Drive in Movies

[drcoastline]

The eight American iconic restaurant chains that went out of business thread got me thinking of other pieces of Americana that are going away.

One of which is the drive in movie. The last drive in in New jersey is the Delsea located in Vineland, NJ. It's barely hanging on.

[cabmandone]

We have one that has actually grown and added screens. We used to have two locally but several years ago a tornado put an end to one.

[sammyg2]

I spent the summer of '79 working at the stadium drive-in down the street from Anaheim stadium. It's been gone a long time now.

I'd get up early and go surfing and make it to work by 10, re-set all the poles that were knocked down and replace the speakers that were ripped out, and be home by 3.
And they were paying me $2.35 an hour to do it!
Good times.

[vash]

there is one in Concord CA. still fairly busy. i couldnt imagine the shenanigans going on in those dark foggy cars.

when we were in HS, we got a big piece of construction plastic and lined a buddies duallie. we filled the back with water and sat in back on lawn chairs. we actually pulled a lot of the girls. we dumped the water there, and it was an effen mess.

[freeform911]

We have one here in Beaufort, SC. My wife and kid love going. Two movies for the price of one and the foods not bad. Cheap Saturday night.
Steve

[GH85Carrera]

Geezer voice start:

Back in the days when I was a kid our house was not air conditioned. We could load up in the car and we could watch a movie fairly cheap.

End geezer voice:

The real issue with most drive in-in movies is the car can be hot in the summer time. It often does not cool down below 90 until well after midnight in the middle of summer.

We still have a few of them around. I have not been to one in over 40 years so maybe they are better now.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Geezer voice start:

Back in the days when I was a kid our house was not air conditioned. We could load up in the car and we could watch a movie fairly cheap.

End geezer voice:

The real issue with most drive in-in movies is the car can be hot in the summer time. It often does not cool down below 90 until well after midnight in the middle of summer.

We still have a few of them around. I have not been to one in over 40 years so maybe they are better now.

Good to hear some drive in's are still going strong.

GH- Automotive A/C has come a long way in forty years. Plus last time I went the sound came through the radio not the speaker hanging in the window.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Geezer voice start:

Back in the days when I was a kid our house was not air conditioned. We could load up in the car and we could watch a movie fairly cheap.

End geezer voice:

The real issue with most drive in-in movies is the car can be hot in the summer time. It often does not cool down below 90 until well after midnight in the middle of summer.

We still have a few of them around. I have not been to one in over 40 years so maybe they are better now.

Today they're all fancy and high fallutin and broadcast over the car radio rather than putting the speaker in the window. If you have a really good stereo system in your car you get the movie theater effect without sitting elbow to elbow

I think the Van-Del drive in has 4 screens. One large screen and 3 smaller screens. Great place to spend a night under the stars watching a movie. They do a Dusk to Dawn but I have never went to that.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I'd get up early and go surfing and make it to work by 10, re-set all the poles that were knocked down and replace the speakers that were ripped out, and be home by 3.
And they were paying me $2.35 an hour to do it!
Good times.

$2.35 and hour!!! No wonder you are one of those snooty Porsche owners!!

Grew up just down the street from the Roadium, don't think they show movies anymore but make all there money having a weekend swap meet.

Had a couple near San Pedro but property values drove the out (pardon the pun).

Ironically I saw an article this morning about drive-ins making a comeback... not sure with theaters getting bigger better and more comfortable if drive-ins could compete... lets be honest here, how many of us went to the drive in to watch a movie.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]
Ironically I saw an article this morning about drive-ins making a comeback... not sure with theaters getting bigger better and more comfortable if drive-ins could compete... lets be honest here, how many of us went to the drive in to watch a movie.

That's the same reason why they are popular today!
There was one near where I grew up. Not many cars there...just vans and station wagons.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

$2.35 and hour!!! No wonder you are one of those snooty Porsche owners!!

Grew up just down the street from the Roadium, don't think they show movies anymore but make all there money having a weekend swap meet.

Had a couple near San Pedro but property values drove the out (pardon the pun).

