Drive-In Movie Theaters - Life in America

[Music] on june 6 1933 people parked their cars on the grounds of parking theaters the first ever drive-in movie theater located in camden new jersey the cost of a movie was just 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person with no group paying more than one dollar the first movie that premiered at the park inn was a british comedy called wives beware parkin theaters was the brainchild of richard hollingshead a sales manager at his father's auto parts company inspired by his mother's struggle to comfortably sit in the wooden movie theater seats he came up with the idea of an open air theater where people could watch movies in the comfort of their own cars hollingshead began experimenting with showing movies in the driveway of his home he experimented with different projection and sound techniques mounting a kodak projector on the hood of his car pinning a screen to some trees and placing a radio behind the screen for sound he tried several setup variations before he found what he thought was the right configuration of projector screen sound and spacing between cars he then applied for and was granted a patent for a drive-in theater in may 1933 shortly after in june of 1933 he opened his first drive-in called park inn theaters his slogan for his drive-in theater was the whole family is welcome regardless of how noisy the children are [Music] hollingshead never made much of a profit with his drive-in and sold it several years later to a new owner who moved it to another location regardless of his failure to make a profit the concept of the drive-in theater had caught on and expanded rapidly the second drive-in to open was shankweilers started a year later in orfields pennsylvania this drive-in is actually still open today and is the oldest operating drive-in theater in the world [Music] [Music] by 1940 there were over 20 drive-ins that had opened across the united states eventually hollingshead's patent was ruled invalid in 1950 and therefore anyone could open a drive-in theater without having to pay royalties to hollingshead for his patent [Music] drive-in theaters weren't just for cars in 1948 the first fly-in drive-in theater was created in new jersey the outdoor theater had room for 25 airplanes and 500 cars airplanes landed in an airfield next to the new jersey fly-in drive-in and would taxi over to a viewing spot in the back row drive-in theater numbers exploded and peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s during this time which is considered the golden age of drive-ins there were over 4 000 driving theaters across the united states they maintained popularity as both a space for families to spend time with each other as well as an affordable date night option drive-ins offered much more flexibility than indoor theaters and that was appealing to families [Music] for sound portable speakers were provided to moviegoers attendees would simply park next to a speaker stand and clip one onto the inside of their car window [Music] the smallest drive-ins had spots for fewer than 50 cars while the all-weather drive-in in long island new york could accommodate 2500 cars it featured a full-service restaurant a playground and a shuttle to carry patrons around the huge lot [Music] the golden age only lasted a couple decades and in the 1970s the number of drive-ins began to decline rapidly for a number of reasons 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 curbed the growth of the drive-in industry indoor theaters were also more flexible about scheduling and could show one film five or six times a day instead of only at night drive-ins were an icon of american culture and a typical weekend destination even though drive-ins are not nearly as popular as they used to be there are still drive-ins in business throughout the country [Music] modern drive-ins vary but many show current films as well as older classics a lot of them also plan double features and special event themes like horror movies or past summer [Music] blockbusters [Music] although times have changed since the first drive-in movie theater was opened the feeling you get watching a movie under the stars is still as magical and affordable as ever if of course you have a drive-in theater close by you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 197,316

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, movie, drive-in, theatre, theater, drive-in theatre, drive-in theater, fly-in, park-in, movies, double feature

Id: 9U5W2W-PfFg

Length: 8min 9sec (489 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/LaChanz]

We still have one in our area. It's a fun time. Always a double feature for 10 bucks.

[u/Jedibri81]

There’s one still in my hometown. I love the double features

[u/Irishjohn831]

My parents took us to a double feature, blazing saddles and airplane, one other time I remember seeing a movie called The Deep

[u/Zoroaster9000]

I saw Ernest Goes to Camp at a drive-in.