Looks like 1949 was definitely the Sunset’s opening year. The Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice includes the “350-car drive-in opened by Clyde Leeson” in Carthage in a list of theater openings.
ELDON, MO. – The new Ozark Theatre built here by Tom Edwards of the Edwards & Plumlee circuit to replace the house destroyed by fire last February is expected to be ready for opening about September 1. Constructed of concrete and brick, the new Ozark is virtually fireproof. A cry room will be one of the features of the house. The personal property of Edwards and his wife, the new Ozark will be managed by Bill Smith.
A YouTube video, shot in May 1959 by Rowe Carney Jr. and Tom Smith, shows a car’s-eye perspective of the Rolla Drive-In from the divided highway behind it. The back of the screen tower comes into view on the left side at about 2:58.
Sixty seconds with Google brought me to this page with a thorough rundown of average snowfall amounts for towns in New Mexico. Nearby Santa Fe averages almost two feet and even Carlsbad averages a couple of inches.
The Pueblo Drive-In that opened in June 1950 was on Native American land known as Tesuque, well north of downtown Santa Fe. Greer Enterprises essentially moved it to 3251 Cerrillos Road in May 1958, based on an April 13, 1958 note in The Santa Fe New Mexican: “The new location will provide room for 600 cars, compared with 400 in the old location”.
The story of the original Pueblo began in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
“SANTA FE – E. John Greer, president of Salmon & Greer, Inc., owner of the Lensic, Alley, Arco and El Paseo theatres here, says Santa Fe will have a new 400-car drive-in, located on the Taos highway 6½ miles north of town, just outside Tesuque.
Arrangements were made to build on Indian land with the U.S. Indian agency, Greer said. Plans call for a playground for children with slides, wings, ponies and a miniature train to be used just before the first of two nightly shows.
The drive-in will be equipped with in-car speakers, concessions bar, moonlight lighting, surfaced ramps and a 50-foot screen. Construction will start immediately and the drive-in will serve Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Tesuque, Espanola and the Espanola valley."
A Feb. 22, 1950 note in The Santa Fe New Mexican said that John H. Veale of Las Cruces was “nearing completion of a drive-in theater for the Salmon and Greer firm at Tesuque”.
The New Mexican wrote on May 21, 1950 that “Quincy Tahoma will have a series of his paintings hung permanently is a candy store connected with the Pueblo Drive-In theater at Tesuque.”
A June 26, 1950 editorial in the New Mexican wrote, “The Pueblo at Tesuque, the community’s first drive-in, is a beautiful structure, approved by even the nature boys of Pojoaque and Nambe. A second drive-in, the Yucca on Cerrillos road, is scheduled to open in a few days equally handsome and well equipped.”
A 1952 aerial shows a drive-in at the Google Maps address of 131 Peak Pl, Santa Fe, NM 87506, though it’s well outside the Santa Fe city limits and about a mile northwest of Tesuque’s boundary.
The Rolla Herald had a front-page story on the situation on Aug. 5, 1949:
Rowe E. Carney, Rolla theatre operator, has purchased the drive-in theatre under construction on Highway 66 east of Northwye from Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Hopkins and Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Hopkins.
Included in the purchase was a three-acre tract of ground between Highway 66 and the Frisco Railroad.
Cecil Hopkins had reported that the theatre would open tomorrow, but construction is not yet completed. …
Mr. Carney, who owns a chain of theatre in this area, had planned to build a drive-in theatre just north of the Pennant Hotel.
One of the first inklings was in the Aug. 6, 1949 issue of BoxOffice.
ROLLA, MO. – Rowe Carney, head of the R. E. Carney Theatres and former Mayor of Rolla, plans to spend $100,000 on the 500-car drive-in which he is constructing on Highway 66.
Another note in the same issue:
ROLLA, MO. – R. E. Carney, local theatre operator, has begun work on a $100,000 drive-in on Highway 66 just north of the Pennant hotel. The theatre will accommodate 550 cars and will have a 60x60-foot tower.
The Aug. 27 issue added a couple more names, “The drive-in theater being erected by Cecil and Roscoe Hopkins on Route 66 two miles east of Rolla, Mo., is expected to be ready for opening within the next two weeks.”
A few more details in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
HENDERSON, KY. – The Dixie Drive-In on South 60 across from the ammonia plant has been opened here by Walter Miller and a partner. The drive-in now accommodates 100 cars and an expansion to a 750-car capacity is being planned.
