August 28, 2012
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Remember the DRIVE-IN THEATERS?
THE STARLIGHT DRIVEINIt’s Friday night. Not just any night, but FRIDAY NIGHT!! Mom’s not cooking supper and we don’t care. It’s FRIDAY NIGHT!! My brother and I sit on the sofa and wait. It’s after 6:30 and we are waiting for Mom and Dad to get ready because it’s FRIDAY NIGHT!! Finally we hear the jingle of Dad’s key chain, which means we are in the final count down. Then those wonderful exhilarating words….“You boys ready?”….Yes!!, because it’s FRIDAY NIGHT and that mean we’re going to the DRIVE-IN!!!!!!!
Me and bro already have our pajama’s on. I’m 9 and he’s 7. The reason for the pajamas is by the time we get home tonight, Mom and Dad will have to carry our comatose carcasses into the house and put us into bed. We look both ways as we run out of the house in hopes the guys won’t see us in our pajamas. I’m still wearing my Roy Rogers pj’s from last year and bro’s hand-me-down pj’s are so faded you can’t tell which cowboy they originally were.
We jump in Dad’s 1955 Desoto and patiently wait for the folks to get on the stick. “You boy’s pee?” Mom asks.
“Yes ma’am,” we both lied….
Then we pulled out into the street and begin our FRIDAY NIGHT trip to the DRIVE-IN! It takes about 25 minutes to get there….that’s 4 hours in kid time. We both scan the terrain for landmarks as we travel. Our greatest fear is that Dad might have to pull over for gas and that might cause us to miss the entire first feature! The sun is starting to set and that’s a bad sign. Bro is already beginning to whimper.
Finally, we can see the glowing road marquee with it’s million little flashing light bulbs. The cars are lined up to get in and once again we are seized with fear. As we slowly wait our turn to pull in we study the marquee. ‘THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,’ staring Charlton Heston and “The Bad Seed,” with Nancy Kelly. The second movie is when we’re suppose to fall asleep.
We finally pull up to the ticket place and we can smell the enchanting vapors of fresh popped popcorn. We only get one box to share, but that’s OK, cause the concession stand is waiting! Dad counts up eleven rows from the front and then drives mid way across the designated row and parks. He has figured out that this strategic location allows for the most optimum of viewing pleasure. Dad rolls down the window and ceremoniously brings in the sound icon called the ‘speaker’. He spends a few moments positioning the device and then carefully adjusts the sound mechanism. My Dad was a master of sonic perfection. Finally, it’s almost dark and Dad gets out to make a quick trip to the concession stand and bathroom. “You boys need to pee?” Mom asks.
“No ma’am,” we lied.
Just as the big screen begins it numeric countdown, Dad’s back with provisions. 4 hotdogs….two orders of fries….4 sodas of various sizes and a box of Tootsie Rolls. We sit on the edge of our seat with hotdog in mouth, soda in hand, fries in lap and eyes mesmerized on the gigantic screen that is now exploding to life in Technicolor with a Woody Woodpecker cartoon. After the “THE BLOB,” was over we used our empty soda cups to pee in and poured it out the window down the side of Dad’s car. We seldom ever remembered much about the second feature and as routine would have it, the next thing we knew, we were waking up in bed Saturday morning.
The Starlite drive-in will always hold a special place in my heart for all the wonderful movies and hotdogs I enjoyed there. A few years later, while in my teens, the drive-in once again served me well, as I became a man while parked on row 30 in the back seat of my 56 Ford….during the second feature.
Comments (20)
the way you tell it i feel like i was there with you all. Memories like this are Priceless!
C
@a_thousandmiles - It was good being a kid back then.
I have always wanted to go in a drive-in. Not sure if there are any where I live.. I loved hearing your story
There was one when I was a kid living in California. We never went. Your Friday night memories of movies at the drive in sound nice.
did your dad ever drive off with the speaker still attached? Oops. I suppose the theaters got used to fixing the things.
@Poledancer_Samantha - It was always an adventure. Before the feature started, Dad would sometimes hang out his window chatting with the car next to us and Mom would do the same on her side. People were just a lot friendlier back then.
@Erika_Steele - Very special. Bear in mind, back then there were no cable movies on TV…..just the theaters.
@whyzat - No, he took “speaker custodianship” very seriously.
I loved going to the drive in we also went on weekends it just depended on my sisters there were over 10 years older so one of them would take me with my sister Linda was already married when I was 6 so it was usually Linda and Ronnie that took me until he joined the Navy then it was just Linda and I. until she moved away to be with him… Then it was Maria and her husband that I tagged along with Daddy woul give me a 20 dollar bill to the evening at it would pay our way and furnish all the goodies… There was a play ground that all of us PJ clad kids would go play in between movies…
Yeppers those were the days
@SisterMae - Hard to relate those days to kids now.
I love all of your stories. i could read all day! We still have a drive in out here that i visit frequently in the summer
DRIVE INS ARE THE BEST!
@UncCharlie - yeah it isn’t the same as back in the day. I use to love the stories my dad and grandma told me about back during their times growing up, it sounded so much more fun. I was totally born in the wrong generation lol
@AllTrades - It’s kinda like being free….sort of.
@Poledancer_Samantha - What are you going to tell your grandkids?
@UncCharlie - I’ll tell them about all the fun times I had with my family and try to teach them the way my grandparents taught me about life and how to treat people.
So, here’s something interesting: We still have a drive-in nearby (that’s not the interesting part, though), and I STILL fall asleep during the second feature!! Just discovered that recently
This also brought back memories. Most of mine are when I was a teenage and we’d all pile into one car because you could get in for one price no matter how many people. LOL… There’s a drive in in Riverside, not far from where I live. It has movies on the weekend, after the swap meet is over. I will have to go one night just to see what it’s like.
Aww yes, well I became a man-err-woman in the back seat of the first ex husbands car when we were dating in the back row of the Harbor Drive In.
Then came the day when they started showing x rated movies and people quit going due to the lack of family quality entertainment.The Harbor Drive In is now a trailer park.
Saint Vi posted last week about Drive-ins…there’s nothing like ‘em!!
Terrific post sir.
I know of two, still running.
Shenkweilers in Oreville—Pennsy…and the Delsea Drive In in Vineland, NJ…