1984-03-18">Heimbuecher, Ruth (1984-03-18). "Skagway: The gold rush era lives on" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179365/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179429/ 2]). ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179365/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/146179429/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref>
Richards and Dorothy Shaplin founded the company Gold Rush Productions to put on the revised production in collaboration with the previous show's producer, the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Run by volunteers, the show's previous version was performed three to four times a week for three decades and depleted the pool of people willing to contribute their efforts without compensation. The new show's cast received compensation.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Hites, the director of the revised show, said in 2009 that 26 people made up the cast of the revamped show, while Barbara Kalen of ''[[Whitehorse Daily Star]]'' said in 1978 that the show featured a cast of 14 to 15 people.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Spude167"/> Kalen wrote that a number of people longed for the show's prior version. She concluded that the majority found "this new authentic historical sketch is really much better, and has wider audience appeal".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
In both ''Days of '98 Show'' and ''Soapy Lives'', the audiences are startled by the loud noises of [[blank (cartridge)|blank]]s being fired in the confined space of the theater during the shootout between Smith and Reid. According to Hites, the two versions portray the circumstances of Smith's differently. In ''Soapy Lives'', under muted red lighting, Smith and Reid meet and shout lines sourced from the event's eyewitnesses. Using black powder [[blank (cartridge)|blanks]], they exchange gunfire, causing flashes to appear. It is clear that Reid killed Smith. In contrast, in the revised ''Days of '98 Show'', Smith exits from the audience's view after readying his [[Winchester rifle]] and shouting "They can't take this town from me! I run this town!" The narrator discusses how Smith is traveling to the Juneau Company Wharf, where the vigilantes will confront him. The narrator says "A man like Reid did his deed", a blank is shot out of view of the audience, and the narrator concludes, "And sent poor Soapy home." Hites said the aim is to allow viewers to hint that Reid was responsible for pulling the trigger Smith but allow viewers to decide what happened.<ref name="Spude167"/>
in 1978, Jim Richards played the role of the protagonist, Soapy Smith, in the ''Days of '98'' and continued performing three days a week in ''Soapy Lives''.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Dunham2009-10-18"/> Over a period of 33 years, he made over 10,000 appearances as Soapy Smith. After experiencing a stroke in the middle of show on August 28, 2009, he performed his last show that year on September 17.<ref name="Dunham2009-10-18"/>
===Soapy Smith's wake===
Beginning in 1974, Soapy Smith's descendants and the show's actors attended an annual [[wake (ceremony)|wake]] for Smith on July 8, the anniversary of his death. The first wake was held at Smith's grave at the Gold Rush Cemetery. The revelers brought [[champagne]] to toast Smith. Since the cemetery did not have lavatories, they urinated on the grave of [[Frank H. Reid]], a guard who had died in [[shootout on Juneau Wharf|a shootout with Smith]].<ref name="AAP2009-01-30">{{cite news |date=2009-01-30 |title=Soapy Smith not just a slippery Yukon character |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/international/13504/Soapy-Smith-not-just-a-slippery-Yukon-character |website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |agency=[[Australian Associated Press]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref><ref name="Gottberg136">{{harvnb|Gottberg|1988|p=136}}</ref> In the 1980s, after doing the final performance of the day, the actors visited Smith's grave on his death anniversary. During the celebration, Smith's grandson, who lived in California, brought [[champagne]] to share.<ref name="Gottberg136"/> Jeff Hall, the president of the Soapy Smith Preservation Trust, said the "horrid tradition" of urinating on Reid's grave was a factor in their decision to move the wake from the cemetery to Eagles Hall. Following discussions with Reid's family, Jeff Smith, Soapy Smith's great-grandson, apologized to them three decades after the first wake. Jeff Smith said, "I know how upset I would be were I to find that people were doing to Soapy's grave what we had begun doing to Frank Reid's in 1974."<ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/>
===Later history===
