7 Surprising Things People Miss About Drive-In Movie Theaters

Hot summer nights, wide open spaces, schlocky B movies -- there was a time when going to the drive-in movie was a staple of the American experience. Though there are still some around, it's largely a part of our past. Let's take a drive down memory lane....

1. It's American as Apple Pie

We invented the car, we perfected the movies -- of course we invented the drive-in! Here's an early timeline: 

1933: Richard Hollingshead Jr. opens first drive-in in Camden, New Jersey.
1941: RCA develops the in-car speaker.
1949: Drive-In Movie Association lobbies against daylight savings movement.
1950: In-car heaters allow many drive-ins to stay open year-round.
1958: Drive-in theaters reach their height with over 4,000 drive-ins in the United States.

In the last half-century, the percentage of U.S. theaters that were drive-ins plummeted from about 25 percent to about 6 percent. Big-screen multiplexes with IMAX screens,  cable, home video, and generally more entertainment options in modern society helped bring the drive-in to the brink of extinction. Today, after reaching its low in the 1990s, there has been a minor revival of the drive-in, and there are about 350 theaters in the country.


2. The Cheesy Movies
An Annette Funicello-Frankie Avalon beach party movie ...  the zombie classic "Night of the Living Dead" ... the original "Godzilla" ... sci-fi/horror cult films with titles such as "The Blob," "The Monolith Monsters," "The Brain Eaters," "Attack of the 50-Foot Woman," "The Slime People" -- these are all films which made or enhanced its reputation at the drive-in (there's a reason why those late night schlocky movie shows on at 3 a.m. on your local channel were called "Drive-In Theater").

Look, we didn't go to the drive-in to see the latest Shakespeare adaptation, or "A Streetcar Named Desire." We went for eye candy. B movies that seemed just plain bad in an indoor movie theater became epically, awesomely bad on the big drive-in screen.  


3. Those Crappy Speakers
Remember these? Many of us saw films like "Dirty Harry," "Jaws," "Star Wars," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and other classics on a spectacular drive-in screen -- but we didn't hear it in Dolby Stereo. More like Crackly Mono. But hey, it didn't matter. We were at the drive-in, and somehow it was all good.


4. The Awesome Refreshment Ads
Hot dogs jumping into hot dog buns, dancing candy, succulent shots of hamburgers and sparkling Pepsi -- all with minute-by-minute counts of when the next movie will begin ("Show starts in 8 minutes!"). Wish they had that now in today's multiplexes.


5. Those Not-So-Awesome Refreshment Stands
Let's face it -- those burgers and hot dogs weren't that great. They might have been fresh when the first batch was made at 8 p.m., but by 10:30 p.m they're getting a little stale -- kinda like the popcorn. Add greasy fries and a free soda refill, and you're nearly in insulin shock on the drive home.

Today's surviving drive-ins have a much higher quality of food choices at their refreshment stands. Not that they're going all organic-y and salad-y, mind you, but at least your burger is cooked fresh and you can get a bratwurst or Polish sausage instead of 1970s Oscar Mayer basic.


6. A Great Place for Families
Playgrounds for the kids, low admission prices, Disney films, cartoons between features -- drive-ins were a cheap and fun-filled way to have a family night out. At indoor theaters, kids had to sit confined in one place, in the dark, and be quiet. The drive-in was a lot more fun.

At the industry's height, drive-ins would open hours before the first show, offering such family-friendly activities such as pony rides, boat rides, talent shows, animal shows and miniature golf.


7. A Great Place for a Date
Unlike a regular movie theater, if you got a date to agree to go to a drive-in movie, you knew you were getting some action. Popular with high school kids on up to adults, the obvious advantage of being in your own private vehicle was put to good use.

In the 1970s, drive-ins became less family-friendly, and catered more toward a younger crowd, showing edgy genre fare such as slasher movies or sex comedies filled with nudity. Some think that helped lead to the decline of the drive-in.


Hey, Let's Bring 'Em Back!
Are drive-ins on the rise again? Since the development of high quality and affordable digital projection systems, some DIY millennials are creating their own guerrilla drive-ins, consisting of a large bed sheet, an open wall and getting the word out through social media flash mobs (above).

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