161. The Carnival Architects: MAPUA, BARRETTO, ARELLANO

The splendor of the Carnivals owes much to its fabulous edifices that did not fail to impress and awe—from the imposing Carnival Gate, the majestic Coronation Throne, the expansive Hippodrome to the provincial booths and displays that vied for the spectators’ attention. The first Carnival did not have a definitive visual theme, a merry mix of American and Philippine motifs, with inspirations drawn from mythology, European fantasy and royalty.

Committees were organized to handle and manage every aspect of the Carnival activities like Promotion, Program, Decoration, Tickets, Invitations, Sanitation, Security, Music, Dances, Sports Competition, Transportation and Masquerade Balls. The construction of the Carnival infrastructures fell into the hands of several key people. In charge of building the main edifices was Col. Mark L. Hersey, while the Hippodrome was put under Col. George Langhorne, who also multi-tasked as the King Consort of the Queen of the Occident. Mauro Prieto headed a team of that included Armando Campa, Manuel de Iriarte, Vicente Singson, C. Rodriguez and B. Roxas that designed and built the Carnival stage of 1908.

As the Carnivals became even more elaborate in the succeeding years, architects were hired to render their professional and expert services in designing the overall Carnival look, including its fabulous buildings and structures. Returning Filipino architects who were sent as pensionados to study in the beaux arts schools of the American East Coast, were the first to be employed for these all-important tasks. Three of them would go on to achieve national recognition and earn their well-deserved place as leading lights of Philippine architecture: Tomas Mapua, Carlos Barretto and Juan Arellano.

Tomas B. Mapua (b. 21 Dec. 1888/ d. 22 Dec. 1965) was the first registered architect of the Philippines who designed the 1917, 1920 and the 1921 Carnivals. The son of Juan Mapua and Justina Bautista, he was sent to America by the U.S. government for his high school and college education. He earned his Architecture degree from Cornell in 1911. For the 1921 Carnival, he executed the magnificent Magallanes Exposition Building, that had 5 high entrance arches surmounted by figural statues and the Main Entrance to the Carnival that had five expansive gateways book-ended with domed structures topped with fancy spires. Inside, the Throne Hall of the Auditorium featured an ornate central dome supported by columns, sheltering the throne of the Queen like a baldochine.

Mapua would go on to design and build the Manila City Hall, Manila Custom’s House, Agrifina Circle, the Post Office Building and the Leyte Capitol. In 1925, he founded the Mapua Institute of Technology (now Mapua University), which became the premier architecture and engineering school of the country.


Carlos Barretto holds the distinction as the first pensionado architect, having graduated three years earlier than Mapua, earning his degree in 1908 from the prestigious Drexel University in Philadelphia. He was the second (after Mapua) to be officially registered as an architect in 1921, as required by law that was passed by the National Assembly that year, one of 22 Filipinos.

Barretto designed the Carnival infrastructures of 1935, built on exuberant Art Deco motif that was the prevailing style of the Commonwealth years. After the Liberation, a group of Filipino architects that included Barretto, organized themselves into the Philippine Institute of Architects which proved to be of great help to the Philippines’ post-war recovery.


Juan Marcos G. Arellano (b. 25 April 1888/ d. 5 Dec. 1960) was the Tondo-born child of Luis Arellano and Bartola de Guzman. His first interest was painting, studying under Fabian de la Rosa and Lorenzo Guerrero. After graduating from Ateneo in 1908, he pursued architecture as a government scholar at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1911, before finishing his course at Drexel, where Barrettoo had finished a few years before.

Trained in Beaux Arts, Arellano worked briefly in New York before his return to to the Philippines. In 1922, he was named as the chief architect of the Manila Carnival, creating the grand neoclassic edifices that complemented the Graeco-Roman theme of the national fair. Arellano would go on to design the Metropolitan Theater in 1935, his best-known work, plus the Jones Bridge, the Legislative Building, the Bank of the Philippine Islands and the Malcolm Hall of the University of the Philippines and the U.S. Embassy. After his retirement in 1956, Arellano returned to painting, his first passion.