The Ben Bolt Theatre was opened on Aug. 18, 1949, according to a note two days later in BoxOffice. It was built by Theatre Enterprises, Inc. “and named after the old song”. The first movie was It’s a Great Feeling.
“Two murals painted by Frank J. Zimmer, Los Angeles artist, are featured on the wall of the auditorium. Romance of the type suggested by the old song after which the theatre has been named is the theme of the murals, which are made more prominent with black light when the regular house lighting is low.”
The first guess at the opening date came in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice, “September 10 is expected to be the date when Warren Weber and Vic Harris will open the 500-car drive-in which they are building at a cost of approximately $75,000 on Grant avenue between Junction City and Ft. Riley, Kas.”
The Sunset opened some time in the summer of 1949. The May 14, 1949 issue of Box Office reported: “George McCormick, owner of theatres (in Denver), has started building a 300-car drive-in at Canon City.” The Aug. 20, 1949 issue said that the 275-car Sunset had opened. Its first movie was Mickey.
The drive-in’s first appearance (as “Drive-In”) in the Film Daily Year Book was the 1950 edition.
METROPOLIS, ILL. – The 600-car El Capitan Drive-In Theatre on Route 45 one mile west of here has been sold by Russell Baker to Malco Theatres of Memphis, Tenn., headed by M. A. Lightman. The drive-in was opened last April. Its acquisition marks the entry of the Malco Theatres into the St. Louis film trade territory.
There was a two-page article about the new Sky-Vue in the Aug. 6, 1949 issue of BoxOffice. The drive-in cost $300,000 and had a section of 650 seats for walk-in patrons down near the screen. The Sky-Vue was managed by Bob Kilgore.
Why and about when the New Theatre became Gay were in the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
CHARLESTON, MO. – Manager Ed Burns has changed the name of the New Theatre to the Gay to avoid confusion with the McCutchen, newest local theatre which is referred to by townspeople as the “new” theatre.
PONTIAC, ILL. – A drive-in is under construction at the intersection of Route 23 and old Route 66. It is expected to open the last part of this month with Ken and Mart Murray of Bloomington in charge.
SPRINGFIELD, MO. – The local drive-in has sued the nearby Sunshine baseball park for $10,000 damages as the result of the floodlights from the park. The suit forced several changes in the semipro baseball schedules.
The July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice verified the opening date and added more details:
SIKESTON, MO. – O. D. Clayton, local automobile dealer, was to open his 400-car drive-in adjacent to Highways 60 and 61 Saturday (23). Associated with Clayton in the Sikeston Drive-In are S. Potashnick and M. Ralph. This is the second drive-in in the Sikeston area to open for the 1949 season. Earl Ferrell of Charleston, Mo., opened his drive-in near here July 1.
PRATT, KAS. – Expected to open the last of this month, the 250-car drive-in on Highway 54 a mile east of town features pink stucco buildings with a paved area for outdoor tables and chairs, a fenced in playground and a special parking ramp for trucks.
This looks like the same place. From the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “CAIRO, ILL. – The 500-car Cairo Drive-In on U.S. No. 51 at Patierdale, a mile north of town, which had been operating nightly since June 17, had a formal opening on July 9. Fred Sullivan, owner, reports the cost was approximately $100,000.”
Sullivan also reported plans to build a second screen to serve a segregated section for blacks.
Perhaps someone else built and opened the Starlite? A note in the July 22, 1949 issue of BoxOffice simply reported, “The Black Hills Amusement Co. has bought the drive-in near Rapid City, S. D.”
Curbed Atlanta ran an article today about a free movie event at Center Hill Park in Bankhead that its organizer hopes will lead to bringing back the Bankhead Drive-In Theatre.
The July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice provided an approximate opening date:
PUEBLO – An overflow crowd attended the opening of the Lake Drive-In on U.S. 85 south of the city. Manager Donald Mayne reported parking ramps were inadequate to accommodate the motorists who attended and many parked in the area away from car speakers where they could see but not hear.
The July 2, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported that the Sunset, owned by Johnnie Blocker, opened June 3. But the July 16 issue reported that he’d already disposed of it, “Johnnie Blocker has sold his Sunset Drive-In in Amarillo to W. O. Bearden, who also owns the Train Drive-In there; and the Arcadia and Chief theatres in Lubbock.”
Looks like 1949 was definitely the Sunset’s opening year. The Sept. 3, 1949 issue of BoxOffice includes the “350-car drive-in opened by Clyde Leeson” in Carthage in a list of theater openings.