Ironically I saw an article this morning about drive-ins making a comeback... not sure with theaters getting bigger better and more comfortable if drive-ins could compete... lets be honest here, how many of us went to the drive in to watch a movie.

If property wasn't so expensive I think drive ins could make a come back. I have said for years that there should be a restaurant as well. First floor snack bar second floor restaurant with Uge windows looking out at the screen. speakers at the table. Sort of dinner theater style. Could even be a bar with Large screen TV's. I think it would be a great date spot. Sit in your car or have a full sit down dinner with a movie.

There is a small old school theater in Stone Harbor ,NJ they bought the adjacent store and turned it into a café with full liquor license. You can have dinner prior to the movie or buy your hamburger, beer or drink and take it in to the theater with you.

[sammyg2]

When I was little my parents had a station wagon so we'd go to the drive in and by the time the movie was going my brothers and I were usually sleeping.

That was about the only quiet time they got

One of the problems with drive-in is light pollution. There's so much light in a city it washes out the movie.
Quality sux.
Iiffn a drive-in was out of town in the dark-dark away from all the city lights it would be a whole lot better.
But then the boogy-man would get us.

i was prolly 13 or 14 when a friend of mine and I rode our bikes down the santa ana river trail to sneak into the drive-in.
We made the mistake of watching the Texas chain-saw massacre and afterwards we rode home on that dark trail really fast!

[ckelly78z]

We still have one about 20 miles away that we still occasionally go to. Before the kids grew up, we used to go about every Saturday night, and stay for both features (well after midnight). We would smuggle a pizza, chips, and pop in, and turn our truck around so we could sit in lawn chairs in the bed.....good times.

BTW, this drive-in is still out in the middle of no where, with no light pollution, damned dark before the second feature started.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

BTW, this drive-in is still out in the middle of no where, with no light pollution, damned dark before the second feature started.

[asphaltgambler]

There is 1 still in operation @1 hour west of me, Middletown, Va....

[Baz]

Back in the 60's we lived right next to the Virginia Beach Drive-In and that's where we saw The Duke in "The Green Berets" when it first came out.

Moved to Florida in 1970 just in time for the Eastwood spaghetti westerns, which we saw at the drive-in in Edgewater....which went by the wayside years ago, sadly.

Then there's the old drive-in in Daytona Beach that was turned into a church.....you drive in hook up the speaker and get a service...(don't have to put on your Sunday-go-to-meeting duds!)

As far as the conversion going from the old speaker you hooked onto your window to a radio transmission.....IMHO it takes away some of the vintage aspect of the whole experience, doesn't it?

Man am I glad I'm a baby boomer - we had the good stuff back in the day!

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

If property wasn't so expensive I think drive ins could make a come back. I have said for years that there should be a restaurant as well. First floor snack bar second floor restaurant with Uge windows looking out at the screen. speakers at the table. Sort of dinner theater style. Could even be a bar with Large screen TV's. I think it would be a great date spot. Sit in your car or have a full sit down dinner with a movie.

There is a small old school theater in Stone Harbor ,NJ they bought the adjacent store and turned it into a café with full liquor license. You can have dinner prior to the movie or buy your hamburger, beer or drink and take it in to the theater with you.

That is a brilliant idea!

Fortunatly many of the old art deco theaters around here are being refurbed.

[legion]

There's a big, two screen drive-in between here and Champaign. It was on American Pickers a year or so ago. They have a snack bar, a grill, an a merry go round. We go out there for kids movies as the kids can watch, sleep, or run around without bothering others. We sit in lawn chairs and use a portable radio.

Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in Movie Theatre in Gibson City, Il

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by Baz

As far as the conversion going from the old speaker you hooked onto your window to a radio transmission.....IMHO it takes away some of the vintage aspect of the whole experience, doesn't it?

Man am I glad I'm a baby boomer - we had the good stuff back in the day!

The speakers at the Drive-ins here in MI, had an electric heater w/fan built in!
Sound quality was terrible.

[Tobra]

I think Sacramento Six is still open.

Owned by the Syufy chain for a long time. When I worked at Century Theater, we sometimes ran stuff back and forth from the drive in off Bradshaw to the theater near Cal Expo in a pickup truck