After spending a lot of time with back issues of the McLean News, I feel confident in saying that this drive-in was always known as the Derby. Its final ad in that newspaper was July 19, 1973.
A few years later, the Cowboy Drive-In restaurant opened in a different part of McLean, which might have confused some drive-in historians here.
From the Oct. 20, 1965 Motion Picture Exhibitor: “The Olympic Drive-In on St. Charles Rock Road in the County has been the target of frequent raids by police and of a newly formed decent films committee in an attempt to close the theatre for allegedly showing obscene films.”
The Pico Drive-In closed on Oct. 1, 1944, showing Double Indemnity and Candlelight in Algeria, per its listings in The Los Angeles Times. Its Oct. 2 listing read “Closed. Watch for Opening Date.”
A hint of the timing on the triplexing was provided by The Los Angeles Times on June 10, 1979: “The 1,600-car, 25-year-old Rosecrans Drive-In is being remodeled to accommodate three screens and more than 2,000 cars.”
Fun note from the July 2, 1962 issue of BoxOffice:
HASTINGS, NEB.— Fred Teller of the Hastings Drive-In is convinced he must hold the national record for the lowest per-person admission, a record established on a recent buck night.
Teller said a man approached him and asked how many persons would be admitted for $1.
“All that are in one vehicle,” Teller answered.
The man left and returned shortly in a bus loaded with 27 Iowa school children and three adults on a tour of South-Central Nebraska. He paid $1, drove in and parked the bus sideways so all could see the picture.
Teller said he figured the per-person cost something like 3⅓ cents, a record he has no desire to break."
Looks like the original name was not so much “cine” as in “cinematic” but more like “see in a”. Or maybe the pun was really that clever.
From the Cypress (CA) Enterprise, April 21, 1950: “Tuesday night will be Benefit night at the C-Ina-Car drive-in theatre one mile east of Cypress. The proceeds will go to the Cypress and Artesia posts to be used as they please. … In announcing the VFW night at the C-Ina-Car theatre, co-owner William Montgomery said that the regular prices would prevail, fifty cents for adults including tax, and all children under 12 are admitted free. The public is invited to attend."
This looks similar to the photos I saw in the Albuquerque Journal about the 66 site after its screen had been razed. The city had run the place as a BMX racing track for a couple of years, matching some of the letters on the old sign.
That must have been some screen mural. A May 10, 2000 editorial in the Albuquerque Journal called it “some of the state’s best neon, … the giant, dancing flamenco couple on East Central’s now-gone Terrace Drive-In.”
An Oct. 28, 1995 Journal editorial reminisced, “For many small children in Albuquerque in the 1950s, one of the city’s most beautiful sights was the 92-foot-high, neon dancing lady at the Terrace Drive-In entrance. There was plenty of time to study her swirling, glowing skirt.”
A Feb. 26, 1984 Journal story wrote, “a Spanish dancer’s ruffled neon skirts swirled nightly behind the big screen of the Terrace Drive-In Theater.”
And a July 19, 1981 Journal story might have been the highest praise of all. “And between 1951 and June 1980, there was a queen of the (neon) tubes, an empress of electricity who presided over this phosphorescent firmament. She stood some 70 feet high, and nearly 50 feet wide when she flapped her arms. She glowed in every basic color. She was the Spanish dancing lady who sashayed her ruffled red-and-blue skirt above generations of Albuquerqueans, the neon symbol of the Terrace Drive-In.”
Even earlier! That photo is included in the Roll-a-Grill ad in the Oct. 10, 1953 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It’s probably in the public domain by now.
That photo is from The Amarillo Globe-Times of April 22, 1948, in a story explaining that the Trail’s opening had been delayed by heavy rains at the wrong time.
The Oklahoma Route 66 tourist guide that I picked up while passing through says that’s the Guardian of the Mother Road Mural, designed by Tulsa-based Rick Sinnett. The bird is a scissor-tailed flycatcher, the Oklahoma state bird.
This photo was also used in Lynne Rostochil’s essay on the Founders District at OKCMod.com.
Rather than indicate credits for each of the article’s many photos, they’re lumped together at the end: “Photo credits:
Vonnee Gregg/Curtis Burga collection; OKC Talk; Oklahoma History Center;
OPUBCO Collection – OHC;
Allison collection – Retro Metro OKC;
Metropolitan Library System – Oklahoma City collection;
Fritzler collection;
Isaac Harper;
Drake Sorey collection;
Googlemaps” So the answer’s in there somewhere.
The July 1964 issue of International Projectionist had an article with details of the workings of the system, followed by this note: “Local 423 in August (1963?) signed its first contract with the Circle Drive-In Theatre. Under terms of the one-year agreement, some concessions were made because the project is experimental. The projectionist spends an average of 15 minutes per day checking the mirrors for alignment.”
Hey, moviesjs9144! I would like to get your permission to use a couple of the photos you’ve uploaded in my upcoming book. Could you please drop me an email at mkilgore@carload.com?