Directed by David Morgan, people from the drama department at [[Brigham Young University]] performed for the show in the early 1990s.<ref name="Smart1991-01-06">{{cite news |last=Smart |first=William B. |date=1991-01-06 |title=Alaska |url=https://www.deseret.com/1991/1/6/18899558/alaska/ |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427214234/https://www.deseret.com/1991/1/6/18899558/alaska/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The show had daytime and nighttime performances in the early 2000s.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320">{{harvnb|Readicker-Henderson|Readicker-Henderson|2006|p=320}}</ref><ref name="Golden358">{{harvnb|Golden|Brown|2005|p=358}}</ref> With a schedule significantly influenced by cruise ships, the show in the 21st century is performed between once and four times a day between the middle of May and the middle of September.<ref name="Maloney117"/><ref name="Sainsbury2022"/> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' said in 2011 that thousands of cruise ship tourists watched the show every summer.<ref name="Lewis2011-04-30">{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Mark |date=2011-04-30 |title=Prospecting for Gold-Rush Tales |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704570704576275541342832906 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |id={{ProQuest|864068828}} |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
Between circa 2010 and December 2019, Jonathan Baldwin and Jonathan Hays owned Gold Rush Productions, which put on the ''Days of '98 Show''.<ref name="Announcement2019-12-17">{{cite news |date=2019-12-17 |title=Jonathan Baldwin and Jonathan Hays announcement |url=https://www.facebook.com/TheDaysof9...ounce-that-charity-pomeroy-/2834657333264029/ |publisher=The Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith |via=[[Facebook]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ounce-that-charity-pomeroy-/2834657333264029/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Charity Pomeroy and Meredith Schmidt acquired Gold Rush Productions in December 2019 and became its joint artistic directors.<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/><ref name="Announcement2019-12-17"/> Pomeroy had moved to Skagway in 2001 to be a performer in the show.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/><ref name="Christensen2002-09-06">{{cite news |last=Christensen |first=Jake |date=2002-09-06 |title=Wildcat actors grace faraway stages |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-signpost/146180095/ |newspaper=[[The Signpost (Weber State University)|The Signpost]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/the-signpost/146180095/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The next season, zero cruise ships docked in Skagway in 2020 owing to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska]]. The following year, the estimated number of summer cruise ship visitors was below 10% of previous seasons, so the two owners sought to minimize costs as they put on the performance. Pomeroy took on the role of Belle Davenport, while Schmidt performed as Squirrel Tooth Alice. Soapy Smith was portrayed by the proprietor of a nearby lodge, whom they paid to take on the role. They employed a Pennsylvania-based piano player and several [[lighting technician]]s. The ''Days of '98 Show'' performed 33 summer shows in 2021, far below the approximately 400 shows they would previously do. During the pandemic, COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government ensured the business remained afloat.<ref name="Swasey2021-10-01"/> Pomeroy rents an office in the hall where she fixes costumes.<ref name="Munson2023-05-12"/>
==Show==
===Background===
Skagway had over 20,000 inhabitants in 1898 when [[Klondike Gold Rush]] prospectors swarmed the town and [[Dyea, Alaska|Dyea]] which they used as their launching pad to journey through [[Chilkoot Trail]] and [[White Pass Trail]] to the [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]] territory of [[Yukon]]. An 1898 report from the [[North-West Mounted Police]] called Skagway "little better than a hell on earth". Mounties maintained control in Canada, while Skagway was a free-for-all. The conman [[Soapy Smith]] and his associates controlled the town.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/> His rule ended after a [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] involving the vigilante [[Frank H. Reid]] left the two men dead.<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> By 1979, Skagway's population reached around 800, down from the over 20,000 in 1898.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
===Pre-show activities===
The ''Days of 98 Show'' had several pre-show activities in 1956. Visitors purchased $1 to receive $100 in fake money for an hour of mock gambling. They could play [[blackjack]] or visit two [[roulette]] tables and two [[dice]] tables. At the conclusion of the gambling, a prize was given to the person with the largest sum of money.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> The prize was an [[Eskimo]] carving made of [[ivory]] in a 1956 show.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04">{{cite news |last=Hand |first=Fred |date=1956-08-04 |title=Ship Day Lively In Old Skagway. Klondike Kate and Diamond Lil Dance to Tune of 'Gilded Cage' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-barbara-news-press/146180147/ |newspaper=[[Santa Barbara News-Press]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...m/article/santa-barbara-news-press/146180147/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> For a 1971 show, the prize was a small-scale model of the "Prospector" statue positioned outside the [[Sitka Pioneer Home]].<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05"/> Young women from the cast strode through the venue, attempting to get the men in the audience to join them in dancing.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> When guests went to the dance floor, a [[marshal]] squeezed them, making them pay $1 to post [[bail]] for dancing with dishonorable characters.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/><ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> The [[kangaroo court]] would give the guests a card saying they were apprehended for dancing with Klondike Kate, Diamond-Tooth Lil, or the Oregon Mare.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/> [[Vigilante]]s would fetch people who opted not to dance alongside the show's cast and bring them to a kangaroo court, which would impose a $1.00 penalty.<ref name="Binford1956-09-12"/> An auctioneer peddled Lady Lou's [[garter]].<ref name="Whitehorse1971-08-05"/>
