Lauren Klein

When looking back at the history of the drive-in movie theater it provokes memories of a pastime that, unfortunately, our generation never got to experience. The engine of the car that drove to the drive-in has sadly lost its rev as the recreational activity seems to have run out of gas. Even though the drive-in movie theater seems to have become obsolete, the memory of the drive-in movie is still as real as the over-priced food they sell at the movie theaters. The question that needs to be asked is where did our drive-in movie go? Did it disappear to leave us with a lasting memory of what used to be? Or did the ending credits roll for the final time because it was an activity that lost its appeal? It is hard to accept the latter could be true when, even today, the drive-in movie is still prominent in the minds of the current generation. It has been seventy-five years since the first drive-in movie theater was invented and over twenty since they started to fade out. Regardless, the lasting memory of them is still ingrained in American culture. Anyone, old or young, that turns on the introductory theme song to classic 1960s cartoon, The Flintstones, sees them all attending the drive-in movie theater on a Saturday night. How ironic it is that in the 1960s, at the time of the Flintstones, the drive-in was promoted as such a modern activity and now, along with The Flintstones, it too has become stone-aged. The drive-In movie theater is a venue that the current generation has not been able to experience, unlike the previous two generations, although it is still a concept that exists in today’s society. Even today we are still subject to movies that feature the drive-in movie theater as a pivotal epicenter for the action.

It was in the 1978 movie ‘Grease’ where the ‘cool’ hangout for those Rydell High students was to go on a Saturday night to the Drive-in. This was the perfect place for the high school kids to go and ‘make-out’ in their car, where Danny famously tried to make his first move on Sandy and where we learned Rizzo was pregnant. Grease is such an iconic creation of Americana that successfully exhibited all the fundamental parts of American culture. This only makes harder to comprehend why the drive-in has been taken off the map. The drive-in is still present in the blockbuster creations that we see today. It was at the drive-in where we first learned that Matthew McConaughey loved Jennifer Lopez in the "Wedding Planner."

This year, 2007, it is the 75^th anniversary of the drive-in movie theater. While it would be worthwhile to celebrate this milestone, it also feels slightly hypocritical to celebrate something which our society has allowed to be diminished and replaced with big multiplex cinemas. It’s hard to understand how such a staple of American culture was allowed to just disappear into the wilderness. It seems to be gone and relatively forgotten with as few as 500 still in existence in America today – a far cry from their peak in the 50s and early 60s when there were thousands. The burning question is why has such a pioneering pastime been eliminated from our culture and where have all the drive-in movie theatres gone? The history of the drive-in movie theater might shed some light upon why it has not stood the test of time.

The drive-in movies that are still in existence today have come a long way since the first. The concept of the drive-in movie theater begun with a man named Richard Hollingshead Jr., who had a love for both cars and movies, tried to find a job that could connect his two passions. Unsuccessful in finding one, he began inventing the early stages of what we now call the Drive-in Movie Theater. Richard M. Hollingshead worked out the details by hanging a sheet for a screen in his backyard. He began to experiment in the driveway of his home in New Jersey by mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and using it to project the footage onto a screen he had nailed to trees in his backyard. He then placed a radio behind the screen for sound and then proceeded to test of his idea. He then tested the sound with the windows up, down and then half way. He also experimented in many weather conditions one of which was using his lawn sprinkler to emulate a rainstorm. With the results of these preliminary tests, Hollingshead knew he had something remarkable on his hands. It was through hard work and persistence, the characteristically American traits, that one man and his simple vision created the most iconic American innovation. It is rather impressive that from a simple vision, one man, in the characteristically American manner, through hard work and persistence, created one of the most iconic American creations-the drive-in movie theater.

By 1958 there were 5,000 drive-ins across the U.S. with the largest one holding an astounding 3,000 cars in Michigan. The drive-ins appeal began during the baby boom generation with young couples with children looking for something to do. The drive in proved to be an appealing alternative to the classic movie theater. However, what made the drive- in so successful was that people weren’t going predominantly for the movie but also for the cultural experience. Going to the drive-in became an experience unlike any other that lasted longer than the seventy five minute movie. It became almost like a fair with pony rides, animal shows, and miniature trains all making for an unforgettable experience. The first drive-in came at a price of only twenty five cents which also proved to be an economical solution to boredom. It is amazing how in the present day we resolve to seek our entertainment at a cost of twenty-five dollars to the cable company each month, which comes out to a cost of about eighty one cents a day. When considering the rate of inflation it is still a bargain but the social culture has been lost.

