Drive In Movie Theaters

6/7/2014

Hopefully, some of you out there remember drive-in theaters.  They were a part of my childhood.  All five of us would cram into the car and Mom and Dad brought popcorn for us to share, which is not an easy task for us kids.  

The good thing about a drive-in, the price was per car, so if you could squeeze ten people inside, it cost the same as if you only had two people in the car.  This was a great saving for families.  When we lived on base, the military had buses go around the neighborhoods, pick up kids to drop them off at the library, movies or PX.  I don't remember how much a ticket cost, but I suspect it might have been in the 25 cent range.

There were 4,000 drive-in theaters across the United States.  Now we're down to around 357, and I suspect that eventually we will see the numbers dwindle even further.

A ticket in 1967, when I was in high school, was approximately $1.20, compared to ticket prices today that are upwards of $7.00, depending on whether you qualify for a senior discount or are a child.

My first date with Jeff was at a drive-in.  I loved the gray box that hung on the driver's window and the crackling sounds it made.  When the boys were little and we still lived in California, we would gather everybody up and go to the drive-in.  When the boys were small, it was easier to find family or age appropriate movies.  That is definitely the case today.

Jeff hates to go the movies, partly because of the steep price but also that you can't put the movie on hold like you can at home.  He can be coerced into seeing one movie a year, so I pick carefully!

I love movies, and other than the cost of a ticket, would go more often.  What you see now is that the movies showing on the big screen, appear rather quickly at sites like Amazon or Netflix.  I can pop my own popcorn, have as much soda as I want (or can hold), and pause the movie when I need to.

When you think about it, there are probably a few generations that haven't been to an outdoor movie.  As time goes by, only us old relics will remember!

P