Bits And Pieces

Let's Go To The Movies

     Now let's take this old invention in the adult entertainment world which has become a real boon to young families--the outdoor theater.

     Station wagons with pajama-clad youngsters clutching their favorite blankets, pillows or teddy bears arrive about dusk at these places nestled on a flat ten acres or so of land out in the country.

     Quilts and blankets are spread into a nest in the flat station wagon deck or car's rear seat, and as the show progresses and stomachs are filled with popcorn and soft drinks the little ones drop off to sleep while parents continue to watch the movie.

     Once commonly called "passion pits" or "for neckers only" these theaters are occupied by more families than teenagers these days, as mom and dad discover it's a simple matter to bundle the kids in the car and enjoy an evenings entertainment without paying a baby sitter.

     Now prices are relatively expensive if all adults occupy the car.  Contrary to the first outdoor movies in which so much a car was paid, you're now assessed so much a person over the age of twelve.  But a family car loaded with small youngsters can find relatively inexpensive entertainment at a drive-in.

     Screens are enormous, rounded and concave toward the middle--easy to see in any part of the show area.  Nearly all these movie centers have a play area consisting of slides, swings and merry-go-rounds where children can romp and wear out while waiting for darkness to descend.

     Dads with two or three small children clinging to them are busy getting the family adjusted.  There are last minute trips for popcorn, soft drinks, a final moment on the slide or a last visit to the restroom.

     Now the speakers are lifted from the posts and hung from the car window.  In cold weather there are heaters which can be turned on inside the car to keep things comfortably warm.

     There's the constant throb of music from the speakers--interspersed with announcements of misplaced children or parents and general moving activity brought to a sudden halt by the dim appearance of a cartoon movie on the screen.  Last minute bottles are placed in baby's mouths and children in various stages of going to sleep are made comfortable for the three or four hours the movie may take.

     "We come here every time the picture changes," confided a woman next to me at the refreshment stand.

     "A box of popcorn and five youngsters bedded down in the back.  Now where else could you find family entertainment like this?"

     "Yeah," laughed another woman with her.  "A box of popcorn, a cold drink and a drive-in movie.  We wives sure settle for unexciting entertainment," she continued.  "But I can come here in shorts and my hair in curlers, and who cares?" she shrugged.  "Sure beats getting all dolled up to go out on a hot night like this anyway."

     Maybe that is why families are latching on to the drive-in habit.  Drive-in movies, drive-in banks, drive-in eating places and some towns even have drive-in churches and stores.

     These movies are popular because the fact that children may suddenly talk is usually not disturbing to anyone in nearby cars.  In fact I enjoy being able to comment about the picture out loud myself without whispering in an ear.  If you smoke you may light up without offending anyone.

     Maybe you want a sandwich?  Maybe arrive early enough to eat a hamburger or hot dog as a Saturday night supper, and the advertisements during intermission promote appetites and business for the snack bars.

     Cars are lined up like ants on top of ant hills as the front end of the cars are lifted slightly higher so the occupants can see the screen better.

     Daughter spent an intermission at the last drive-in movie we attended hunting the car.  Seems they all look alike in the semi-darkness and she didn't pay attention to rows.  Among the thousand and more cars sitting like bugs in the darkness you're bound to find duplications.  One red station wagon resembles any other red station wagon except for the occupants.

     "Gosh," she said as she arrived breathless with popcorn and cokes.  "I stopped at three station wagons like this one.  Two wanted to know if I was the new car hop service.  I was beginning to think I'd never find the car.  These places are really huge."

     And so they are.  These large acres of entertainment probably make $5,000 on a Saturday night for the owners.  But before you race out and invest your money in a theater, remember the season is short.  Probably only three months out of the year can be counted on by management as being good weather nights for family drive-in movie attendance.

     Reckon too, they haven't invented portable air conditioners to take in and out of cars so guess drive-in movies won't put neighborhood theaters out of business just yet.

Written August 13, 1964