Every been to a Drive-In movie?

[BenVincent]

Yes this is 6 months old but I just joined so pardon me.

I loved drive in theaters. It was great to be comfortable, no one kicking your seat from behind, bring your own food or snacks. The drive in my city had three screens and was built during the space age so the three screens were named Apollo, Gemini and Omega. By the time I got my first car in 1978 they had gone to broadcasting the audio over the radio. I used a label maker to make three labels that I stuck to the ash tray. Each screen name with the appropriate frequency. I even used the wood grain looking label tape so it matched pretty well with the fake wood trim on the ash tray.

Greatest memory was watching James Bond movies at the drive in. Scariest movie at the drive in? Alien. That would have been the summer between my Junior and Senior year in high school. I remember when the theater had a dusk to dawn showing of all the Planet of the Apes movies. I didn't go but I thought that was pretty cool.

There is one drive in still operating not too far from me, about 35 miles away.

 

[DUQ]

I loved going to the drive in. Packing a picnic, blankets and lawn chairs. Just being outside watching a movie is just a great feeling.

 

[Kestrel]

Yes this is 6 months old but I just joined so pardon me.

No worries, :welcome:

 

[braddy]

For some it was a family event, it was a great dating and double dating experience for others, and for some, it was like a Roman party of debauchery.

Imagine having all the iced beer and hard liquor that you wanted in your own van with your own food from home, and a date, blankets and no real, drunk driving laws.

If you had the van and the beer, and no date, remember that many teens didn't want to sit with their parents during the show, and were available.

There were all kinds of subcultures and dramas going on within the fences of the drive-in, even fights between youth groups, like the long hairs versus cowboys, or blacks versus whites, except they were done in the more teen like, fist fighting rules of the time.

 

[TEEJ]

LOL-There's none I know of around here anymore...the one by my house was closed, and was then an abandoned field for about 30 years and then was developed into a senior housing complex. The old sign for it and the framework for the screen survived for maybe 25 of those 30 years.

As a wee lad, my parents would throw the footed jammied kids into the trunk (So they didn't have to pay for us to get in, or a baby sitter to leave us behind....) and then watch the typically double features while we slept.

Later, when I ran away from home...I went with dates but no kids...and after I was married and HAD kids, I always let them SEE the movies at the drive in instead of making them stay in the trunk.

The sound is about the same in the trunk btw....its the picture that you miss.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Off the top of my head I really can't think of anything I enjoyed more than drive-ins during my youth in the 50s-60s. Hog heaven for a kid. Oh, what some of you have missed...sniff.

 

[Big_Ed]

I love drive-ins as much, if not more, than I love flashlights. I even took the summer off of my regular job to work at a drive-in my buddy built up in Wisconsin back in 2008. The Stardust. What a fun summer. I lived in an RV on the property, and learned virtually every aspect of running a drive-in. From working security, to selling tickets, to splicing film and running the projector. It was my dream job. If only I was able to make a living at it. I may do it again someday.

The appeal of the drive-in for me, is it combines so many things I love. Cars, movies, being outdoors under a starry sky, good food (usually), and a sense of community with the other patrons. It's also about the most uniquely American way to spend an evening. We even played the Star Spangled Banner before the show started each night. We had car shows, Halloween costume contests, "trunk-or-treating" for the kids (trick-or treating from car to car), dusk till dawn shows, and classic rock and roll playing before it got dark. It's a great way to spend an evening like people did in the past.

If you haven't gone to one, you should give it a try.

 

[AZPops]

Drive-in movies are great! But I never watched the movie! ... :devil:

 

[SCEMan]

Wow. Drive-in movies brings back some great times in my youth. Spent many a summer night there in my 69 Roadrunner with my High School girlfriend. We used to stay for several showings and never did see the movie...:devil:

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

Drive-in movies are great! But I never watched the movie! ... :devil:

Pops at the drive-in :naughty:...:kiss:....:tired:.....:sleepy: Pop's date at the drive-in :naughty:...:kiss:...:huh2:.......:sigh:....

~ Chance

 

[samuraishot]

I just went to one for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Then again last week thanksgiving night. Turkey then a movie with the family

It's nice since you can talk to each other without bugging other poeple. Only downside is when parked near the screen and you gotta go and get some popcorn or use the restroom. You have to get out and walk, but unlike a regular theater, you can no longer hear the sound since it's played through the radio.

Other than that it's nice since my kids are quite young that I wouldn't normally bring to a regular movie theater.

 

[highwaysalmon]

Yes! Love the Drive-In. The one around here recently closed.

 

[Big_Ed]

It's not just a movie, it's a whole night's entertainment. Usually, at most drive-ins, you get 2 movies for the price of 1. And you're not just there for the movie, you can show up an hour before the show starts, do some people watching, toss the frisbee around, chat with people, have dinner, just simply enjoy a slower paced evening out. Not just in and out in an hour and a half. Make some really good memories. Most people smile when you mention going to a drive-in. There's a reason for that.

 

[AZPops]

Pops at the drive-in :naughty:...:kiss:....:tired:.....:sleepy: Pop's date at the drive-in :naughty:...:kiss:...:huh2:.......:sigh:....

~ Chance

 

[Lite_me]

Ooh yeah.... and remember getting antsy and blowing the horn when it started to get dark.. cause everybody wanted the movie to start? Great times!!

 

[smokinbasser]

I have lived close to drive ins( relatively) =same town most of my adult life. I use to take a dodge van with 3 inch foam covered floor and backed in and opened both back doors to watch the movies. I am not sure if I have any where I now reside or not.