The pre-show activities of the revamped 1978 show resembled those of the prior version.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> The show's 21st-century iteration continued to have several pre-show activities.<ref name="Insight2021"/> For an hour before the show, [[ragtime]] music is played and there is "mock gambling" with "Soapy's money".<ref name="Maloney117"/><ref name="Insight2021"/><ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/><ref name="Pitcher162">{{harvnb|Pitcher|2007|p=162}}</ref> The writer [[M. Mike Miller]] said the gambling was "strictly-for-fun" and children could participate.<ref name="Miller237">{{harvnb|Miller|2008|p=237}}</ref> The show's actors serve as [[dealer (card game)|dealers]] at the casino.<ref name="Insight2021"/><ref name="Wohlforth349"/> A number of the card tables are from the [[gold rush]] era.<ref name="Insight2021"/> The gambling victor in the 1978 and in the 1980s received the prize of being able to take off a dancer's [[garter]].<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="Gottberg143"/> In a 1982 show, an auctioneers sold the [[garter]] of "a well-endowed redhead sprawled on the bar" to the person willing to pay the most. He took her garter, and she asked him to visit her room situated on top of the bar. He also received a small part in the play.<ref name="Jones1982-09-01">{{cite news |last=Jones |first=H.G. |date=1982-09-01 |title=Hickory Man Relives Glory Of Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hickory-daily-record/146180209/ |newspaper=[[Hickory Daily Record]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s.com/article/hickory-daily-record/146180209/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> The show commemorates [[Robert W. Service]] in a segment called "The Vagabond of Verse".<ref name="Devine262">{{harvnb|Devine|2009|p=262}}</ref> His poetry is recited 30 minutes before the show starts.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/> Through his humorous poetry, Service chronicled the later years of the gold rush.<ref name="Wohlforth349"/>
===Main show===
====Post-World War II version====
Right after [[World War II]], a show with a format that would be used into the 1970s was put into place.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show had seven acts in 1963.<ref name="Fairbanks1963-03-01">{{cite news |date=1963-03-01 |title='Days of 98' Set Tonight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180440/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180440/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> It featured [[can-can]] performances: one lineup had high school students and another had married women.<ref name="Chronicle1957-05-26">{{cite news |date=1957-05-26 |title=Travel Talk: Alaska's Festive Season |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |page=10L |quote=Beginning with the first cruiseships to Skagway in June, the town residents put on its famed Days of '98 with the 'Shooting of Dan McGrew,' can-can dances, kangaroo court, beards and old-time costumes with pioneer atmosphere. }}</ref><ref name="Kalen1966-10-27">{{cite news |last=Kalen |first=Barbara D. |date=1966-10-27 |title=News From Skagway |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180503/ |newspaper=[[Fairbanks Daily News-Miner]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...article/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/146180503/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Locals wore [[period costume]]s from the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] era.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/><ref name="Anderson1962-08-12">{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Albert |date=1962-08-12 |title=Historic Juneau Strikes Gold Again—Tourist Gold. Seattle Fair Visitors Go On to Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146180573/ |newspaper=[[Chicago Sunday Tribune]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...papers.com/article/chicago-tribune/146180573/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Songs from the '98 era were performed and danced to.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> The show begins with Rough House Rosie appearing on stage.<ref name="Baxter120–121">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|pp=120–121}}</ref> She is clad in furs adorned with violet-hued feathers and an ostrich-feathered hat and sings:<ref name="Baxter121">{{harvnb|Baxter|1963|p=121}}</ref>
<poem>
''{{'}}Tis sad when you think of''
''her wast-ed life''
''For youth cannot mate with age''
''and her beauty was so-o-ld''
''For an old man's go-o-ld—''
''She's a bur-herd in a gilded ca-age.''
