Richard Hollingshead, owner of a chemical company, opens the world’s first drive-in movie theater in Camden, N.J., on June 6, 1933.
Hollingshead, who died in 1975, came up with the idea for Park-in Theaters when he set up a screen on his driveway and a home projector on top of a car so his family could enjoy a movie outdoors. He received a patent in May 1933.
The first movie played at the drive-in — Wife Beware — had been released three years earlier. The admission price: 25 cents a person or $1 a carload.
The drive-in move theater, following the Great Depression so closely, took time to perfect. Over time theaters grew in size, accommodating as many as 1,000 or more cars at once. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-In of Copiague, N.Y., with room for 2,500 cars, a playground and a full-service restaurant, all nestled within a 28-acre lot on Long Island’s south shore.
The postwar 1950s were the golden age of the drive-in as Americans of all ages fell in love with the automobile. Across rural areas, where entertainment options were more limited, drive-in movie theaters flourished. They often served as a community hub, even ad hoc car shows, with families mingling before and after screenings.
By the 1960s, the popularity of drive-in theaters began to wane, first because of the 1966 Uniform Time Act which adopted daylight saving time and pushed darkness back by an hour in summer. Expanded home entertainment options and the surge in multiplex movie theaters also undermined drive-in theater traffic. The late 1970s, marked by economic woes, were particularly tough for drive-in theaters.
With the car becoming another safe refuge as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, some analysts believe the drive-in movie theater could benefit. The owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins is converting the team’s stadium into a drive-in theater to replace lost revenue from sales of game tickets. Some 230 vehicles can be accommodated. And just last month, cars.com featured the six best vehicles to take to a drive-in theater.
But if you go, be sure you know how to turn your lights off.