Today, June 6 is the anniversary of the first drive in movie theatre.
The first Drive-in opened in New Jersey in 1933. the charge was .25 for each car and .25 per person.
When I was a kid whenever we went to the movie it was the Drive-in. Before the days of strip malls and megaplexes, we had the drive-in.
One of the biggest in Utah was the Geneva Drive-in, it was on State Street in Orem, about a half mile from our house. Many a summer night was spent "sneaking" into the movie. We would climb a fence or two, walk through the sheep pasture and there we were. Climb another fence throw a blanket down next to an unsuspecting car and watch whatever was on the big screen. It was here that my love for the "B" movie was planted and nurtured.
This was the place for cheap dates and great pop corn. I still have a ticket stub with the price of $1.25. The Theaters often had summer promotions and charged by the car load. It is amazing how many teens you can fit into one car. Everyone would meet up at the Hi-Spot, get a cheap burger and then pile as many as you could get into one car and drive across the street to the drive-in.
One of the biggest in Utah was the Geneva Drive-in, it was on State Street in Orem, about a half mile from our house. Many a summer night was spent "sneaking" into the movie. We would climb a fence or two, walk through the sheep pasture and there we were. Climb another fence throw a blanket down next to an unsuspecting car and watch whatever was on the big screen. It was here that my love for the "B" movie was planted and nurtured.
This was the place for cheap dates and great pop corn. I still have a ticket stub with the price of $1.25. The Theaters often had summer promotions and charged by the car load. It is amazing how many teens you can fit into one car. Everyone would meet up at the Hi-Spot, get a cheap burger and then pile as many as you could get into one car and drive across the street to the drive-in.
Drive-ins
were slow to catch on. In 1940, only 18 were open nationally. As
World War II drew to a close, they began to spring up across the
country. In 1948, there were 820 theaters. By the end of the 1940s
drive-ins were more popular than indoor theaters, partly due to the
invention of an in-car speaker.
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| The Ten Commandments (1956) at the Hyland Drive-in, East bench of Salt Lake City |
The
baby boom of the 1950s further increased the popularity of
drive-ins. Many owners built playgrounds to make their theaters
more attractive to families. From 1948 to 1958, about 3,200
new drive-ins were built.
Through
the 1960s, the number of theaters stayed about the same. Their
numbers began to decline in the 1970s due to rising property
values.
The land used for drive-ins could be used more profitably
for other things. Also, drive-ins often showed "B" movies, which were less popular.
By
the 1980s, families had cable television and videocassettes
to watch movies at home, further hurting the drive-ins. By
2003, the number of drive-ins had sunk to 432.
Here in Utah 1954 saw the height of the drive-in movie theater, there were 34 scattered around the state. Today there are only 7 still in operation.