</poem>
Played by a matriarch from the town, the singer shrieks in the raucous environment, and from time to time shows her red flannel panties by lifting her skirt.<ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/> A woman sings "[[(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey|Bill Bailey]]" and "[[Ain't She Sweet]]". The musicians include a pianist, two saxophonists, and two drummers.<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/> Backed by a pianist, another woman sings a tune about the difficulty in finding a quality man. The show's [[monologist]], Queenie, dances with a number of make-believe men including one who dances with his eyes shut, causing her foot to end up in a [[spittoon]]. Clad in a red vest, H.D. Kirmse tells historical anecdotes about Alaska such as his jeweler father's 1898 creation of a huge nugget chain for Pat Renwick, a gambler who used the chain as collateral.<ref name="Baxter121"/> Performing songs he wrote in both English and [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]], Richard Dick, a [[Klukwan, Alaska|Klukwan]] man from the Eagle [[Tlingit clans|Tlingit clan]], sings in a deep Tlingit accent while playing the guitar.<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15">"Fairbanks Flood Plays Cupid; Inspires Love Songs for Album" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180635/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...ewspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180692/ 2]). ''[[Tundra Times]]''. 1968-11-15. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180635/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/tundra-times/146180692/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> Several people sing the state song "[[Alaska's Flag]]".<ref name="Kalen1973-08-13"/><ref name="Baxter121"/>
The show ends with a performer reading the [[Robert W. Service]] poem "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" and performers pantomiming it.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/><ref name="Anderson1962-08-12"/><ref name="Chico1964-08-06">{{cite news |date=1964-08-06 |title=Chico Attorney and Wife Return From Alaska Trip |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/enterprise-record/146180737/ |newspaper=[[Chico Enterprise-Record]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...pers.com/article/enterprise-record/146180737/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> McGrew drinks a [[ginger ale]] as miners assemble at a table and his girlfriend, Lou, watch him. The narrator recites from the poem, "In stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty and loaded for bear." At this time, a man dressed in fur enters and plays the [[Johannes Brahms]] tune "[[Wiegenlied (Brahms)|Cradle Song]]" at the piano. The narrator says, "My God, but that man could play!" Dangerous Dan McGrew and the Stranger have a shootout as the room plunges into darkness.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/> Lou weeps over her boyfriend's lifeless body and takes the gold dust.<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/><ref name="Hand1956-08-04"/>
====Post-1978 version====
The ''Days of '98 Show'' underwent a rewrite in 1978 and is about the [[Klondike gold rush]] and other events from Skagway history.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> It has six acts and a one-hour runtime.<ref name="Aarons198"/><ref name="Bellinger2010">{{harvnb|Bellinger|2010}}</ref> The show has [[audience participation]] in which some people near the stage are included in the performance.<ref name="Manning46">{{harvnb|Manning|Manning|2023|p=46}}</ref><ref name="Schuman2011-01-11">{{cite news |last=Schuman |first=Michael |date=2011-01-11 |title=Twin cities — one bustling, one a ghost town — tell tales of Klondike Gold Rush |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2011/01...-ghost-town-tell-tales-of-klondike-gold-rush/ |newspaper=[[Mercury News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...-ghost-town-tell-tales-of-klondike-gold-rush/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Banjo and piano players perform [[ragtime]], while [[dance hall]] performers dance the [[can-can]].<ref name="Brumley1986-06-19"/> The show features [[can-can]] performers named Molly Fewclothes, Belle Davenport, and Squirrel Tooth Alice.<ref name="Maloney117"/> It has humorous [[patter]] and songs from the era.<ref name="Cantor208">{{harvnb|Cantor|2020|p=208}}</ref>
The show's starring characters include [[William Moore (steamship captain)|William Moore]], the steamship captain who was Skagway's first [[settler]]; the con man [[Soapy Smith]]; Reverend Bowers, a member of Smith's gang; and J.D. Stewart, the Stampeder (a gold rush prospector). Steamship captain Moore begins the production by sharing his visions of the impending gold rush and the swarm of Stampeders that would descend upon the area. A separate scene depicts how Vernie Woodward brought back to life her partner, who had been trapped in the [[Chilkoot Trail]]'s April 3, 1898, [[avalanche]]. In a humorous skit, a horse gradually crumples under the load of the items stacked on the animal. The sketch illustrates how thousands of overburdened horses had died on the trail. The railroad contractor [[Michael James Heney]] and the London financier Thomas Tancrede talk about the potential for building a [[railroad]]. Heney pronounces, "If you give me enough dynamite and snoose, I'll build you a railroad to Hell."<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Heney constructs the railroad [[White Pass and Yukon Route]] leading from Skagway to [[Whitehorse]].<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/>
