I have fond memories of going to the drive-in when I was a child. There was a drive-in less than ten minutes from my house. In my teens, friends would pile into the car and we'd go during the week for $6.00 a carload!
"The drive-in theater is a New Jersey invention, created and launched in Camden in 1933. Entrepreneur Richard M. Hollingshead Jr. sought a new venture that would succeed financially despite the country’s Depression. He speculated that, even when in financial straits, families still drove their cars and still went to the movies. Hollingshead combined the two activities, hatching a concept that would change America’s landscape.
Over the next decade, hundreds of drive-ins sprung up across the United States. By the 1950s, there were more than 4,600 outdoor theaters in the nation. The average theater held about 1,000 cars; one of the largest – the Newark Drive-In – boasted accommodations for up to 2,400 vehicles. Many outdoor theaters mirrored the simplicity of Hollingshead’s original design – a large white screen with enormous speakers scattered around the fan-shaped lot – while others improved upon the concept by adding speakers that hung from the car windows, in-car heating units, concession stands, kiddie rides, motor vehicle inspection stations, lotteries, AM radio broadcasting and more, making the drive-in experience an all-out warm weather event.
Since each theater was independently run – that is, not under the control of the Hollywood studio system – drive-ins were considered pesky, second-rate establishments by the large studios. To discourage patron-stealing ticket sales, the studios limited which releases would be licensed to drive-ins, and usually offered only second-run features, B-grade movies and low-budget westerns. Even with those restrictions, drive-ins flourished, with families arriving, literally, by the carload. The packed parking lots proved the drive-in was not so much about which film was playing – it was about having a family night out that was fun, social and informal.
At the height of the drive-in’s reign, this outdoor-movie experience could be found at five locations in Bergen. By the early 1980s, Bergen’s drive-ins had suffered a decade-long decline in popularity – a fate made worse by rising property taxes and the advent of cable television and home video. By 1984, the flicker was gone, and Bergen’s drive-ins were all just a memory." >
https://www.northjersey.com/story/e...ergens-long-gone-drive-in-theaters/348467001/
Drive-Ins throughout the United States > https://www.driveinmovie.com/united-states
Bella