I don’t have a good closing date for the Grande except for what I read here on CT. USGS aerials showed in active in March 1980. The Motion Picture Almanac listed it through its final drive-in list in 1988, which means almost nothing. The MPA said it was owned by Eli Schwartz in 1955-66, Grande Invs. in 1977-82, and J. Jaeger in 1983-88. The ownership change in 1983 suggests it was open at least that long. A 1996 aerial showed the Grande dismantled by then.
Separately, Myron S. Woodcock’s obituary said he “owned and operated the Berwan Theatre and the Grande Drive-In, at Sullivan”.
A small Grand Opening ad for the Grande ran in the Franklin County Tribune (Union MO) on Aug. 22, 1952. The trade magazine The Exhibitor chimed in on Sept. 3 to say “In Sullivan, Mo., the Grande Drive-In has been opened by A. Schwartz, who also owns and operates the Grande Cafe and the Grande Tourist Court. His son, Eli Schwartz, is manager.”
But the local Sullivan Tri-County News, which should have had the best knowledge of the place, wrote that the Grande Drive-In finally opened on Sept. 10, 1952. I’ve uploaded the Grand Opening ad from the Sullivan Tri-County News of the Thursday before and checked the following week to see a normal ad for the Grande – no mention of any further delays.
The News' Sept. 4 front page story about the Grande said that Mr. A. Schwartz was the owner and E. Schwartz was the manager. The screen tower was 60 feet high, and there were “individual car speakers at each of the 300 parking stands.”
I found the answer to that motor court. Sure enough, it was the New Grande Courts Motor Hotel, built in 1949 by Abe Schwartz. (Postcard here.) Since he owned both, I’ll bet that guests on the west side could see the movie.
The New Grande Courts later became the Hitching Post Motel, then the Family Motor Inn, and as of this writing, it’s a Motel 6.
Found it! Something looking very much like a defunct drive-in sat just where the auction ad described it. The drive-in was pretty obvious in a 1993 aerial, and you can still see the property outline today at what Google Maps calls an Unnamed Road about a half mile north of Middleton / Thompson West Road on the east side of US 27 just a bit south of the Colquitt city limits. The closest address that I could generate on Google Maps was 824 Martha Berry Highway, Colquitt, GA.
After spending a lot of time with back issues of the McLean News, I feel confident in saying that this drive-in was always known as the Derby. Its final ad in that newspaper was July 19, 1973.
A few years later, the Cowboy Drive-In restaurant opened in a different part of McLean, which might have confused some drive-in historians here.
From the Oct. 20, 1965 Motion Picture Exhibitor: “The Olympic Drive-In on St. Charles Rock Road in the County has been the target of frequent raids by police and of a newly formed decent films committee in an attempt to close the theatre for allegedly showing obscene films.”
The Pico Drive-In closed on Oct. 1, 1944, showing Double Indemnity and Candlelight in Algeria, per its listings in The Los Angeles Times. Its Oct. 2 listing read “Closed. Watch for Opening Date.”
The Olympic (re-)opened on April 4, 1945, showing Woman in the Window and Lost in a Harem, per its listings in The Los Angeles Times.
The August 18, 1948 issue of The Exhibitor relayed this tardy news, “Irving Gilmore is building a 500-car drive-in at Greeley, Colo.”
A hint of the timing on the triplexing was provided by The Los Angeles Times on June 10, 1979: “The 1,600-car, 25-year-old Rosecrans Drive-In is being remodeled to accommodate three screens and more than 2,000 cars.”
Hey Texas2step! I want to use one of your photos (not this one) in my book. Could you please drop me an email at mkil
Fun note from the July 2, 1962 issue of BoxOffice:
HASTINGS, NEB.— Fred Teller of the Hastings Drive-In is convinced he must hold the national record for the lowest per-person admission, a record established on a recent buck night.
Teller said a man approached him and asked how many persons would be admitted for $1.
“All that are in one vehicle,” Teller answered.
The man left and returned shortly in a bus loaded with 27 Iowa school children and three adults on a tour of South-Central Nebraska. He paid $1, drove in and parked the bus sideways so all could see the picture.
Teller said he figured the per-person cost something like 3⅓ cents, a record he has no desire to break."
Looks like the original name was not so much “cine” as in “cinematic” but more like “see in a”. Or maybe the pun was really that clever.
From the Cypress (CA) Enterprise, April 21, 1950: “Tuesday night will be Benefit night at the C-Ina-Car drive-in theatre one mile east of Cypress. The proceeds will go to the Cypress and Artesia posts to be used as they please. … In announcing the VFW night at the C-Ina-Car theatre, co-owner William Montgomery said that the regular prices would prevail, fifty cents for adults including tax, and all children under 12 are admitted free. The public is invited to attend."
This looks similar to the photos I saw in the Albuquerque Journal about the 66 site after its screen had been razed. The city had run the place as a BMX racing track for a couple of years, matching some of the letters on the old sign.
This is from the Feb. 14, 1948 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which is in the public domain
That must have been some screen mural. A May 10, 2000 editorial in the Albuquerque Journal called it “some of the state’s best neon, … the giant, dancing flamenco couple on East Central’s now-gone Terrace Drive-In.”