It depicts the chaos caused in Skagway between 1897 and 1898 by main character [[Soapy Smith]], who portrays himself as honorable person.<ref name="Belcher1997-06-22"/><ref name="Fowler112"/> During the gold rush, Smith swindles prospectors who stop at Skagway as they journey to [[Yukon Territory]] in pursuit of gold.<ref name="Lewis2011-04-30"/> Four days before city surveyor [[Frank H. Reid]] kills him, Smith is at the head of an [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] parade in 1898 with [[John Green Brady]], the governor of the [[District of Alaska]].<ref name="Fowler112"/><ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> Several days after the parade, J.D. Stewart, the Stampeder, brings back gold worth $2,400 {{USDCY|2400|1898}}.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/> In Clancy's Saloon, Smith associate Reverend Bowers robs Stewart of the gold, triggering the [[shootout on Juneau Wharf]] that killed Smith and Reid.<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/><ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/> The shootings unfold out of view of the audience with a [[blank (cartridge)|blank]] going off.<ref name="Spude167"/><ref name="AAP2009-01-30"/> The deafening gunshot in the enclosed theater startles the audience.<ref name="Spude167"/> The production ends with every cast member singing the state song "[[Alaska's Flag]]".<ref name="Kalen1978-06-06"/>
==Notable performers==
* [[Michael Baish]] made his initial trip in 1985 to Skagway to be director of the ''Days of '98 Show''.<ref name="Quigley2010-03-26">{{cite news |last=Quigley |first=Roger |date=2010-03-26 |title=Dills Tavern heads north to Alaska |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/12EDFC05119E0668&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Patriot-News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/12EDFC05119E0668&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> During the summer, he visited Skagway, where he presented the poems of [[Robert W. Service]] for the show.<ref name="Burger2001-02-27">{{cite news |last=Burger |first=T.W. |date=2001-02-27 |title=Performer discovers niche // Man creates show featuring works of gold-rush bard |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10D98E783985AEB6&f=basic |newspaper=[[The Patriot-News]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/10D98E783985AEB6&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
* [[William Jefferson Brady]] in 1982 played the character J.D. Stewart, the gold prospector whom Soapy Smith and his associates rob in the ''Days of '98 Show''. He also participated in pre-show activities including as a casino [[dealer (card game)|dealer]] for the mock gambling as well as an an auctioneer who sells a [[garter]] to the top bidder. Brady founded ''[[The Skagway News]]'' in 1978.<ref name="Jones1982-09-01"/>
* [[Richard Dick]] began participating in the show around 1958.<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14">{{cite news |last=Hawk |first=Sandra |date=1968-03-14 |title=Visits—Now She'll Spent Half Lifetime There |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/146181051/ |newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...m/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/146181051/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Born in [[Angoon, Alaska|Angoon]],<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14"/> he was a [[Klukwan, Alaska|Klukwan]] man from the Eagle [[Tlingit clans|Tlingit clan]].<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15"/> While playing the [[electric guitar]], he performed songs he wrote in both English and [[Tlingit language|Tlingit]] in a deep Tlingit accent.<ref name="Baxter121"/><ref name="Tundra1968-11-15"/> Alta Barger, a resident of [[Fort Worth, Texas]], visited Skagway in 1967 and watched Dick at the ''Days of '98 Show''. The two married in Skagway on January 19, 1968.<ref name="Hawk1968-03-14"/>
* [[Buckwheat Donahue]] tried out to be a [[Frank H. Reid]] [[understudy]]. He was selected to play Reid. During casting, he paused on reaching commas, something that other auditioners could not do. According to Donahue, the director chose him for that capability since directing him would be the most effortless.<ref name="Compton2013-03-23">{{cite news |last=Compton |first=Amanda |date=2013-03-23 |title=Man behind ski classic a fixture of Skagway |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/1453863E2E370248&f=basic |newspaper=[[Capital City Weekly]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-21...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/1453863E2E370248&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> He undertook additional parts in the production and took on the position of president for the Skagway [[Fraternal Order of Eagles]].<ref name="Tonin2019-10-17">{{cite news |last=Tonin |first=John |date=2019-10-17 |title=Remembering Robert Carlin "Buckwheat" Donahue |url=https://www.whitehorsestar.com/Sports/remembering-robert-carlin-buckwheat-donahue |newspaper=[[Whitehorse Daily Star]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...s/remembering-robert-carlin-buckwheat-donahue |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==Reception==
====Post-World War II version====
