As mentioned in earlier posts, the Columbia Theater opened January 3, 1910 as the flagship theater of the Columbia Amusement Company. My Grandfather, Sam A. Scribner, was secretary and General Manager of the company, which was incorporated July 12, 1902.
Scribner wrote his nephew, James Canning, a merchant in Brookville PA (Scribner’s home town) on January 4, 1910, stating “I think last night was the biggest night of my life. We opened the new Broadway theater, and every person in New York of theatrical and mercantile prominence was there. Your old friend John Wannamaker spent a half hour in the building just before we opened the doors, and said it was as pretty a theatre as he had ever seen. However he could not very well say anything else, because he was the decorator; that is, he furnished all the decorations, carpets, etc. Instead of painting the walls, we hung them in DuBarry rose damask, and covered the entire floor, both orchestra and gallary, with specially made carpet to match. It certainly was a big night.”
A family history compiled by my uncle, John H. M. Scribner, quotes the opening night review in the New York American as follows: “The playhouse is a twelve story building with the main enterance on Broadway. An artistically decorated room lobby leads to the auditorium, which is oval in shape, a design adapted to insure perfect accustic qualities. There are about seven hundred seats on the main floor, and the entire capacity is 1,800. There are two balconies and six large boxes. The predominating colors are old gold and various tones of French grays. The interior decorations are in the Louis XVI style. Above the procenium arch is a large painting representing the Muses, the work of Arthur Thomas, R. A.” According to my uncle’s narriative, opening night reviews also appeared in the Morning telegraph, the New York Clipper, and The Sun.
According to an article in Variety January 11, 1928, the Columbia Amusement Company (the “Columbia Wheel” and its rival Mutual Association (the “Mutual Wheel”) were merged into the United Burlesque Circuit. — Peter Scribner .com
The Columbia Theater was opened as the main theater of the Columbia Amusement Company, aka the Columbia Wheel or the Eastern Wheel. My Grandfather, Samuel A. Scribner, was the General manager and co-founder of the company. The Columbia Wheel operated 42 burlesque houses throughout the North-East from Chicago to Boston (Canada, too.) In its hayday the circuit would have something like 42 separate shows performing. Each week each show would rotate from one theater to another along the wheel. Three of the theaters in the wheel were in New York and Brooklyn, and the Columbia was the centerpiece. If you look closely at the Seventh Avenue exterior wall of the building, you will see, running up the wall, a small relief image of the head of a woman at each story — I believe that is the image of “Columbia”. The Company offices were in the building, around the 7th or 8th floor, according to my (late) father. Thge entrance to the office was on 47th Street. Other big-wigs in the business were John Herbert Mack and Rudolph Hynicka (Hynicka was the “boss” of the Cincinatti political machine, which he ran from his office at 47th and 7th.) The Columbia Circuit made zillions of dollars in the decade before 1919 and then lost zillions of dollars in the years thereafter. The Bronxville, NY Historical Conservancy ran a long article on Sam Scribner, including the Columbia Theater, in its 2004 publication.
As mentioned in earlier posts, the Columbia Theater opened January 3, 1910 as the flagship theater of the Columbia Amusement Company. My Grandfather, Sam A. Scribner, was secretary and General Manager of the company, which was incorporated July 12, 1902.
Scribner wrote his nephew, James Canning, a merchant in Brookville PA (Scribner’s home town) on January 4, 1910, stating “I think last night was the biggest night of my life. We opened the new Broadway theater, and every person in New York of theatrical and mercantile prominence was there. Your old friend John Wannamaker spent a half hour in the building just before we opened the doors, and said it was as pretty a theatre as he had ever seen. However he could not very well say anything else, because he was the decorator; that is, he furnished all the decorations, carpets, etc. Instead of painting the walls, we hung them in DuBarry rose damask, and covered the entire floor, both orchestra and gallary, with specially made carpet to match. It certainly was a big night.”
A family history compiled by my uncle, John H. M. Scribner, quotes the opening night review in the New York American as follows: “The playhouse is a twelve story building with the main enterance on Broadway. An artistically decorated room lobby leads to the auditorium, which is oval in shape, a design adapted to insure perfect accustic qualities. There are about seven hundred seats on the main floor, and the entire capacity is 1,800. There are two balconies and six large boxes. The predominating colors are old gold and various tones of French grays. The interior decorations are in the Louis XVI style. Above the procenium arch is a large painting representing the Muses, the work of Arthur Thomas, R. A.” According to my uncle’s narriative, opening night reviews also appeared in the Morning telegraph, the New York Clipper, and The Sun.
According to an article in Variety January 11, 1928, the Columbia Amusement Company (the “Columbia Wheel” and its rival Mutual Association (the “Mutual Wheel”) were merged into the United Burlesque Circuit. — Peter Scribner .com
The Columbia Theater was opened as the main theater of the Columbia Amusement Company, aka the Columbia Wheel or the Eastern Wheel. My Grandfather, Samuel A. Scribner, was the General manager and co-founder of the company. The Columbia Wheel operated 42 burlesque houses throughout the North-East from Chicago to Boston (Canada, too.) In its hayday the circuit would have something like 42 separate shows performing. Each week each show would rotate from one theater to another along the wheel. Three of the theaters in the wheel were in New York and Brooklyn, and the Columbia was the centerpiece. If you look closely at the Seventh Avenue exterior wall of the building, you will see, running up the wall, a small relief image of the head of a woman at each story — I believe that is the image of “Columbia”. The Company offices were in the building, around the 7th or 8th floor, according to my (late) father. Thge entrance to the office was on 47th Street. Other big-wigs in the business were John Herbert Mack and Rudolph Hynicka (Hynicka was the “boss” of the Cincinatti political machine, which he ran from his office at 47th and 7th.) The Columbia Circuit made zillions of dollars in the decade before 1919 and then lost zillions of dollars in the years thereafter. The Bronxville, NY Historical Conservancy ran a long article on Sam Scribner, including the Columbia Theater, in its 2004 publication.