Across the Nation

In the 1920’s, Richard Hollingshead, of Camden, New Jersey was sales manager at his father’s auto parts business. Bored, he let his imagination wander to a place where people could go to the movies without dressing up, sans the parking problems of most downtown theaters of that day and at a price that would be affordable for the entire family.

Soon, his imagination became serious thought and in 1928, Hollingshead began experimenting with an old Kodak projector placed on the hood of his car and a sheet tacked between two trees. He placed a radio behind the sheet for sound and even simulated differing weather conditions and their effect on the show.

In 1932, Hollingshead took his idea to the U.S. Patent office and on May 16, 1933, he was granted Patent #1,909,537. The moment the patent was issued, the work began. With three investors on his side, Hollingshead began construction of the first drive-in movie theater on May 19, 1933. The project took three weeks and cost about $30,000 and on June 6, 1933 the first drive-in theater in the world opened in Camden, New Jersey. Admission was twenty-five cents for the car and twenty-five cents for each person up to a total of $1. No car would pay more than one dollar. These were, after all, the darkest days of the Great Depression.

Sound at that first drive-in was a major obstacle. Hollingshead contacted an acquaintance at the RCA Victor company and soon received the first drive-in sound system. It consisted of three large speakers mounted near the screen. The speakers provided enough sound for every car, as well as for the farmers, homes and business within a three block radius. Besides the volume, one other problem persisted. Light travels faster than sound, so those at the rear of the theater heard the sound after they had seen the images on the screen. It must have been similar to those Japanese language films dubbed in English. Their lips moved and a few seconds later, you would hear the dialog. In the years to come, there was development of the traditional ‘pole’ type speaker that allowed everyone to hear the dialog at the same time and finally transitioned to the FM radio sound of the last few years.

The drive-in theater concept didn’t take long to sweep the nation. By the early 1940’s, there were several hundred across the U.S. and by 1958, nearly five thousand. The sixties started the decline and by 1967 the number had fallen to about 3,000 and in 1987 dropped under one thousand. Though the closing of drive-ins had slowed in the 1990’s, by the turn of the 21st century there were fewer than 800 left. That number continues to dwindle.

Colorado

Denver drive-ins like the North, South, East and West, along with the Lake Shore, North Star, 88 and the Cinderella Twin, were once mainstays in entertainment. Dozens of others were scattered across the state of Colorado. Today, fewer than ten still remain. Making room for condos, parking lots and commercial buildings, as the value of land increased, the death knell for drive-ins could be heard throughout Colorado and the United States.

In 1948, there were 9 drive-ins in Colorado. That number peaked in 1958 at more than sixty. With the beginning of the 1960’s, the decline slowly became noticable. 1967 – 50; 1972 – 44; 1982 – 38 and in 1998 there were 13 operating drive-ins in Colorado.

Drive-ins and fogged windows

Along with the family atmosphere, drive-ins quickly became popular with the teen crowd as well. The 50’s group The Reflections said it best in their hit song, “Findin’ a job tomorrow mornin’, Got a little somethin’ I wanna do, Gonna buy somethin’ I could ride in, Take my girl (take my girl) datin’ at the drive-in
Our love’s gonna be written down in history, Just like Romeo and Juliet”

Yes, that’s right, drive-ins elbowed out the lover’s lanes for that special spot with one’s sweetheart du jour. Many a car, parked at the drive-in, had windows so fogged up from the make-out session inside that it was clear that the movie was not what was important.

As the 60’s ushered in the ‘sexual revolution’ and kids became more ‘liberated’, drive-ins would hire security people to prowl the grounds and shine a flashlight beam into any car with fogged windows! Ooo-la-la…

Comedies, dramas, even horror flicks, get ‘em all at the drive-in!

Amenities

In an effort to attract business, drive-ins developed a myriad of ‘in-car’ amenities. Especially popular in less temperate parts of the country was the protable heater, so you did not have to run your car engine during the show.

FOOD!

Another amenity was food. Today we would refer to it as junk food, but in the drive-in hey-day, nothing tasted better than a hot dog, pizza or popcorn, along with an ice cold Coca-Cola, eaten right in your car.

Swings!

Long before the sunset and the movies began, cars would arrive to get that perfect parking space at the drive-in. Once parked, kids in pajamas would run to the swingsets. The only thing that drew them back to their parents car was the first cartoon that preceded every film!

The End

In the 1960’s the value of land began to rise significantly. It became fiscally irresponsible for drive-ins to sit on numerous acres of valuable property and barely make a profit. Rather than immediately succumb to the times, many drive-in owners tried creative methods to make their property profitable.

As you see in the photos below, some began to rent out their theaters for Sunday morning church services. Others opened flea markets and swap meets during the daytime hours.

In the end, for most it simply was not enough. The value of the land successfully tempted most drive-in owners to sell out to the developers. The few drive-in theaters that remain are all prime targets and it is just a matter of time before these national landmarks, like the Model A, Coca-Cola in glass bottles and pet rocks forever fade into the landscape of American history.