The drive-in's success was rooted in its reputation of being a family-friendly place. Parents were able to bring their children to the theater, often in pajamas, without worrying about bothering other movie-goers and were also able to spend time together without paying the expenses of babysitters.
Why were drive-in theaters so popular in the 1950s?
"Drive-ins started to really take off in the '50s," Kopp said. "They offered family entertainment. People could sit in their cars, they could bring their babies, they could smoke. Drive-ins offered more flexibility than indoor theaters."
The boom of automobiles and car ownership was the reason the drive-in thrived. Families could bring young kids or infants, and not have to worry about interrupting other movie goers or having to leave a busy theater. Young couples made drive-ins the popular spot for dates because of the privacy a car would allow.
The first drive-in movie theater opened on June 6, 1933. The concept accelerated in the 1940s, giving birth to memories of drive-in movies for many who lived in '40s through '70s.
Life at the Drive-In Movie Theater - 1950s & 1960s America
What years did drive-ins peak in popularity?
The drive-in's peak popularity came in the late 1950s and early 1960s, particularly in rural areas, with over 4,000 drive-ins spread across the United States in 1958.
The first drive-in restaurant was Kirby's Pig Stand, which opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1921. In North America, drive-in facilities of all types have become less popular since their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, with drive-throughs rising to prominence since the 1970s and 1980s.
"The decline of the drive-in was directly related to the movement away from Main Street America and towards the mall society, where convenience, times, weather and the idea of 'all-inclusive' became the popular way to enjoy a night out, pushing away the classic night out at the drive-in," Stefanopoulos elaborated.
Drive-in theaters have been disappearing since their peak in the mid 1900s. In the late 1950s, there were 4,000 drive-in movie theaters in the United States. Today, there are only about 300 left in operation.
Invented in the US, drive-in theaters reached their peak popularity right after World War II during the '50s and '60s, allowing guests to enjoy B movies in a giant parking lot, under the stars and in the comfort of their cars.
In 1950 there were 25 million registered automobiles, the majority of which were made pre-World War II, and by 1958 there were 67 million registered. New categories of businesses were created to support the 1950's car culture, including drive-through and drive-in restaurants and drive-in movie theaters.
Beginning in the 1970s, when multiscreen venues in malls became the theatrical norm, the popularity of the drive-in declined steadily and eventually cratered.
Prices. The drive-in movie lots could hold anywhere from 100-400 cars at a time. The cost to view the movie was 25 cents per car and an additional 25 cents per each person in the cars.
You can see your favorite movies like never before: Whenever you go to the movie theater, there's always the risk that the film you're seeing will be a dud. However, most drive-in theaters play classics and fan-favorites, meaning that you've likely already seen the movie you're going to view and know you'll like it.
Nine miles northwest of Allentown, Pennsylvania, sits America's oldest drive-in movie theater, first opened in 1934. While it was originally the second drive-in theater to open in America, Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre is now the only one left from the early 1930s.
What is the oldest drive-in movie theater in the United States?
The oldest drive-in still in operation is Shankweiler's Drive-In Theater in Orefield, Pennsylvania, USA. This outdoor cinema opened on 15 April 1934, less than a year after the world's first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, New Jersey.
New York (49), Pennsylvania (45), Ohio (44) and California (44) offer the most drive-ins, according to the association. Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana and North Dakota didn't have any drive-in theaters as of 2019.
For now, there are over 300 drive-ins still in operation. Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania have the most drive-ins still in operation in the U.S., with each state having almost 30 left. Unfortunately, Hawaii, North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware, and Louisiana no longer have any that are still in business.
The profitability of a drive-in movie theater can be comparable to traditional indoor movie theaters, but it is highly dependent on factors such as attendance, operating costs, and weather conditions.
New York, in 1804, became the first State to prescribe right hand travel on all public highways. By the Civil War, right hand travel was followed in every State. Drivers tended to sit on the right so they could ensure their buggy, wagon, or other vehicle didn't run into a roadside ditch.
The first keep-right law for driving in the United States was passed in 1792 and applied to the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike. Massachusetts formalized RHT in 1821. However, the National Road was LHT until 1850, "long after the rest of the country had settled on the keep-right convention".
Six percent of Americans drive a few times a month, 4% rarely drive and 6% never do. The most frequent drivers are men, adults with household incomes of $90,000 per year or more, college graduates, suburbanites, parents of children under 18, and those between 30 and 49 years of age.
California's In-N-Out Burger brought drive-thru dining to the mainstream—and Americans haven't looked back since. Dining out got a new look in 1948, thanks to a 100-square foot burger shack perched next to a circular Baldwin Park, California, driveway.
By the 1970s, major fast-food chains installed drive-thru windows. McDonald's, which opened its first location in 1948 with walk-up windows, didn't adopt a drive-thru until the 1970s. In the 1980s, 50% of fast food daily business was done through drive-through windows.
