When was drive in theaters

However, it took an auto-parts salesman such as Hollingshead to see the genius in giving a car-loving society one more activity they could do in their vehicles. He first conceived the drive-in as the answer to a problem. Hollingshead experimented for a few years before he created a ramp system for cars to park at different heights so everyone could see the screen. He patented his concept in May and opened the gates to his theater the next month.

The second drive-in, Shankweiler's, started a year later in Orefields, Pa. A few others followed, but the concept didn't really get traction until the advent of in-car speakers in the early s.

By , the number of drive-ins peaked at 4, People could sit in their cars, they could bring their babies, they could smoke. Hollingshead never made a profit with his Automobile Movie Theatre and sold it several years later to a new owner who moved it to another location. But regardless of Hollingshead's failure to make a profit, the concept of the drive-in theater had caught on and expanded rapidly.

Eventually, Hollingshead's patent was ruled invalid in and therefore anyone could open a drive-in theater without having to pay royalties to Hollingshead for his patent. With his patent ruled invalid, drive-in numbers exploded and peaked in the late 's — early 's. During this time, which is generally considered the golden age of drive-ins, there were over drive-in theaters across the United States. But the golden age only lasted a decade or so and in the 's the number of drive-ins began to decline rapidly for a number of reasons.

There have been many reasons attributed to the rapid and steep decline of drive-in movies. But we believe the three biggest reasons are the move to Daylights Savings Time, the introduction of VHS movies and increasing land values and taxes.

This meant sunset would come an hour later during the prime drive-in movie season. So in many parts of the country, drive-in movies theaters were not able to start their first movie until close to 10pm which in turn meant it would not be over until close to midnight.

This was simply too late during the week for most families on which the drive-in owners had come to rely on for business. So while weekends remained busy for most, business was minimal during the week which severely cut into revenue. The development of the VCR made it more appealing to stay at home and watch movies without paying for a movie at the drive-in. Slowly, drive-ins began to lose their appeal. To have an effective drive-in, it had to be on at least 15 acres of land.

Economically speaking, it became more practical for owners to close their drive-ins in order to sell their land to developers to build malls or multi-building complexes. Even though drive-ins are not nearly as popular as they used to be with some arguing that they will be obsolete within the next decade , there are still drive-ins in business throughout the country. Modern drive-ins vary, but many show current films as well as older films.

He added that one or two drive-ins were expected to open in , which would make for a very good year in a business that's seen its numbers shrink to about in from in , according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association.

Ten ultimately did open last year, at least nine more have opened so far this year, and several more are in the works, he said. In Loudon County, Tennessee, a new arrival features a modern twist that its operator hopes could serve as the future of the concept. The centerpiece of the LoCo Drive-In is a byfoot Samsung video board, a jumbotron with the capabilities of allowing for both daytime and nighttime showings of movies, live sports and other events.

Photos: Drive-thrus and drive-ins: How we're relying on our cars during the pandemic. Brings, a local rock band, plays a live concert at a drive-in cinema in Cologne, Germany, on April According to Euronews, the concert was open to vehicles.

Hide Caption. The festival, created partly in response to the coronavirus outbreak, will continue until June Go-go dancers perform in the Lucky Devil Lounge parking lot while customers wait in their cars in Portland, Oregon, on April The Rev. Scott Holmer offers a drive-thru confessional March 20 in the parking lot of St. Holmer sits 6 feet away from cars as people pull up to talk to him. They had just graduated from high school.

Safariland Stukenbrock is the first zoo in Germany that was allowed to reopen with a special permit. It offers a drive-thru safari for some of its open-air enclosures.

A "stay in your vehicle" sign is pictured in Fawn Township, Pennsylvania, as cars line up for the Maple Lawn Farms drive-thru strawberry festival on April City employee Tatiana Fernandez distributes unemployment forms outside the John F.

Kennedy Library in Hialeah, Florida, on April 7. There was a drive-up viewing so mourners could pay their respects without getting out of their cars. Only family members stood next to the grave. Everyone else could listen to the audio through their car radios.

Cars sit at a newly opened drive-in cinema in Dortmund, Germany, on April It's in front of a former blast furnace.

A health worker collects a man's blood sample for a coronavirus antibody test in Tangerang, Indonesia, on May 4.