For at least 2 decades, the Carnival City of Manila was transformed by these accomplished architects, with their gift of design—creating landscapes of sheer fantasies and building gateways to new worlds of romance, royalty and revelry, fascinating feasts for all the nation’s eyes to see.

16. 1908, CARNIVAL PERSONALITIES IN COSTUME

COL. GEORGE T. LANGHORNE as Monsieur Beaucaire. The very concept of a Carnival in Manila was the brainchild of Col. George T. Langhorne, who served in the Spanish-American War and was later aide-de-camp of Major Leonard Wood. At the costume balls of the 1908 Carnival, he came as a character from Booth Tarkington’s 1900 novel, Monsieur Beaucaire, an English duke in disguise. Langhorne later saw action in the chaotic revolution of Mexico and served as commander of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas in 1917.He married Mary K. Waller in England in 1928.

MAJ. GEN. LEONARD WOOD as Dirk Turpin. (b. 9 Oct. 1860-d.7 Aug. 1927). New Hamsphire born Wood was trained as a physician. Came to the Philippines as commander of the Philippine Division and later, commander of the Dept. of the East. Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, later Governor General of the Philippines (1921-1927). At the Carnival, Wood came as the legendary English rogue and highwayman, Dick Turpin. He was married to Louise Adriana Wood with whom he had 3 children: Leonard Jr., Louise Barbara, Osborne Cutler.



GEN. JOHN J. PERSHING as The Minstrel. (b. 13 Sept. 18609-d.15 Jul. 1948). Ordered to Manila in Mar. 1899 for the Philippine-American War. After going back to the U.S., he was re-assigned to the Philippines from 1909-1912 as Commander of Fort McKinley. Promoted to General of the Armies of the United States, the highest rank possible for any member of the U.S. armed forces, a title especially created for him.



COL. JOSEPH N. WOLFSON as The Buccaneer. After his military career, he started a lucrative law practice in the Philippines.


CAPT. DANA W. KILBURN as The King's Guard


"HUMP" SULLIVAN, as The Court Jester

14. 1908, A ROYAL CLASH

As dual queens of the 1st Manila Carnival, Pura and Marjorie held equal rank and shared equal billings, but newspapers, egged by the crowds and their observations, played up the competition angle between the two, further fuelling more controversies, both real and imagined.

WHO'S THE FAIRER OF THE TWO? Oriental Queen Pura Villanueva, "this queen will not fade away"-the caption on this photo says.

First, there was the question facial beauty. The newspaper El Renacimiento was very vocal about who was the better-looking queen. In one important public appearance of the 2 royals, it observed: “The King and Queen of the Occident were very simple in their attire. Perhaps because they had come from a trip. But they were very ordinary looking, including the members of their court. Not so, however, those of the Orient….Altanera sin pedanteria, augusta sin pretensions, producto su distincion de la sangre y de la cuna” (Highborn but without ostentation, majestic without the pretensions, a product of refinement, in blood and in influence).

Then there was the issue of the Occidental retinue getting preferential treatment. For example, when the royalties arrived at the landing, the cars reserved for the Oriental court where nowhere to be found. Thus, Pura and her King Consort left for the grandstand, unattended.

FAVORED AT THE FAIR? Newspapers reported the preferential treatment accorded to the American queen--from the carriage that was ever-ready to take her to carnival functions to the flowers she received.

More discourtesies towards the Oriental Royals were reported with astute observation. El Renacimiento recounted one circumstance: “ When the King of the Occident descended from his carroza, he had a bouquet of flowers for the Queen of the Occident, but not even a leaf for the Queen of the Orient. This was a grave fault and a crass ignorance of the forms of courtesy. A sacrilege to etiquette. Attention is due the Queen, who had graciously accepted them into her country”.

