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| Movies under the stars | ||||||||||
| Rediscover the charm of the drive-in, an enduring slice of Americana | ||||||||||
| By John Handley | ||||||||||
They light up the night sky and transport you back to another era. All you have to do is pay admission to a drive-in theater–if you can find one. Like the hula-hoop and other instant crazes, the popularity of the drive-in theater soared after its introduction, expanding to almost 5,000 locations across the country by the late 1950s, according to the Web site www.driveintheater.com. “Everybody loves movies and everybody loves to be outdoors,” says Jeff Mason, explaining the lure of drive-in theaters. A super fan of drive-ins from Garrettsville, Ohio, Mason estimates that only 500 remain. “Drive-in theaters are part of Americana. We need to support them now, not lament them when they are gone,” he says. The good news is that the survivors seem to be thriving and have become tourist attractions. These nostalgic relics are finding new audiences in the 21st century. Several long-running drive-in movie venues still are operating in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana and elsewhere. Checking them out is worth the trip. Park it in Kansas Mason rates the Boulevard Drive-In in Kansas City, Kan., as one of the top two in the nation. “Nestled in a hillside, it’s got a great neon sign out front and great sound,” he says. Wes Neal, the owner, started working part-time at the Boulevard in 1954. He liked it so much, he bought it in 1993. Neal has brought everything up to date. His formula for success in the business is simple. “Work at it and spend money on it. We installed digital sound in 1998. That put us on the map,” Neal says. One of the raps against drive-ins has been the tinny sound coming from window speakers. Now, many drive-ins–including Boulevard–broadcast the sound over FM radio. Boulevard Drive-In also uses field speakers, Neal says. Neal maintains that drive-ins are the cheapest entertainment around. Tickets at most outdoor theaters are in the $4 to $6 per person range, with children below a certain age getting in free. In addition to changes in sound quality, the image of drive-ins as “passion pits” has mellowed. “After the decline of drive-ins, the teens went somewhere else for a lover’s lane. Now most of our patrons are families, though we do get some high school and college students on Friday nights,” Neal says. Like some other drive-ins, he stages a shop-and-swap bazaar on the grounds on weekends to help make ends meet. An oldie and goodie in Missouri
“The projectors are carbon arc lights and getting parts can be a problem,” says Dan Arnold, the owner of the theater. “Switching over to more modern equipment would be expensive.” Patrons of the Macon Drive-In seem to bask in the theater’s nostalgia. Films under the stars still add another dimension to entertainment. “People want to get out of the house in summer. It’s like going to a picnic; a family thing,” Arnold says. He admits that the closing of other drive-ins has boosted his business. “Every little town used to have one. It helps not to have competition. Now people will drive 50 to 100 miles to come here,” he says. Despite his success, Arnold has considered pulling the plug on the last picture show. “But I’d hate to close down after all these years,” he says. An intermission for an historical overview Richard M. Hollingshead Jr. is credited with inventing the drive-in theater on June 6, 1933, in Camden, N.J. His experiment of hanging a sheet for a screen in his back yard and mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car eventually led to a patent. World War II put the brakes on drive-in theaters, because tires and gasoline were rationed. After the war, though, new cars |
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Copyright © 1999 - 2007 AAA Traveler Magazine | 12901 N. Forty Dr. | St. Louis, MO 63141 |
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