You could say it all started in a driveway in Riverton, NJ. Richard M. Hollingshead Jr. is considered the father of the drive-in theatre. He worked the family business, Whiz Auto Products. Thinking of a way to draw more customers, he came up with an idea where people could watch a movie from the comfort of their own car, and hopefully for him purchase a few auto products . To try out his idea, he parked in the drive, placed a home movie projector on the hood and watched movies projected onto a homemade screen stretched between trees in his yard. A radio placed behind the screen provided sound. He recreated weather conditons by hanging a lawn sprinkler over the windsheld to see how rain would affect his view of the screen. He moved cars around to different spots, until he came up with a way to park them so no matter what car he sat in, the screen could still be seen. Somewhere along the way, the selling of auto products was dropped. Taking his ideas, he submitted them for a patent on Aug 6, 1932. On May 16, 1933 his patent was approved. Work on his new invention began and on June 6, 1933 the first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, NJ. The Automobile Movie Theater. More drive-ins were to follow in his footsteps The rest is history, his invention has been through many changes over the years.
The first drive-ins used loud speakers placed in front of the screen. Good for moviegoers, bad for neighbors! Eventually after trial and error with various designs the hanging car speaker came along. You now could hang a speaker on the window listen to the show and control the volume as well. Today car speakers are not seen that often, most drive-ins use radio sound. A signal is broadcasted over a small area and is picked up by your car or portable radio. The sound is great, but it's a real treat to find a drive-in that still has some of it's old speakers! The sound they put out adds to the experience.
Thankfully the idea of selling auto products never came to pass and we can go to the concession stand and purchase our favorite snacks instead of car polish! The concession business has seen it's share of changes also. Many ways have been tried to get patrons to purchase more then just the price of admission. Everything from, carts that would go around to each car selling food items to push buttons on speakers for car hop service. As drive-ins grew in popularity these methods did not prove very feasable. Drive-ins could not keep up with the demand for snacks in such a small amount of time. Not until the cafeteria style of service was tried, now the customers came to you, saving the time it took from going car to car. Large numbers of people could be served in just a matter of minutes. Just get in line, and move along picking out what you want. Burgers, Hot Dogs, Fries or a cold Chilly Dilly pickle. The list goes on and on! Pizza has always been a favorite. It has been said that pizza's popularity is due in large part to the drive-in theatre. Popcorn is probably the all time favorite, popcorn and a movie go hand in hand. Seems no matter what people bring to eat, they still wind up visiting the snack bar for hot buttered popcorn!
The drive-in has seen both boom and bust. Today, after nearly becoming extinct, the drive-in is enjoying a new popularity. Many are being reintroduced to what used to be common place. Others are experiencing it for the first time and are discovering the appeal the drive-in has to offer.
If you have never had the pleasure of visiting a drive-in, you are in for a real treat! It's not just a place to go and see a movie, it's where you go to experience a movie! |