An Oct. 28, 1995 Journal editorial reminisced, “For many small children in Albuquerque in the 1950s, one of the city’s most beautiful sights was the 92-foot-high, neon dancing lady at the Terrace Drive-In entrance. There was plenty of time to study her swirling, glowing skirt.”
A Feb. 26, 1984 Journal story wrote, “a Spanish dancer’s ruffled neon skirts swirled nightly behind the big screen of the Terrace Drive-In Theater.”
And a July 19, 1981 Journal story might have been the highest praise of all. “And between 1951 and June 1980, there was a queen of the (neon) tubes, an empress of electricity who presided over this phosphorescent firmament. She stood some 70 feet high, and nearly 50 feet wide when she flapped her arms. She glowed in every basic color. She was the Spanish dancing lady who sashayed her ruffled red-and-blue skirt above generations of Albuquerqueans, the neon symbol of the Terrace Drive-In.”
Even earlier! That photo is included in the Roll-a-Grill ad in the Oct. 10, 1953 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It’s probably in the public domain by now.
That photo is from The Amarillo Globe-Times of April 22, 1948, in a story explaining that the Trail’s opening had been delayed by heavy rains at the wrong time.
The Oklahoma Route 66 tourist guide that I picked up while passing through says that’s the Guardian of the Mother Road Mural, designed by Tulsa-based Rick Sinnett. The bird is a scissor-tailed flycatcher, the Oklahoma state bird.
This photo was also used in Lynne Rostochil’s essay on the Founders District at OKCMod.com.
Rather than indicate credits for each of the article’s many photos, they’re lumped together at the end: “Photo credits: Vonnee Gregg/Curtis Burga collection; OKC Talk; Oklahoma History Center; OPUBCO Collection – OHC; Allison collection – Retro Metro OKC; Metropolitan Library System – Oklahoma City collection; Fritzler collection; Isaac Harper; Drake Sorey collection; Googlemaps” So the answer’s in there somewhere.
Currently listed for a mere $290,000. Some places you can’t buy a house at that price.
Then again, it is a fixer-upper.
The July 1964 issue of International Projectionist had an article with details of the workings of the system, followed by this note: “Local 423 in August (1963?) signed its first contract with the Circle Drive-In Theatre. Under terms of the one-year agreement, some concessions were made because the project is experimental. The projectionist spends an average of 15 minutes per day checking the mirrors for alignment.”
Hey, moviesjs9144! I would like to get your permission to use a couple of the photos you’ve uploaded in my upcoming book. Could you please drop me an email at mkil
I don’t have a good closing date for the Grande except for what I read here on CT. USGS aerials showed in active in March 1980. The Motion Picture Almanac listed it through its final drive-in list in 1988, which means almost nothing. The MPA said it was owned by Eli Schwartz in 1955-66, Grande Invs. in 1977-82, and J. Jaeger in 1983-88. The ownership change in 1983 suggests it was open at least that long. A 1996 aerial showed the Grande dismantled by then.
Separately, Myron S. Woodcock’s obituary said he “owned and operated the Berwan Theatre and the Grande Drive-In, at Sullivan”.
A small Grand Opening ad for the Grande ran in the Franklin County Tribune (Union MO) on Aug. 22, 1952. The trade magazine The Exhibitor chimed in on Sept. 3 to say “In Sullivan, Mo., the Grande Drive-In has been opened by A. Schwartz, who also owns and operates the Grande Cafe and the Grande Tourist Court. His son, Eli Schwartz, is manager.”
But the local Sullivan Tri-County News, which should have had the best knowledge of the place, wrote that the Grande Drive-In finally opened on Sept. 10, 1952. I’ve uploaded the Grand Opening ad from the Sullivan Tri-County News of the Thursday before and checked the following week to see a normal ad for the Grande – no mention of any further delays.
The News' Sept. 4 front page story about the Grande said that Mr. A. Schwartz was the owner and E. Schwartz was the manager. The screen tower was 60 feet high, and there were “individual car speakers at each of the 300 parking stands.”
I found the answer to that motor court. Sure enough, it was the New Grande Courts Motor Hotel, built in 1949 by Abe Schwartz. (Postcard here.) Since he owned both, I’ll bet that guests on the west side could see the movie.
The New Grande Courts later became the Hitching Post Motel, then the Family Motor Inn, and as of this writing, it’s a Motel 6.
Photographer Quinta Scott shows this photo on her page of Route 66 Photos of Missouri.
To amplify JAlex’s comment, the I-44’s final ad in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was Sunday, Sept. 23, 1984.
The Motion Picture Almanac drive-in lists always had the I-44’s capacity at 200 cars.
Found it! Something looking very much like a defunct drive-in sat just where the auction ad described it. The drive-in was pretty obvious in a 1993 aerial, and you can still see the property outline today at what Google Maps calls an Unnamed Road about a half mile north of Middleton / Thompson West Road on the east side of US 27 just a bit south of the Colquitt city limits. The closest address that I could generate on Google Maps was 824 Martha Berry Highway, Colquitt, GA.