Lyn Harrington of the ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' said in 1949, "It isn't high art, perhaps, but it is an escape into a different world for travellers."<ref name="Harrington1949-12-03"/> Writing for ''[[Michigan Quarterly Review]]'', the academic [[Dow Baxter|Dow V. Baxter]] in 1963 praised Pauline Pribbenaw's performance as Rough House Rosie, saying she "puts some some awesome pathos into her number when she reaches for an emphatic crescendo".<ref name="Baxter120–121"/> Mrs. Harlow Kline of the ''[[Statesville Record & Landmark]]'' praised the show in 1958 for providing "fun and laughter for all" and cited the dancing, music, mock gambling, and "[[The Shooting of Dan McGrew]]" performance.<ref name="Kline1958-08-29">{{cite news |last=Kline |first=Mrs. Harlow |date=1958-08-29 |title=Klines Finds Interesting New Life In Fast Growing Alaska |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/statesville-record-and-landmark/146181284/ |newspaper=[[Statesville Record & Landmark]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...le/statesville-record-and-landmark/146181284/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> Dunc Holmes of the ''[[Vancouver Sun]]'' said in 1965, "The whole show is amateurish, but charming, and invariably gets a standing ovation", while the ''[[National Post]]''{{'}}s Kit Morgan found the show "amateurish but fun" in 1970.<ref name="Sun1965-10-29"/><ref name="Morgan1970-07-11">{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Kit |date=1970-07-11 |title=Alaska: 'The great land' beckons. You can still book passage for spectacular cruise this summer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post/146181355/ |newspaper=[[National Post]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...wspapers.com/article/national-post/146181355/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
====Post-1978 version====
The ''Kerrville Mountain Sun''{{'}}s Marjorie Peters in 1979 found the production to be "an enjoyable evening [that] gave us an insight into Skagway's bawdy, notorious past".<ref name="Peters1979-08-29">Peters, Marjorie (1979-08-29). "Adventure In Alaska" (pages [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181405/ 1] and [https://web.archive.org/web/2024042...com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181491/ 2]). ''Kerrville Mountain Sun''. Archived from the original (pages [https://www.newspapers.com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181405/ 1] and [https://www.newspapers.com/article/kerrville-mountain-sun/146181491/ 2]) on 2024-04-27. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via [[Newspapers.com]].</ref> Referring to Canadian shows put on in [[Whitehorse]] and [[Dawson City]], Jean Koenig of the ''[[Edmonton Journal]]'' found in 1979 that the show was unable to replicate the Follies performances' sparkle and flair but was at least as expensive if not more so than those shows. But she concluded "it's a fun evening for visitors and does illustrate the community spirit of a town that has survived, and today lives by tourism and the railway".<ref name="Koening1979-07-07"/> ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]''{{'}}s Donnis Baggett in 1984 called the show "a good local theatrical production" that gives the audience "a colorful look at the town's rambunctious past".<ref name="Baggett1984-03-11">{{cite news |last=Baggett |first=Donnis |date=1984-03-11 |title=Remodeled Red Onion brings back Alaska's mining days |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/146181542/ |newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]] |agency=''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune/146181542/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
The authors Ed and Lynn Readicker-Henderson praised ''The Days of '98 Show'' for providing a "good, entertaining history of Skagway" that featured [[Soapy Smith]] and Frank Reid's altercation.<ref name="Readicker-Henderson320"/> [[Rough Guides]] called it "an entertaining, if somewhat cheesy, historical musical".<ref name="Cook1314">{{harvnb|Cook|Perry|Ward|2004|p=1314}}</ref> Audrey Prest of the ''[[Daily News of Los Angeles]]'' lauded the show for giving viewers a sense of "the rough-and-tumble frontier era from the high-energy cast of swaggering scoundrels and petticoated dance-hall girls" and "an entertaining way to get your history lesson".<ref name="Prest1989-08-27"/><ref name="Prest2002-03-03">{{cite news |last=Prest |first=Audrey Ramsay |date=2003-03-03 |title=Town of Skagway treasures its gold rush history |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-commercial-appeal/146181593/ |newspaper=[[The Commercial Appeal]] |agency=''[[Los Angeles Daily News]]'' |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/2024042....com/article/the-commercial-appeal/146181593/ |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref> ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]]''{{'}}s Colin Bessonette deemed the show to have "noisy overacting and slapstick routines" and would not work on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] but called it "perfect here in small-town Alaska".<ref name="Bessonette1989-08-13"/> ''[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]]'' travel writer Dan Gindling considered the production "thoroughly delightful", citing the mock gambling before the show, the women dancers, and the shootouts.<ref name="Gindling1986-01-26">{{cite news |last=Gindling |first=Dan |date=1986-01-26 |title=Ferry and bike go a long way |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/n...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/117919644053ADFB&f=basic |newspaper=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |accessdate=2024-04-27 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/2024.04.27-22...ORLDNEWS&docref=news/117919644053ADFB&f=basic |archivedate=2024-04-27 }}</ref>