To the previous generations who were fortunate enough to experience the hay day of the drive-in movie theater the reasoning behind their near extinction must be rather bewildering. It is also a loss for the current generation who can only look at the fun and enjoyment that prevailed at the drive-in movies as a depiction in movies or books because the original experience is hard to come by. When discussing the fate of the drive in movie business with Frank Huttinger, the film buyer for seven of the last remaining drive-in movie theaters, I was quite surprised at his prognosis. He explained that the number of people attending the drive-ins has been consistently increasing over the years but that it was quite unlikely that anymore are going to be built. One of the several reasons for this was due to the increasing cost of land in big cities. He estimated that it would cost about five million dollars for the amount of land that would be needed. On top of that he explained that it would cost about another half a million dollars in equipment plus all the operating fees. "If you do the math, it just doesn’t make sense." If you charge people seven dollars to get in, it would be years before you would be making any money. The only other option is to create drive in’s further away from the big cities but then the problem of convenience begins to play a role and how many people are going to drive an hour and a half to get to a dive in when they can drive five minutes to a theatre. There isn’t enough nostalgia to get a mother with four children to make that drive often enough to make it make sense financially.

Like everything today many independently- run businesses have been put out of production and have been replaced with multi-million dollar corporations and conglomerates. Unfortunately the drive-in movie business is no exception. Today drive-in movie theaters have been replaced by multiplex cinema complexes most of which are large nationwide corporations who bring consumers the best in comfort, design, amenities and convenience – but the expense isn’t merely the overpriced movie ticket and confectionary; it is at the expense of the drive-in movie theater. Some might say that this was inevitable due to the advances in technology and social conditioning with regards to our modern-day culture but the notion of the drive-in still seems very present in our lives. The drive-in movie theaters might be near-obsolete but the concept of the drive-in is far from extinct.

As found in the book ‘Fast Food Nation’ the drive-in craze was taken on through a range of different venues, for example in the 1950’s Robert Schuller founded the nation’s first drive-in church, preaching on Sunday mornings at a drive-in movie theater, spreading the gospel through the little speakers at each parking space, attracting large crowds with the slogan ‘Worship as you are…in the family car". The idea of partaking in an activity in a private space with your family was upholding the idea of bonding thus carrying on the morale of the family unit. The notion of the drive-in has stood the test of time with drive-in fast food restaurants, churches, banks, pharmacies, liquor stores, coffee shops and even drive-through marriages in Las Vegas! The nature of the drive-in doesn’t seem to be dwindling one bit but expanding rapidly which begs the question, why is it that the drive-in movie theater didn’t survive?

By the 1940s the drive-in movie theater was found in 27 states but the drive-in reached its peak in the 1950s and 1960s which was around the time many baby boomers began to drive and used the drive-in as the perfect date venue. Today, the baby boomers reminiscence for the drive-in theater is creating a demand for a nationwide resurgence across America. For example, Jim Koop, who reopened the Raleigh Road drive-in theater in North Carolina bought his drive-in theater on eBay. He said in an interview with an NBC affiliate station, "Once you see a movie on the big screen underneath the stars with your family and your friend, you will never want to see a movie any other way." To baby boomers the drive-in movie theater is something which they hold dear and is not something they appear to want to readily abandon.

