Southern Missouri's guide to entertainment, travel, and community

DRIVE-INS: ON THE OUTS?

by Bill Hendee

Take a drive just about anywhere, and you’ll eventually come across a familiar set of ruins. You’ll find an open field. Maybe it’s covered with overgrown turf. Possibly it was once paved, but now weeds spill through the cracks. Spread across the field will be dozens of short metal posts about three feet high, evenly spaced and set row upon row. You might find a lone building at one end of the field, long abandoned and in disrepair. At the other end stands a rectangular monument. It might look like a blank billboard or a free standing section of wall, white washed once upon a time but now weathered. These aren’t the remains of a lost civilization, but they are a reminder of a bygone era. Drive-in movie theaters were once a staple of summer entertainment. The story of their rise and fall parallels the fast paced changes of 20th century American life.

The drive-in movie theater was born in a New Jersey driveway in 1932 when an auto parts dealer named Richard Hollingshead set out to combine his interest in

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movies and cars. Hollingshead envisioned an open air theater where patrons could enjoy movies without having to leave their vehicles. He designed his outdoor theater with meticulous care, experimenting with the spacing of vehicles for optimum viewing and sound quality and even testing his arrangements in a variety of weather conditions. The RCA Victor company designed a sound system for Hollingshead consisting of three speakers that could be mounted around the movie screen. The U.S. Patent Office issued a patent for the drive-in theater on May 16, 1933, and Hollingshead opened his first theater weeks later in Camden, New Jersey. Hollingshead charged patrons 25-cents per car and 25-cents per person for admission.

Drive-in movie theaters spread like wildfire across the country over the next several years. By 1942, ninety-five drive-ins had been built in twenty-seven states. Ohio boasted the most outdoor theaters at the time with eleven. The arrival of World War II and the necessities of rationing slowed the spread of drive-ins for a time. Only six additional theaters were built during the war. But the end of the war brought with it a resurgence of theater construction. The total number of drive-ins nationwide jumped from 102 to 155 in 1945 and had reached 820 by 1948. The Golden Age of the Drive-In Theater had begun.

Drive-ins reached their apex in the 1950s. Nearly 5,000 theaters had sprung up around the country by 1958. A greater number of indoor movie houses would close their doors during the same timeframe. This proliferation also brought changes to the design of drive-ins. Screen mounted speakers were replaced by individual car mounted speakers at most theaters. Others broadcast soundtracks over AM and later FM radio frequencies that could be picked up on a car radio. The outdoor theaters began to throw additional amenities and amusements into the mix. Snack bars, playgrounds, pony and boat rides, and even miniature golf courses became some of the common features at many drive-in theaters. These expanded attractions turned drive-ins into family destinations and contributed greatly to their popularity.

Individual drive-in theaters grew larger as well, some with space for as many as 3,000 vehicles. While Hollingshead’s Camden Drive-In could accommodate 500 vehicles, it was small compared to the All-Weather Drive-In in Copiague, New York. This 28-acre theater featured space for 2,500 cars, indoor seats for an additional 1,200 patrons, and a shuttle train to transport guests from their cars to the facility’s full service restaurant and kid’s playground. Ed Brown’s Drive-In and Fly-In of Asbury Park, New Jersey provided yet another variation on the theme. Brown’s complex added an airstrip adjacent to the 500 car parking lot and space along the back row for 25 small airplanes.

Just as the Baby Boom and post-war prosperity fueled the growth and spread of drive-in theaters, changing demographics and economic stagnation would drive their decline during the 1970s. As Baby Boomers aged, demand for the family friendly entertainment of the ‘50s and ‘60s diminished. The number of drive-in movie theaters around the country fell to 3,500 by 1980 and to less than a thousand by 1990. This decline was also helped along by changes in the marketing of movies. Single screen movie houses were being replaced by the ubiquitous multiplex. The rise of cable television and VCRs during the ‘80s dealt the final, fatal blow to drive-in theaters, by bringing viewers the most convenient viewing experience imaginable—their own living rooms.

Though down, the drive-in theater was hardly out of the picture completely. Since 1990, the number of drive-ins has leveled off, and theaters have seen a resurgence in some areas. Nostalgia and niche marketing have led to the renovation and reopening of many abandoned complexes. Drive-ins have also continued to adapt with the times. One multiplex style drive-in in Florida features thirteen screens. Others average four screens. While most still carry first run movies, many drive-in theaters screen older films as well, in order to recreate the experience of the Golden Age of Drive-In Movies. About 900 drive-in theaters operate across the country today. Interest in drive-in movies has also spread abroad, with theaters appearing in countries like Canada, Australia, Spain, and even Russia.

More than a dozen drive-ins continue to show movies in Missouri. In 1954, there were nearly ten times as many spread across the state. Several theaters still exist in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, but most are spread across the Missouri Ozarks. Only one theater, the 66 Drive-In in Carthage, remains open on historic Route 66 in Missouri. The 66 Drive-In reopened in 1998 after spending many years as an auto salvage yard. Its resurrection is a reflection of renewed interest in both the drive-in experience and America’s historic “mother road.”

While it’s true that most of America’s drive-ins have become roadside relics or shopping plazas, the appeal of the outdoor movie theater hasn’t died out completely. Take a drive some warm, summer night, and chances are that you’ll find a drive-in theater not far from you.