From the Aug. 27, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
ELDON, MO. – The new Ozark Theatre built here by Tom Edwards of the Edwards & Plumlee circuit to replace the house destroyed by fire last February is expected to be ready for opening about September 1. Constructed of concrete and brick, the new Ozark is virtually fireproof. A cry room will be one of the features of the house. The personal property of Edwards and his wife, the new Ozark will be managed by Bill Smith.
There’s an excellent wide-screen video of the Uptown as it appeared in October 1966 on YouTube.
A YouTube video, shot in May 1959 by Rowe Carney Jr. and Tom Smith, shows a car’s-eye perspective of the Rolla Drive-In from the divided highway behind it. The back of the screen tower comes into view on the left side at about 2:58.
Sixty seconds with Google brought me to this page with a thorough rundown of average snowfall amounts for towns in New Mexico. Nearby Santa Fe averages almost two feet and even Carlsbad averages a couple of inches.
The Pueblo Drive-In that opened in June 1950 was on Native American land known as Tesuque, well north of downtown Santa Fe. Greer Enterprises essentially moved it to 3251 Cerrillos Road in May 1958, based on an April 13, 1958 note in The Santa Fe New Mexican: “The new location will provide room for 600 cars, compared with 400 in the old location”.
The story of the original Pueblo began in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
“SANTA FE – E. John Greer, president of Salmon & Greer, Inc., owner of the Lensic, Alley, Arco and El Paseo theatres here, says Santa Fe will have a new 400-car drive-in, located on the Taos highway 6½ miles north of town, just outside Tesuque.
Arrangements were made to build on Indian land with the U.S. Indian agency, Greer said. Plans call for a playground for children with slides, wings, ponies and a miniature train to be used just before the first of two nightly shows.
The drive-in will be equipped with in-car speakers, concessions bar, moonlight lighting, surfaced ramps and a 50-foot screen. Construction will start immediately and the drive-in will serve Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Tesuque, Espanola and the Espanola valley."
A Feb. 22, 1950 note in The Santa Fe New Mexican said that John H. Veale of Las Cruces was “nearing completion of a drive-in theater for the Salmon and Greer firm at Tesuque”.
The New Mexican wrote on May 21, 1950 that “Quincy Tahoma will have a series of his paintings hung permanently is a candy store connected with the Pueblo Drive-In theater at Tesuque.”
A June 26, 1950 editorial in the New Mexican wrote, “The Pueblo at Tesuque, the community’s first drive-in, is a beautiful structure, approved by even the nature boys of Pojoaque and Nambe. A second drive-in, the Yucca on Cerrillos road, is scheduled to open in a few days equally handsome and well equipped.”
A 1952 aerial shows a drive-in at the Google Maps address of 131 Peak Pl, Santa Fe, NM 87506, though it’s well outside the Santa Fe city limits and about a mile northwest of Tesuque’s boundary.
The Rolla Herald had a front-page story on the situation on Aug. 5, 1949:
Rowe E. Carney, Rolla theatre operator, has purchased the drive-in theatre under construction on Highway 66 east of Northwye from Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Hopkins and Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe Hopkins.
Included in the purchase was a three-acre tract of ground between Highway 66 and the Frisco Railroad.
Cecil Hopkins had reported that the theatre would open tomorrow, but construction is not yet completed. …
Mr. Carney, who owns a chain of theatre in this area, had planned to build a drive-in theatre just north of the Pennant Hotel.
One of the first inklings was in the Aug. 6, 1949 issue of BoxOffice.
ROLLA, MO. – Rowe Carney, head of the R. E. Carney Theatres and former Mayor of Rolla, plans to spend $100,000 on the 500-car drive-in which he is constructing on Highway 66.
Another note in the same issue:
ROLLA, MO. – R. E. Carney, local theatre operator, has begun work on a $100,000 drive-in on Highway 66 just north of the Pennant hotel. The theatre will accommodate 550 cars and will have a 60x60-foot tower.
The Aug. 27 issue added a couple more names, “The drive-in theater being erected by Cecil and Roscoe Hopkins on Route 66 two miles east of Rolla, Mo., is expected to be ready for opening within the next two weeks.”
A few more details in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
HENDERSON, KY. – The Dixie Drive-In on South 60 across from the ammonia plant has been opened here by Walter Miller and a partner. The drive-in now accommodates 100 cars and an expansion to a 750-car capacity is being planned.
The Ben Bolt Theatre was opened on Aug. 18, 1949, according to a note two days later in BoxOffice. It was built by Theatre Enterprises, Inc. “and named after the old song”. The first movie was It’s a Great Feeling.