However, with all the appeal that the drive-ins were able to offer it’s hard to understand why they have seemed to all but disappear. Perhaps we should look to our parent’s and grandparent’s generation and place the blame on them for the demise of the drive-in movie theater! It’s their fault that we are now subjected to the sticky floors and fossilized chewing gum on the seats of a modern-day movie theater. Due to our grandparents having children at a much younger age this meant they were looking for family friendly activities; hence the popularity of the drive in. However, once our parents started getting older they weren’t going to the drive-in anymore but had found a more daring activity, by exchanging their movie ticket stubs for marijuana stubs, as they smoked and dazed their days away through Woodstock in the late 60s. This had a profound effect on their biological clocks as the timer wasn’t causing any alarm until much later than their parents had decided to procreate. This meant a new generation wasn’t being produced which meant there was an obvious disregard for the drive-in. Many of the drive-in owners describe this period as something that seemed like it happened overnight. Shockingly in the span of one year the drive- in industry went from an average of 500 cars every Friday to an estimated 50. During the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of drive-in theaters closed as new entertainment as television and multiplex theaters were introduced and this was detrimental to the longevity of the drive-in.
Another reason why the drive-in theater is not in full swing today is due to the privacy and abuse issue. The privacy factor offered for patrons was being abused and gave drive-ins a reputation as debauched reputation. In the 1950’s the media labeled them as "passion pits" which had a profound effect. During the 60s and 70s drive-ins were still being built but many were closing their doors for the last time.  Young families were not coming with their children anymore so the target audience for the drive-in was now being directed towards teenagers. Many drive-in owners were removing the playgrounds that were originally built to entertain the children and replaced the family movies with adult-oriented ones.

Another problematic factor was that that some people would come to the drive-in, a relatively public arena, and engage in sexual activities in full view of other attendees. This bothered other drive-in goers who went there to view the movie and kept it clean by refraining from engaging in making their own live x-rated motion picture. During the 1970s, some drive-ins changed their viewing material from family-orientated to what was known as ‘exploration movies’. These were essentially low-budget movies featuring sex, violence, drug usage, nudity and monsters.

During the 1970s the drive in began seeing a decline in the number of viewers. In order to generate more money they began showing different types of features during the day time which included pornographic movies. This became a problem because it inevitably began showing these films to people who were underage. Another major problem was that the drive-in was supposed to be a family friendly place, however with it now showing pornography the sentiment quickly began to fade. To make matters worse they found that teenagers with limited incomes developed an ingenious method to see drive-in movies for free. Two teenagers would drive to the drive-in with their friends hidden in the trunk of the car, pay for two tickets and, once parked, open the trunk and the three of them would enjoy the movie for the price of two.

The 1980s was a pivotal time for the future of the drive-in movie theater because it was dying a fast death. Most people weren’t going anymore because cable television and the VCR had been released which had a highly detrimental impact on the drive-ins. People didn’t feel the need to pay to attend a drive-in theater when they could record and playback movies whenever it suited them and from the comfort of their own living room. The drive-in was a way of going out with the family, or friends, and gave an un-interactive activity, such as watching a screen, a socially interactive element by the very nature of the nucleus of the idea. In the 90s new drive-in theaters were being built and some former drive-in theaters were re-opening. Between the summer of 2005 and 2006 there have only been twenty new drive-in theaters that have been opened across the country and are still operating in every state across the U.S

While there are not many "traditional" drive-ins, being opened new adaptations of the old classic are starting to turn up. A prime example of this can be seen in Orange County. The Orange County Fair Ground has opened up their version of the drive in with an inflatable screen. Although it’s not your traditional drive in Movie Theater because it’s not a permanent fixture, it is still bring back the nostalgia of the drive in and may lead the way for more of its kind. According to the United Drive-in Theater Owners Association, Today the number of drive-in theaters operating today is about one-tenth as many as the 4,063 that dotted the U.S. landscape in 1958.

What is ironic is that today one of the most expensive, and impressive, technological apparatus is the car television and DVD player. Companies obviously saw there was a market for such items which advocate the purpose of the drive-in movie theater. It is questionable why people will spend hundreds, or thousands, purchasing and installing a state-of-the-art mobile cinema in their vehicle yet spurn the idea of the drive-in movie theater. Any skeptic would relate the drive-in movie theater to dinosaurs; that they are extinct but I think they are more like dormant volcanoes: ready to erupt again at any time. The traditional drive-in movie theater might not reappear in the same vein that it was in previous generations but it has clearly made its mark on today’s society. The fact that people still want to watch movies in their car speaks volumes and gives us hope that the drive-in movie theater could come back in full force one day. We can blame many things for the demise of the continued popularity of the drive-in; the cost of land in populous cities, new technology, indecent activity and exposure at drive-in sites or a simple lack of demand (Something here). So as the 75^th anniversary of the drive-in looms are we hypocritical or justified in celebrating something which America invented and then allowed its disappearance into the wilderness? We can only sit comfortably in our seats and hope the day comes again when we will hear the words "headlights, camera, action" once more.