The Lost Days of Drive-Ins

Like the record player, the cassette tape and the soon to be extinct VCR, the drive-in theater, despite its massive land circumference, seems like a forgotten art lost in the black hole of nostalgia.

Decades ago, it alluded not only teenagers whose hormones were racing at the speed of light, but families who sought to enjoy the experience of watching a movie on a humongous screen while munching on popcorn in the comfort and confines of their cars. But while their popularity peaked in the late to early 50's and 60's, property values, technology and the aging baby boomer population led to their demise.

First opened in 1933 by Richard Hollingshead Jr. in Camden, New Jersey Drive-In theaters were never really built to last says Frank Huttinger, a film buyer for De Anza Land & Leisure Corp., which owns drive-ins in Montclair and Riverside County as well as many others across the U.S. Huttinger says they were more or less built to last about 10 to 15 years.

"Until 4 or 5 years ago, we thought they were all going away. People's habits changed, baby boomers got older. The family outing to movie got less of an important thing to do," says Huttinger who added that the remaining drive-ins survived by having swap meets on their property.

Though many were over taken by cinemas who boasted multiple screens or torn down to be replaced by shopping centers, RV Parks and hypermarkets such as Walmart, you may be surprised to learn that this iconic piece of American history was never fully driven out.

In the last 5 years, drive-ins have seen a fascinating resurgence in audience attendance and many have used the opportunity to renovate and remodel the remaining theaters in hopes of attracting more movie-goers who are looking for a different or even a familiar experience that brings back memories of their childhood.
With common movie theaters still around and high definition television and paper view, drive-ins, to the untrained business eye seem like a dead end investment for any company.