“Two murals painted by Frank J. Zimmer, Los Angeles artist, are featured on the wall of the auditorium. Romance of the type suggested by the old song after which the theatre has been named is the theme of the murals, which are made more prominent with black light when the regular house lighting is low.”
The first guess at the opening date came in the Aug. 20, 1949 issue of BoxOffice, “September 10 is expected to be the date when Warren Weber and Vic Harris will open the 500-car drive-in which they are building at a cost of approximately $75,000 on Grant avenue between Junction City and Ft. Riley, Kas.”
The Sunset opened some time in the summer of 1949. The May 14, 1949 issue of Box Office reported: “George McCormick, owner of theatres (in Denver), has started building a 300-car drive-in at Canon City.” The Aug. 20, 1949 issue said that the 275-car Sunset had opened. Its first movie was Mickey.
The drive-in’s first appearance (as “Drive-In”) in the Film Daily Year Book was the 1950 edition.
Based on its Grand Opening ad, the Chico opened April 28, 1950 with Vincent Price starring in The Baron of Arizona.
From the Aug. 13, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
METROPOLIS, ILL. – The 600-car El Capitan Drive-In Theatre on Route 45 one mile west of here has been sold by Russell Baker to Malco Theatres of Memphis, Tenn., headed by M. A. Lightman. The drive-in was opened last April. Its acquisition marks the entry of the Malco Theatres into the St. Louis film trade territory.
There was a two-page article about the new Sky-Vue in the Aug. 6, 1949 issue of BoxOffice. The drive-in cost $300,000 and had a section of 650 seats for walk-in patrons down near the screen. The Sky-Vue was managed by Bob Kilgore.
Why and about when the New Theatre became Gay were in the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
CHARLESTON, MO. – Manager Ed Burns has changed the name of the New Theatre to the Gay to avoid confusion with the McCutchen, newest local theatre which is referred to by townspeople as the “new” theatre.
From the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
PONTIAC, ILL. – A drive-in is under construction at the intersection of Route 23 and old Route 66. It is expected to open the last part of this month with Ken and Mart Murray of Bloomington in charge.
From the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
SPRINGFIELD, MO. – The local drive-in has sued the nearby Sunshine baseball park for $10,000 damages as the result of the floodlights from the park. The suit forced several changes in the semipro baseball schedules.
The July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice verified the opening date and added more details:
SIKESTON, MO. – O. D. Clayton, local automobile dealer, was to open his 400-car drive-in adjacent to Highways 60 and 61 Saturday (23). Associated with Clayton in the Sikeston Drive-In are S. Potashnick and M. Ralph. This is the second drive-in in the Sikeston area to open for the 1949 season. Earl Ferrell of Charleston, Mo., opened his drive-in near here July 1.
From the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice:
PRATT, KAS. – Expected to open the last of this month, the 250-car drive-in on Highway 54 a mile east of town features pink stucco buildings with a paved area for outdoor tables and chairs, a fenced in playground and a special parking ramp for trucks.
This looks like the same place. From the July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice: “CAIRO, ILL. – The 500-car Cairo Drive-In on U.S. No. 51 at Patierdale, a mile north of town, which had been operating nightly since June 17, had a formal opening on July 9. Fred Sullivan, owner, reports the cost was approximately $100,000.”
Sullivan also reported plans to build a second screen to serve a segregated section for blacks.
Perhaps someone else built and opened the Starlite? A note in the July 22, 1949 issue of BoxOffice simply reported, “The Black Hills Amusement Co. has bought the drive-in near Rapid City, S. D.”
Curbed Atlanta ran an article today about a free movie event at Center Hill Park in Bankhead that its organizer hopes will lead to bringing back the Bankhead Drive-In Theatre.
The July 23, 1949 issue of BoxOffice provided an approximate opening date:
PUEBLO – An overflow crowd attended the opening of the Lake Drive-In on U.S. 85 south of the city. Manager Donald Mayne reported parking ramps were inadequate to accommodate the motorists who attended and many parked in the area away from car speakers where they could see but not hear.
The July 2, 1949 issue of BoxOffice reported that the Sunset, owned by Johnnie Blocker, opened June 3. But the July 16 issue reported that he’d already disposed of it, “Johnnie Blocker has sold his Sunset Drive-In in Amarillo to W. O. Bearden, who also owns the Train Drive-In there; and the Arcadia and Chief theatres in Lubbock.”