Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Vanishing America: The Drive-In Theater
It's one of the icons of American civilization, combining Hollywood with car culture. The drive-in movie theater was once a mainstay of every American city, and plenty of small rural towns too. In the 1950s there were more than 4,000 of them. They were a place for families to enjoy a night out together, and for teenagers to be initiated into the games of adulthood.
Now the drive-in theater has fallen on hard times. According to The United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association, there are currently only 366 drive-ins in the United States with a total of 606 screens. The states with the most theaters are Pennsylvania (33) and Ohio (31). Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii and Louisiana sadly have no drive-ins. Many other states are in a precarious position with only one or two.
Competition from cable TV and movie rentals along with rising real estate costs have seriously hurt the drive-in theater industry, yet it clings to life. It's gone from that great American hero – the success story – to that other great American hero – the underdog.
The first drive-in opened in New Jersey in 1933 and the idea soon caught on. Their heyday came in the economic boom years of the 1950s and '60s. They began to feel the pinch in the 1970s with the spread of more TV channels. With VCRs and cable TV becoming popular in the late 1970s and early '80s, things got even worse.
Gallery: Drive-in Movie Theaters
Now most drive-ins are gone. Others have remained as spooky abandoned lots that offer the photographers in this article's gallery the chance to lend atmosphere to their images. Visiting a dead drive-in theater is a bit like visiting a ghost town. It leaves you wondering about the people who used to spend time there.
Unlike with ghost towns, many of us can remember being one of those people. I remember going to the DeAnza Drive-in in Tucson, Arizona. My friend and I used to put a futon on top of her VW van and watch movies under the Arizona starlight. The DeAnza is gone now, and all that's left is a webpage of memories.
But don't despair, movie fans, there's hope. The remaining drive-ins are keeping the flame lit. There are places like Hollywood Drive-in, which has been showing movies on Route 66 near Troy, New York, since 1952. New technologies like video projection are making it easier to open up drive-ins in any location where there's a blank wall or the space for a screen. My favorite indie cinema, Ragtag Cinema in Columbia, Missouri, has done some outdoor shows in a nearby parking lot. Check out the photo gallery to see a cool Belgian drive-in using an inflatable screen.
As the great Joe Bob Briggs always says, "The drive-in will never die!"
(Clarification: The Hollywood Drive-in is on New York State Route 66, not the more famous Route 66. Plenty of businesses in New York like to play off the Route 66 designation, though, and why not? Retro entertainment is more important than nitpicking!)
Unlike with ghost towns, many of us can remember being one of those people. I remember going to the DeAnza Drive-in in Tucson, Arizona. My friend and I used to put a futon on top of her VW van and watch movies under the Arizona starlight. The DeAnza is gone now, and all that's left is a webpage of memories.
But don't despair, movie fans, there's hope. The remaining drive-ins are keeping the flame lit. There are places like Hollywood Drive-in, which has been showing movies on Route 66 near Troy, New York, since 1952. New technologies like video projection are making it easier to open up drive-ins in any location where there's a blank wall or the space for a screen. My favorite indie cinema, Ragtag Cinema in Columbia, Missouri, has done some outdoor shows in a nearby parking lot. Check out the photo gallery to see a cool Belgian drive-in using an inflatable screen.
As the great Joe Bob Briggs always says, "The drive-in will never die!"
(Clarification: The Hollywood Drive-in is on New York State Route 66, not the more famous Route 66. Plenty of businesses in New York like to play off the Route 66 designation, though, and why not? Retro entertainment is more important than nitpicking!)
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 22)
Ed Jun 4th 2012 6:53AM
Oh the good old days of the Drive-In Movie. I wonder how many babies were conceived in the back seats of those big old gas guzzlers.
Ttrexxx Jun 4th 2012 8:38AM
Better question is that butter on my popcorn or you just glad to see me lol
ron Jun 4th 2012 10:27AM
There is a drive-in theatre in Massachusetts ... I believe it's in Plainville, or No. Attleboro.
nellie evans Jun 4th 2012 11:10AM
I know of one,she is 55 years old this year,lol
Bee Jun 4th 2012 11:06AM
Why do you keep saying that?
Nellie Evans Jun 4th 2012 11:09AM
I know one,she is 55 years old now--lol
Lloyd Stein Jun 4th 2012 12:13PM
Hey, everyone is forgetting the REAL reason that drive-ins have died: It was the invention of bucket seats! Think about it.
George Sucich Jun 4th 2012 1:05PM
The Drive-Inn was indeed a place of love, warmth and conception. A Drive In manager once related that his employee ran a cartoon backwards and no one complained.
Art @ SML Jun 4th 2012 2:14PM
Yeah, but gas was 19.9 a gallon, and a dollars worth would
last all week in my 51Chevy.
Doggs in the Hood Jun 4th 2012 3:04PM
Hey Ron! There is one in Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod as well.
Savz Jun 4th 2012 4:25PM
There's on in Shelton, WA.
Dominique Jun 4th 2012 5:45PM
There is one in Leicester, Mass.
love child Jun 4th 2012 6:28PM
that was my family time and then when i got older ......i didn't have to ask my mom way is the windows on that car fog up and r's isn't lol ..........................
JB Jun 4th 2012 7:50PM
Not as many as the milkman who use to deliver milk to homes after the husband went to work. Who's your daddy?
Ron Ford Jun 4th 2012 6:20AM
One thing most do not take in consideration is the Daylight Saving time
With Daylight Saving time the shows are so late getting on it is to late
for Teenagers and Families with small Children to be up.
I think that this is more reason for the decline in drive in Movies than
Cable TV.
Paula Jun 4th 2012 8:18AM
Daylight savings time has nothing to do with it. If it did, people would have stopped going to drive-ins a long time ago. We used to go when I was a kid and when it got late, my mom put me to sleep in the back seat, just like a lot of parents did and still do. With cable TV and DVD's, people would rather stay home.
Erica Jun 4th 2012 8:50AM
I agree with Ron. I live in Indiana, and we have not always followed DST. We started a couple of years ago and though I have many times wanted to take my kids to the drive-in, the movies have to start too late because the sun doesn't set until past 9. My kids wouldn't make it 15 minutes into a movie starting at 10 pm.
Mark Jun 4th 2012 8:56AM
You are absolutely correct about the effect that Daylight Savings Time had on the Drive-In movie business. The industry in Michigan suffered a 35%-50% reduction in business the very first year that DST was introduced.
Todd Jun 4th 2012 9:26AM
This comment is hilarious! lmfao! Sorry to say that most Drive-in Operators schedule by time, so if it is suppose to start at 10 and tomorrow the daylight savings kicks in....They are gonna start the show at 10 regardless.
Monseiur Know it all Jun 4th 2012 12:52PM
It has nothing to do with Video players or more channels, movie theater attendance is up year after year. It has a lot more to do with profits, novelty, new theatre technology, real estate values, and social changes. The 50's was the first era where almost every family had one car and families were looking for something to do together. Families do way less together these days. Remember when stadium seating killed flat seating theatres, same deal, inovation, we want the latest and greatest. In the same space theatres can get 5 showings a day against one, economics 101.