The Drive-In Theater Remember the drive-in theater? Movies.  Can there be a more fun experience?  Fully digital, surround sound, and a magic like is found no place else!  It doesn’t matter what your preference is in movies, it can be an incredible experience.  Anything can happen in a movie!  People fall in love, learn lessons, and grow as human beings.  Things blow up, space ships come to earth, and animated monsters power an entire world that is found in a closet.  Yes, truly anything can happen. The best part of a movie is the experience.  Everything from buying a ticket to the large drink and the best buttered popcorn on the planet.  The bottom line is that going to a movie is an experience like no other.  With that said, I believe we have lost something in today’s movies! Who still enjoys going to the drive-in theater?

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It used to be that there were two kinds of movies, the movie at the theater and the drive-in theater movie.  The movie at the theater was completely different than today’s movies.  It used to be that you purchased a ticket and were met with a huge number of ushers that would guide you to your seat, and serve you during the movies.  They would help you in and out of the dark theater with flashlights and go to the concession stand for your drinks, candy and popcorn.  They would return with your order so you did not have to leave your seat and miss a moment of the action or drama.  These were the real hero’s of the movies!  They helped make every movie a truly magical experience for those who went.  The theater is also where you went to watch the world-wide news and current events.  The advent of the local television and local television station killed this practice.

The drive in theater was a completely different experience all together.  The drive in was amazing because you could do so much more than at the theater.  While there are differences in today’s Drive-In Theaters from the drive-in’s of years past, it is predominately the same.  At a drive in, you are in your own “private room” . . . your car!  This allows you to bring in your own food and snacks!  You can have pizza, spaghetti, or even chips!  You can talk to the people around you without worrying about being “shushed” by a complete stranger!

The biggest difference between drive-in movies of past and today is the advent of the transistor radio.  Let me explain.  Cars have almost always had radios, but the early radios were tube-type radios that took a lot of power.  The tubes were like a standard incandescent light bulb of today, they produced light and heat.  You would never have run the radio with the vehicle turned off.  As a result, the drive-in would install poles with 2 speakers, one for each side of the pole, and these speakers would sit inside the window of the car to provide the sound for the movie.

With the invention of the transistor radio, they no longer needed these speakers because the car radio no longer took much power.  The drive-in theaters began transmitting the sound for the movie across a low power FM radio.  This allowed for better sound in the car for the movie as well as a sound that was more controllable.

Despite the advantages and unique experience of a drive-in movie, the number of drive-in movie theaters have dropped dramatically over the past few decades.  It truly saddens me when I hear of a drive-in movie theater that closes.  My wife and I try to go to the drive-in at least once a year.  It is truly one of our favorite things to do on a beautiful summer night!

I would encourage you, if you have a local drive-in theater, take the time to go once in a while!  It is like a time capsule experience going back in time and watching movies outside on the big screen. It is am experience that will take you back to the 50’s and you will not regret it.  Sometimes they just don’t do things as well as they did in the past!

What is your most favorite thing about the drive-in theater? Comment below.

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– Mark