A MONARCH SPURNED. Although they introduced themselves at the Carnival gate as the King and Queen of the Carnival, Pura and Manuel were not immediately let in by the insolent 'portero' who even answered that 'not even Christ can enter without paying the entrance fee'.

The final insult was when the King and Queen of the Orient were refused entry into the Carnival fairgrounds. Detained by the guard at the gate, they were asked to pay the entrance fee of P.20 at the gate. El Renacimiento was livid. “Inandita osadia!!! (Such inane audacity!!!) The Orient Monarchs prevented from entering their own kingdom! Is this revolution or anarchy? All these reactions need immediate reparation.”

Pura was not to be cowed. She excused herself from one significant evening ball, alleging an indisposition, and the members of her court followed suit. As a demanded by native decorum, the whole court of honor resigned their positions.

13. 1908, PAGEANT BY THE BAY: The Meeting of Royals

One of the most spectacular ceremonials conceived for the 1908 Carnival was the meeting of the Occidental and the Oriental Queen on the bay of Manila, a "cadena-de-amor" maritime procession meant to symbolize the eternal friendship of two Continents. In the well-choreographed event, royal barges bearing the queens were to arrive simultaneously at the Luneta, to be welcomed in the grandest of styles.


The grand plan was laid out to include a ceremonial boat for the use of the Occidental King, a 15th century "carebela” type, while that of the Oriental King was of Indo-Chinese style. Each will have a throne, where the King will be surrounded by his Court, followed by the beautiful Queens of the Carnival and their courts. The boats will be escorted by decorated launches.

An eyewitness account records the fantastic fluvial pageant of 27 February 1908: “It was about 4:30 o’clock when the King and Queen of the Occident occupied their throne on the stern of the royal barge and gave order for the procession to start. The boat was towed by the launch Isabel. The constabulary band was stationed in the bow of the royal barge and the 9th cavalry trumpeters on the launch.”

The boat left with its distinguished guests on board, trailed by artistically-decorated launches simulating whales, clown heads, pelican and marine creatures. At the entrance of the breakwater, the ritual meeting of royalties happened. This was followed by a display of fireworks, boat whistles and salvos from battleships and the wild acclamations of the people. Then, all proceeded to the landing, where our account continued.

HAPPY LANDING. Queen of the Occident, Marjorie Colton, alighting from the royal barge, welcomed by her royal entourage.

“Thousands of surging humanity crowded along the edge of the Luneta fill, the banks of the inner basin where the landing was o be made, and along the road leading to the Legaspi landing, to get a glimpse of the royal party. Never before had so many people gathered together in this city on any occasion and while it is impossible to state the exact number of people who were on the Luneta and the new-made land, a conservative estimate would be from 80,000 to 100,000”.

The royalties arrived a few minutes after 6 at the pier, where they were received by the Carnival Committee composed of Mayor W.W. Brown, Judge Gilbert, Dr. Reno, Dr. Guerney, Capt. Weigl and Mr. Nolting.

DRIVING MISS MARJORIE. Queen Marjorie and Consort Col. George Langhorne

The two royal couples were escorted to automobiles which were awaiting their arrival and the procession then started for the grandstand on the Luneta. The court rode in stately carriages. During this trip, bright lights were focused on the entire entourage. The Queens stood up in their cars to acknowledge the cheers of the spectators. “Everything looked fairy land, decorations, lights, people, everything.”, a newspaper reported.

At the grandstand fronting the Legazpi Monument, the keys of the City of Manila were given by the Mayor to the foreigners. From there, amidst the sound of trumpets of cavalrymen, the courts filed past to go to their fancy palaces, to meet again at Elks Club and then to the Carnival Hippodrome to start the national ball.

9. 1908, QUEENS OF THE ORIENT AND THE OCCIDENT

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO. Sovereigns of the 1st Philippine Carnival of 1908. Capt. George T. Langhorne (King of the Occident), Marjorie Colton (Queen of the Occident), Pura Villanueva (Queen of the Orient), Manuel Gomez (King of the Orient).