==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Aarons |editor1-first=Felice |editor2-last=Johansen |editor2-first=Heidi |date=2007 |title=Alaska Ports of Call 2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQiETJQgnSAC&pg=PA198 |location=New York |publisher=[[Fodor's]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=198 |isbn=978-1-4000-1720-1 |issn=1520-0205 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Baxter |first=Dow V. |author-link=Dow Baxter |date=Spring 1963 |title=A Toast to Skagway |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.act2080.0002.002:10 |magazine=[[Michigan Quarterly Review]] |volume=2 |number=2 |pages=[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mqrarchive/act2080.0002.002/55:11?page=root;size=100;view=image 120]–[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mqrarchive/act2080.0002.002/56:11?page=root;size=100;view=image 121] |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Ballas |first1=Teeka |last2=Besl |first2=J. |last3=Cannamore |first3=David |last4=Fletcher |first4=Amy |last5=Smith |first5=Dawnell |editor-last=Sadlowski |editor-first=Amanda |date=2022 |title=Fodor’s Alaska |edition=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-NVEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT253 |location=New York |publisher=[[Fodor's]] |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=978-1-64097-475-3 |issn=2325-2049 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bellinger |first=Brookelyn |date=2010 |title=The Frozen Toe Guide to Real Alaskan Livin': Learn How to Survive Moose Attacks, Endless Winters & Life Without Indoor Plumbing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSlPBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT152 |location=Seattle |publisher=[[Sasquatch Books]] |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=978-1-57061-720-1 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Cantor |first= |orig-date=1999 |date=2020 |title=Bad Guys in American History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SWH4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[Lyons Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=208 |isbn=978-1-49305-022-2 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Chandonnet |first=Ann |author-link=Ann Fox Chandonnet |editor-last=Paull |editor-first=Jennifer |date=2006 |title=Alaska's Inside Passage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pKRNX85S920C&pg=PA120 |location=New York |publisher=[[Fodor's]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=120 |isbn=978-1-4000-1480-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Samantha |last2=Perry |first2=Tim |last3=Ward |first3=Greg |date=2004 |title=The Rough Guide to USA |edition=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNQJ40rBL0wC&pg=PA1310-IA2 |location=New York |publisher=[[Rough Guides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=1314 |isbn=1-84353-262-X |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Devine |first=Bob |orig-date=2006 |date=2009 |title=Alaska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jjlaykzDzsC&pg=PA262 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[National Geographic Traveler]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=262 |isbn=978-1-4262-0386-2 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Evans |first=Polly |date=2010 |title=Yukon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njnCQHOncU0C&pg=PA125 |location=Chalfont St Peter, Bucks |publisher=[[Bradt Travel Guides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=125 |isbn=978-1-84162-310-8 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ludmer |first=Larry H. |date=2001 |title=Cruising Alaska: A Traveler's Guide to Cruising Alaskan Waters & Discovering the Interior |edition=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vGjwQgWVEKEC&pg=PA116 |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Hunter Publishing |via=[[Google Books]] |page=116 |isbn=1-58843-115-0 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Fowler |first=Carol |date=2009 |title=Explorer's Guide Alaska Panhandle: A Great Destination (Explorer's Great Destinations) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TpseP7AhYwC&pg=PA112 |location=Woodstock, Vermont |publisher=[[The Countryman Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=112 |isbn=978-1-58157-095-3 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Golden |first1=Fran Wenograd |last2=Brown |first2=Jerry |date=2005 |title=Cruise Vacations For Dummies 2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bds2OmgsyCsC&pg=PA358 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=358 |isbn=0-7645-6941-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gottberg |first=John |date=1988 |title=Frommer's Dollarwise Guide to Alaska. 