Drive-In Movies

This summer brought the arrival of the anniversary of an entertainment vehicle that is almost gone totally today but ruled from the 1930's until the late 60's. The word "vehicle" was a hint. Did you guess it? It's the 84th anniversary of the first drive in movie theater. That the first drive-in movie theater was opened by Richard Hollingshead in Camden County, N.J. The movie shown was “Wives Beware,” starring  someone named Adolphe Menjou. How society has changed. if there was an opening today the movie might be entitled "Husband's Beware", given this is the age of feminist activism.

Anyway, Hollingshead came up with the idea of a outdoor movie theater where patrons watched movies in the comfort of their own automobiles. Since autos were becoming the rage it wa a smart move by Hollingshead. He first experimented in the driveway of his own house with different projection and sound techniques, mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car, pinning a screen to some trees, and placing a radio behind the screen for sound. The final product was about as crude as that, but people loved escaping outside to watch movies.

To keep costs lower, drive-in theaters showed mostly second tier films or more popular films that had their initial run some time earlier. But some theaters featured the same movies that played in regular theaters. The poor sound quality was annoying, those big metal speakers one attached to the driver's side of the car never seemed too clear. Mosquitoes and heat were a burden to those watching, but drive-ins became an icon of American culture with more than 5000 theaters at peak.

The huge  drive-in screens were a site to behold and a big attraction then. I remember as a child, my parents taking the family to the local drive -in, me and my brother in our pajamas because it was inevitable we would fall asleep before the film was over. It was cheap and fun family entertainment with a very tasty snack area in the middle of the theater area one could walk to for burgers, hot dogs, popcorn and the rest of the comfort food of the era.

"Going to the drive-in" was a typical weekend destination not just for parents and children but also for teenage couples seeking some privacy. Tens would often load the car with as many people as possible, hiding a couple in the trunk until past the admittance portal to avoid the small per person entrance fee.

But drive-ins were doomed to die. Technology was to make the drive-in outdated and passee. The the rising price of real estate, especially in suburban areas, combined with the growing numbers of walk-in theaters and the rise of video rentals did in the drive-in industry. Today, fewer than 500 drive-in theaters survive in the United States.