2. A MAN, A PLAN, A CARNIVAL...

MANILA CARNIVAL GATE. Designed for the 1924 edition. The Carnival was held annually, starting in 1908, at the Wallace Field in Luneta Park.

Perhaps, no other event has piqued the interest and stirred a nation’s imagination more than the spectacular Manila Carnivals, held annually from 1908-1939. The Spanish-American War and the “Philippine Insurrection” were just a few years past behind us and our new colonizers felt it was the perfect time for healing old hurts and wounds.

CAPT. GEORGE T. LANGHORNE, aide de campe of the U.S. Navy, proferred the idea of an event to foster Philippine-American goodwill and promote a positive image for the Islands to invite businesses in.

As early as Sept. 1907, Capt. George T. Langhorne, aide de camp of the U.S. Navy, enlisted the support of businessmen, politicians, newspapermen, foreigners and prominent Filipinos in organizing a goodwill event to celebrate harmonious U.S.-Philippine relations. Feelings of hostilities had abated, more so with the inauguration of the Philippine Assembly in 1908 and Langhorne felt that such an event would make the world take note of the gains made by the country and would further drum up business opportunities. The idea was enthusiastically supported by Governor General James F. Smith and Major General Leonard Wood.

GEN. JAMES F. SMITH. Governor General of the Philippine Islands (1906-1909) fully supported the idea of a Carnival.

Capt. Langhorne asked the Philippine Assembly for a P50,000 funding to build a hall and “exhibit half-naked Igorots and set up amusements”. An immediate uproar erupted, with local newspapers protesting the very concept that reminded them of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair where tribes were displayed and shamed.

El Ideal, a leading newspaper, lamented—“The public will be obliged this year like previous years to witness the not very edifying spectacle of a legion of savage men, torn from their forests and haunts, to be the object of derision and ridicule of ‘civilized people’. WILLIAM CAMERON FORBES. Commissioner of Commerce and Vice Governor of the Philippines (1908-1909) also threw his support for the Carnival. He later succeeded Smith as Governor-General of the islands.

Gov. Gen. James Smith , shocked at the tone of the planned carnival, asked his Secretary of Commerce, William Cameron Forbes to take over. Instead of a freakshow, Forbes designed an international exposition to showcase Philippine-American progress. The government subsidy was reduced and money was raised through various means like private companies’ sponsorships and the search for the queen of the carnival through public balloting.

The Carnival Association lost no time in enlisting the support of leading American, Spanish and Tagalog newspapers of the day to promote the fair, scheduled for February 1908. There were sub-committees formed to take charge of the program, costumes, decorations, reception, illumination, tickets, food, publicity, music and peace and order.

LA GERMINAL CIGAR & CIGARETTE FACTORY. One of the major sponsors of the 1st Carnival. It was located on Calle Marques de Comillas, next to the Ayala Bridge. Dr. Ariston Bautista Lin served as the President.

Invitations were sent out to major business enterprises like Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel, Botica Watson, Germinal Fabrica de Tabacos, Manila Electric Railroad, Edward Keller and Co., Alhambra, Sprungli and Co. (maker of Bear Brand Milk) and Clarke Soda Parlor, which were readily accepted. Local government bureaus and provincial governments also pledged their participation through booths and floats. International dignitaries from Ceylon, Singapore, Siam, Saigon, Hong Kong, Canton, Bombay and Japan were also included in the guest list.

CLARKE'S. The leading ice cream and refreshment place in the Orient, at 2 Escolta. This pioneer establishment was also a major sponsor for the event, even serving as a drop-off point for ballots cast for the queenship of the Carnival. M. A. Clarke was the proprietor.

The February 7 opening date had to be postponed due to a cholera outbreak in Manila. The launch was pushed back to March 9. But as soon as the health hazards cleared, the 1st Manila Carnival was on!