Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Arts & Culture, Industry & Commerce

Location

42 N Main St, Gloversville, NY 12078, USA

Lat/Long

43.051565, -74.344762

Grant Recipient

Gloversville Theatre Corporation

The Glove Theatre located at 42 North Main Street in Gloversville in Fulton County, New York opened its doors in October 1914. On opening night, the silent film The Call of the North was shown at the theater. The October 7, 1914 edition of the Gloversville Morning Herald advertised its opening:

“The Beautiful Glove Theatre will be opened to the public for the first time on Friday October 9th, with one of the greatest and most elaborate photo-to-play spectacles of modern times …

Appropriate musical renditions will follow every scene and for two days the (standing room only) sign will be displayed at the box office.

Other productions will be in evidence and as this elaborate program will be shown Friday and Saturday one may do well to be on hand early to get good seats.”

In addition to movies, the Glove Theatre hosted vaudeville shows and civic events, including public lectures. One of these lectures was given in 1917 by national women’s suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt during the ultimately successful push for New York voters to approve a women’s suffrage amendment to the state constitution at that year’s election. The October 17, 1917 Morning Herald reported on Catt’s “Appeal to Gloversville for Suffrage,” noting that the “Glove Theatre Packed to Overflowing” to hear the suffrage leader speak:

“With every seat in the Glove theatre occupied, the gallery completely jammed and people in the rear of the house standing patiently four rows deep for almost two hours, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, national and international executive head of the Woman Suffrage movement, last night presented the arguments in substantiation of the cause of which she is executive leader in language which depended for its eloquence entirely upon its appeal to logic and reason, rather than dramatic oratory or stirring phrases.”

From 1920 to 1965, the Glove Theatre was operated by Schine Enterprises. In 1920, brothers J. Myer Schine and Louis W. Schine purchased the Glove Theatre shortly after their purchase of another area theater named the Hippodrome. The Schine brothers continued to grow their business, acquiring additional theaters. Gloversville was maintained as headquarters of Schine Enterprises, with executive offices located in the city and the Glove serving as its flagship theater. On August 1, 1939, the Gloversville Leader-Republican reported that Schine Enterprises had grown to 152 theaters in multiple states.

By the early 1960s, Schine Enterprises still operated around 50 theaters, including the Glove. In 1965, the company sold off most of its property except for the home offices in Gloversville and the Glove Theatre. While still owned by Schine, operation of the theater was transferred to Panther Theaters under a leasing agreement. The September 2, 1966 edition of the Leader-Herald stated that J. Myer Schine, “said he would not sell the Glove Theater because of its sentimental value.” The leasing agreement was relatively short lived and in 1971, the Glove Theatre was closed, as it was reportedly operating at a loss (Leader-Herald, November 5, 1971, 3).

Facing possible demolition in 1995, a group of local citizens formed the nonprofit, Gloversville Theatre Corporation to save the Glove Theatre. The all-volunteer group worked to renovate the theater and reopened it to the public in 1997. As of 2023, the Glove Theatre continues to offer entertainment to the surrounding community.

Links

• Glove Theatre