All American
by Cheri Randolph
Title
All American
Artist
Cheri Randolph
Medium
Photograph
Description
In Carthage, Missouri along Historic Route 66, I discovered a vintage Drive-In Movie theater. Shown is the mid-century glass block and polished steel ticket booth, proudly displaying the American flag.
Park-In Theaters--the term "drive-in" came to be widely used only later--was the brainchild of Richard Hollingshead, a movie fan and a sales manager at his father's company, Whiz Auto Products, in Camden, New Jersey. Reportedly inspired by his mother's struggle to sit comfortably in traditional movie theater seats, Hollingshead came up with the idea of an open-air theater where patrons watched movies in the comfort of their own automobiles. He then 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. He also tested ways to guard against rain and other inclement weather, and devised the ideal spacing arrangement for a number of cars so that all would have a view of the screen.
The young entrepreneur received a patent for the concept in May of 1933 and opened Park-In Theaters, Inc. less than a month later, with an initial investment of $30,000. Advertising it as entertainment for the whole family, Hollingshead charged 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person, with no group paying more than one dollar. The idea caught on, and after Hollingshead's patent was overturned in 1949, drive-in theaters began popping up all over the country. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-In of Copiague, New York, which featured parking space for 2,500 cars, a kid's playground and a full service restaurant, all on a 28-acre lot.
Drive-in theaters showed mostly B-movies--that is, not Hollywood's finest fare--but some theaters featured the same movies that played in regular theaters. The initially poor sound quality--Hollingshead had mounted three speakers manufactured by RCA Victor near the screen--improved, and later technology made it possible for each car's to play the movie's soundtrack through its FM radio. The popularity of the drive-in spiked after World War II and reached its heyday in the late 1950s to mid-60s, with some 5,000 theaters across the country. Drive-ins became an icon of American culture, and a typical weekend destination not just for parents and children but also for teenage couples seeking some privacy. Since then, however, 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 to curb the growth of the drive-in industry. Today, fewer than 500 drive-in theaters survive in the United States.
Uploaded
September 27th, 2012
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Viewed 198 Times - Last Visitor from Wilmington, DE on 03/15/2024 at 11:53 AM
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Comments (23)
Cheri Randolph
Cheryl, Your comments are such a nice compliment to this photograph, and I thank you for sharing them. The "drive-in" was a large part of my growing up years, and was a way for my family to attend the movies at low cost. This discovery brought back memories for me and I posted it in the hope that others would enjoy it for that reason. Thanks for commenting and supporting this one!
Cheryl Hardt
Ah, the Drive In....both as a child and as a teenager. Actually there was still a drive in next to us in our early 20s...on the weekends they had a flea market during the day. I never went to the movies, but I went to the flea market plenty of times. Believe it or not, they built a CINEMA on top of it!!! Now there is only one drive in left in all of Atlanta I believe -- never been there either though. I guess I'm past that. Thanks for the memories thought. V/f!
Marcia Weller-Wenbert
Love this shot - the memories of attending movies with my family at the local drive-in and the gorgeous flying flag. Gorgeous shot. visiting from USA Artist News, v
Joan Carroll
what an interesting place! we went to drive ins when i was a kid, summer only of course. V
Cheri Randolph
Eric, thanks for your nice comment. It is very much a part of mid-century America. Thanks for the v/f!