1988–89 edition |url=https://archive.org/details/frommersdollarwi0000unse_l9j4/ |location=New York |publisher=[[Prentice Hall Press]] |via=[[Internet Archive]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/frommersdollarwi0000unse_l9j4/page/134/ 134], [https://archive.org/details/frommersdollarwi0000unse_l9j4/page/136/ 136], [https://archive.org/details/frommersdollarwi0000unse_l9j4/page/143/ 143] |isbn=0-671-62416-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |date=2021 |title=Insight Guides Alaska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3y47EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT331 |location=London |publisher=[[Insight Guides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=978-1-83905-302-3 |ref={{harvid|Insight Guides Alaska|2021}} |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Jiang |first=Yurun 蔣育荏 |date=2018 |title=阿拉斯加 |trans-title=Alaska |language=zh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j1R0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 |location=Taipei |publisher=Mook 墨刻 |via=[[Google Books]] |page=173 |isbn=978-9-86289-421-7 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Maloney |first=Lisa |date=2020 |title=Moon Alaska: Scenic Drives, National Parks, Best Hikes |edition=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arNnEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT177 |location=Berkeley, California |publisher=[[Avalon Travel]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=117 |isbn=978-1-64049-814-3 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=Robert |last2=Manning |first2=Martha |date=2023 |title=Walks of a Lifetime from Around the World: Extraordinary Hikes in Exceptional Places |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhjIEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[FalconGuides]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=46 |isbn=978-1-4930-7237-8 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=M. Mike |author-link=M. Mike Miller |orig-date=1983 |date=2008 |title=Alaska's Southeast: Touring the Inside Passage |edition=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KX3beQoY9f4C&pg=PA237 |location=Guilford, Connecticut |publisher=[[Morris Communications]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=237 |isbn=978-0-7627-4535-7 |issn=1545-1941 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Pitcher |first=Don |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Sabrina |orig-date=1983 |date=2007 |title=Moon Alaska |edition=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZANbcDJN8K0C&pg=PA162 |location=Emeryville, California |publisher=[[Moon Publications]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=162 |isbn=1-56691-929-0 |issn=1547-0261 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Readicker-Henderson |first1=Ed |last2=Readicker-Henderson |first2=Lynn |date=2006 |title=Adventure Guide Inside Passage & Coastal Alaska |edition=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ARFyz_5UXK8C&pg=PA320 |location=Edison, New Jersey |publisher=Hunter Publishing |via=[[Google Books]] |page=320 |isbn=978-1-58843-515-6 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Romano-Lax |first=Andromeda |date=1997 |title=Walking Southeast Alaska: Scenic Walks and Easy Hikes for Inside Passage Travelers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ETAQAAIAAJ&q="Days+of+'98+Show" |location=Berkeley, California |publisher=[[Wilderness Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=149 |isbn=978-0-89997-208-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sainsbury |first=Brendan |date=2022 |title=Lonely Planet Alaska |edition=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NI6cEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT243 |location=Oakland |publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page= |isbn=978-1-83758-094-1 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Spude |first=Catherine Holder |date=2012 |title="That Fiend in Hell": Soapy Smith in Legend |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC |location=Norman, Oklahoma |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |via=[[Google Books]] |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC&pg=PA165 165]–[https://books.google.com/books?id=XAQ8rvzEbGkC&pg=PA167 167] |isbn=978-0-8061-4280-7 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Spude |first=Robert L. S. |date=1983 |title=Skagway, District of Alaska, 1884–1912: Building the Gateway to the Klondike |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BvvuKT9MjH0C&pg=PA158 |location=Fairbanks, Alaska |publisher=Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, [[University of Alaska Fairbanks]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=158 |number=36 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Whitfield |first=Paul |date=2005 |title=The Rough Guide to Alaska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZMdTR8_DYMC&pg=PA188 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |page=188 |isbn=0-7645-6941-4 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wohlforth |first=Charles |date=2007 |title=Alaska For Dummies |edition=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPzNWXp9wdIC&pg=PA349 |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |via=[[Google Books]] |page=349 |isbn=978-0-471-94555-0 |accessdate=2024-04-27 }}
==External links==
* [https://thedaysof98show.com/ Official website]
[[Category:1920s establishments in Alaska]]
[[Category:American musicals]]
[[Category:Historical musicals]]
[[Category:Klondike Gold Rush in fiction]]
[[Category:Melodramas]]
[[Category:Musicals set in the 1890s]]
[[Category:Revues]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Vaudeville]]
Okumaya devam et...