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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Cosway's Corner - Drive-in theatres hanging in there   Drive-in theatres make a comeback in Canada   By John Cosway Richard M. Hollingshead Jr.'s neighbors must have thought him bonkers when he parked his car in the backyard, mounted a Kodak movie projector on the hood, nailed a white sheet to two trees and placed a radio behind the makeshift screen.   But that early 1930's evening experiment in "open air" theatre was the seed that led Hollingshead, 30-year-old son of an automotive products company owner, to patent and open the world's first drive-in theatre in Camden, New Jersey, on June 6, 1933.   The Automobile Movie Theatre was an overnight hit, despite poor sound quality.   First movie: Wives Beware, aka Two White Arms, a 1932 comedy starring Adolphe Menjou. Admission: 25 cents per car per screening, plus 25 cents per person. Total attendance for three screenings on opening night was said to be about 600 cars.   Seventy-three years later, Hollingshead (he died at 75 in 1975) and the first drive-in (it closed in 1936 for various reasons) are long gone, but his invention has not only survived numerous challenges, it is enjoying a 21st century revival across North America.   Television, VCR and DVD movie rentals and sales, commercial-free cable and satellite TV movies, and movie downloads on computers have all failed to push the drive-in theatre to extinction.   Statistics Canada figures released recently for 2004/2005 clearly show the 58 recorded Canadian drive-in theatres, with a total of 91 screens, are on the rebound, with a 20.4% increase in attendance (1.8 million) "halting eight consecutive years of decline."   Almost half those Canadian drive-in theatres are in Ontario. Click here for Ontario's 26 drive-in theatres.   Paul and Nancy Peterson, owners of Picton's Mustang Drive-In since 1988, are among the survivors in a field that has seen more ebbs and tides than a lighthouse keeper.   Paul was born in July of 1956, a month after the then Picton Drive-In opened. Little did he know a half-century later he would mark his 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of the drive-in as owner/manager/projectionist/battery booster and bottle washer.   Peterson's roller coaster drive-in adventure began in 1988 during an afternoon drive with his wife on a day off from their Children's Aid Society youth in crisis jobs. They saw a For Sale sign in front of the drive-in, thought it would be "cool" and decided to go for it.   "The guy selling it was Rick Scott," says Paul. "He had owned it for a few years. As far as I know, it has operated continuously since it opened in 1956. The drive-in's named was changed to Mustang when purchased by Premier Theatres in the '60's and the name stuck after it was sold again."   Their 9.9-acre, double-screen drive-in on County Road 1 can accommodate 400 vehicles. It retains a 50's look, with a field of grass, rows of speaker posts, some with original speakers attached, a large children's playground, an old fire engine in a nearby field and other rusty relics.   "Our first movie was Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" says Paul. "It had been out for a year, so we kind of got conned into it by the movie agent. We've learned a lot about bookings since then. Now we always try to put together the very best feature available that week. It costs more, but we get bigger movies. People won't pay for old stuff."   The Mustang Drive-In has been a truly family-run business, with Paul, Nancy, her mother, Joan Hinatsu, his father, Wilfred, and Paul and Nancy's three children, Justin, 28, Jamie, 25, and Hollie, 23, all getting involved in the drive-in operations over the years.   Paul says they have had their share of slow times since 1988, but both feel good about hanging in there. The drive-in's milestone 50th anniversary couldn't have arrived at a better time - they have been setting attendance records this summer with Johnny Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean.   The Petersons credit reasonable admission and snack bar prices, improved film quality, a wider choice of current movies and short-range stereo FM radio sound for the surge in attendance at drive-ins. Crank up the volume and each and every car, pickup truck and van is a mini-movie theatre.   Special carload rates on selected dates, an annual pajama party night, Saturday night triple bills, dusk-to-dawn movies on long weekends and intermission hand puppets on the screen are other draws.   "Having a second screen has also helped tremendously," says Paul. "We can split programs and open new movies every week since they require a two-week commitment."   As members of the select group of Canadian drive-in owner/managers, the Petersons say they couldn't do it without a solid base of drive-in fans.   "In terms of their support and encouragement, I can't say enough," says Paul. "I can't tell you how many people come up and thank us for keeping the place open. It is remarkable."   Paul says they "try to stay true to the drive-in experience that many people remember from the 50's and 60's" but "nostalgia has a way of glossing over things."   He says drive-in elders remember the Dancing Hot Dog but forget the "crappy sound, poor picture quality and dreadful movies" that went with the early drive-in experience.   Who can forget drive-in classics of the '50's and '60's, forced on owners because studios were tight with first-run movies. I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Beast With A Million Eyes etc., all geared to the huge teen drive-in market.   The popularity of drive-in theatres peaked in the late 1950's, with more than 4,000 drive-ins dotting the North American landscape. While new drive-ins have been built since the 1950's, hundreds of original drive-ins have been demolished or sit abandoned and overgrown by weeds.   "Passion pit" reputation aside, books on the history of drive-in theatres tell of some wildly innovative experiences along the way.   There was Ed Brown's Drive-In and Fly-In Theatre for 500 cars and 25 small airplanes, opened in Ashbury Park, New Jersey, on June 3, 1948. Pilots and their passengers watched movies from the last row after taxiing from an adjoining airstrip. It was the first of several fly-ins.   The now-demolished monster All-Weather Drive-In in Copiague, New York, accommodated 2,500 cars, plus indoor seating for another 1,200 patrons. Fort Lauderdale's Swap Shop/Thunderbird Drive-In in Florida, part of a flea market and circus site, boasts 13 screens with space for 3,000 cars.   Other drive-ins were built for as few as 50 cars.   The oldest American drive-in still in business is Shankweiler's Drive-In in Orefield, Pennsylvania, which opened as Shankweiler's Auto Park on April 15, 1934.   Ontario's first drive-in theatre was the Skyway Drive-In in Stoney Creek, opened in 1946 and closed in 1970. The Port Hope Drive-In, built in 1952, is among the oldest Canadian drive-ins still in business.   Most drive-ins are showing their age, but dedicated owners like the Petersons and second and third generations of faithful moviegoers are keeping the outdoor movie experience alive.   As for drive-in memorabilia: original 50's movie posters, drive-in speakers and posts, heaters, history books, signs, brochures, advertising, stamps etc. Or how about a six-volume DVD set of drive-in intermission promotions from the 1950's to the 1970's for $95US?   Richard M. Hollingshead Jr. wasn't bonkers at all.     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2009 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster