Knickerbocker Theatre - New York City
  Exterior c.1909
  Knickerbocker Theatre - New York City
  Click on images to enlarge
Knickerbocker Theatre

1396 Broadway at West 38th Street
New York, N.Y. 10018




The Knickerbock Theatre was originally named Abbey's Theatre, for producer and theatre manager Henry Abbey. As designed by architects J.B. McElfatrick & Co., the theatre provided seating for approximately 1500 patrons in the orchestra, dress circle, balconies and seven boxes on each side of the auditorium. The Abbey opened on November 8, 1893 with a production of "Becket" by Lord Tennyson, starring Sir Henry Irving and actress Ellen Terry. Following Henry Abbey's death in 1896, control of the theatre was assumed by Al Hayman and his syndicate, who renamed it the Knickerbocker. In 1906, Broadway's first moving electric sign – a huge windmill advertising the production of "The Red Mill" – was installed on the exterior on the building.

Although live productions were standard fare, the Knickerbocker featured moving pictures after World War I. The property was sold after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, and the building was demolished in 1930.
           
Wurlitzer Organ Company
North Tonawanda, N.Y. – Opus 1279 (1926)
Electro-pneumatic action
Style B
2 manuals, 4 ranks, 3 tuned percussions, 17 traps, curved console
           
Pedal – 32 notes
16
   Bourdon     Pedal 2nd Touch
8
   Trumpet     Bass Drum
8
   Flute     Kettle Drum
8
   Cello     Cymbal

   

   
Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
16
   Contra Viole [TC]     Snare Drum
16
   Bourdon     Tambourine
8
   Trumpet     Castanets
8
   Salicional     Chinese Block
8
   Flute      
8
   Vox Humana     Accompaniment 2nd Touch
4
   Salicet
8
   Trumpet
4
   Flute      
          Three Adjustable Combination Pistons

   

   
Solo (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Contra Viole [TC]
2 2/3
   Twelfth
16
   Bourdon
2
   Piccolo
16
   Vox Humana     Cathedral Chimes
8
   Trumpet     Xylophone
8
   Salicional     Glockenspiel
8
   Flute      
8
   Vox Humana     Solo 2nd Touch
4
   Salicet
8
   Trumpet
4
   Flute     Xylophone
4
   Vox Humana      
          Three Adjustable Combination Pistons

   

   
General
One Balanced Expression Pedal      
One General Tremulant      
One Vox Humana Tremulant      
           
Effects (operated by pistons)
Sleigh Bells Bird Fire Gong (reiterating)
Triangle Train Steamboat Whistle
Horse Hoofs Auto Horn Siren
Surf Effect Fire Gong Tom-Tom
     
Door Bell (push button)    
           
Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://www.cinematreasures.org/theaters/39953
     Internet Broadway Database web site: http://www.ibdb.com/venue.php?id=1029
     Junchen, David L., comp. and ed. by Jeff Weiler. The WurliTzer Pipe Organ – An Illustrated History. Chicago: The American Theatre Organ Society, 2005.
     Kaufmann, Preston J. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 3. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1995.

Illustration:
     Cinema Treasures web site. Interior
     Internet Broadway Database web site. Exterior (c.1909). Bill Morrison collection, courtesy of the Shubert Archive.