Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “Work was completed recently on remodeling the Motor-In Theatre, pioneer ozoner in the northwest area. Improvements made to the drive-in included a new boxoffice, new entrance and exit, new fence and a large neon sign. The boxoffice, finished in sheet aluminum, was constructed by the National Blower and Sheet Metal Co. of Tacoma, according to Tom Jones, manager of the Motor-In.”
It sure looks like this drive-in opened as the Skylite.
The “Skylight” Drive-In, “one mile east of the College of Idaho on Highway 30,” opened on Sat., Aug. 7, 1948, according to a note in the previous day’s Idaho Statesman. J. F. Knuth of Meridian was the manager, and the drive-in was the third of a group of K and K outdoor theaters in the region.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog included the Skylite Drive-In, owner J. K. Knuth, capacity 250 cars. In the 1950-51 Catalog (which also included the “Motor View”), the owner changed to Moyle and Goodman. The Catalog’s next edition in 1952 dropped the Skylite, listing only the Motor-Vu and Terrace, owner Virgil Odell, capacity 300.
That lines up with a note in the Statesman on March 14, 1952, which said that Odell had purchased the Chief drive-in “two miles east of Caldwell from Rex and Marjorie Moyle of Star … The drivein will be renamed the Terrace and will open on March 18.” Boxoffice picked up that note a month later, as I posted here years ago.
Boxoffice, Sept. 4, 1948: “Orin J. Sears his wife and his son, have reopened their Apache Theatre at Elida, N. M. They have installed all brand new seats, machines, air conditioners and screen and have remodeled the building since closing July 1 for those repairs. All of the old equipment was sold to Mr. Yarbrough at House N. M. Sears started in business with the Alamente Theatre in Alamogordo in 1927, as an operator and sign writer at the age of 15. He has had the Apache since he returned from the army in September of 1945.”
More names. Boxoffice, Sept. 27, 1952: “James Cannon has bought the Apache, Elide (sic), N. M. from Raymond Keith”
Boxoffice, Aug. 28, 1948: “MISSOULA, MONT. - A 440-car drive-in will be opened here soon, according to Manager Bill Fower. It will be the second drive-in in Montana. The first was built in Billings last June.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “Cucamonga, Calif. - The town made famous to millions on the air by Jack Benny now claims another distinction - that of being the proud possessor of a genuine open-air theatre. It came about like this: Louis Torres, who used to operate the Lux in Los Angeles, had ambitious plans for the construction of the Cucamonga Theatre here. Then that popular modern plague - material shortages - hit him, hard. He wound up with four walls, but no roof. Undaunted, Torres opened on schedule. Business is just fine, he reports.”
The 1950 Film Daily Year Book listed the Mexico with 300 seats at 547 24th Street. That’s a valid address, but it’s in the middle of a block of single-family houses, so I don’t know.
A June 1921 Paramount ad in the Spokane Spokesman-Review included the Mabton in a list of theaters showing a week of Paramount movies.
The Spokesman-Review wrote in October 1936 that the Mabton theater, “scarcely a year old,” had reopened. Its owner, P. L. Carpenter, had closed it for a week of renovations including dropping the floor and enlarging the stage.
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “MABTON, WASH. - Two Yakima valley fire departments were called to fight a fire in the Liberty Theatre here recently, but despite all efforts the theatre was destroyed … The blaze began near the righthand corner of the screen, at 8 p. m. while 20 patrons were attending the show. The Liberty building is owned by Art Work and Vernett Grow, both of Mabton, and the theatre was operated by Bill Carey … Mabton will not be without theatre entertainment long. The new theatre being built by Vern Powell is expected to open within the next two months.”
Lorena Powell, Vern’s wife, told the Sunnyside Sun 29 years later that in 1948, she and her husband “went into hock to build the Mabton Theater which included rentals, private living quarters for the Powells and Doris’s Beauty Salon … The last picture shown in the theater was on the last Saturday of January 1976.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “HAXTON, COLO. - Mrs. Lucille Campbell of Denver has purchased the Rialto Theatre here from Sam Feinstein, who gave ill health as his reason for selling. Mrs. Campbell will be assisted in the operation of the enterprise by her son Neal.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 3, 1951: “In Haxtun, Colo., the Rialto Theatre booked special programs during the annual corn show and festival. Free admissions prevailed for three hours on a Friday afternoon.”
Boxoffice, July 31, 1948: “DEXTER, N. M. - Joe H. Gray and Belle Hurst have announced the opening of their new theatre here. It is the only house is Dexter and seats 228 people. Gray said programs would be changed four times a week and that matinees would be given every Saturday and Sunday.”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “L. A. Wirtz, manager of the $200,000 Salem Drive-In recently opened here, announced that the theatre was scheduled to operate on a year-around schedule regardless of the weather. The drive-in was developed by Albert and William Forman and Ted and William Gamble of Portland.”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “The Hyland Drive-In, 3670 Highland drive, opened this week to become the fourth outdoor theatre here (in Salt Lake City). It is owned and operated by Golden P. Wright. It was built and equipped by Intermountain Theatre Supply.”
From the July 10, 1948 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain. The original caption:
NEW SAN PEDRO SIGNS - Henry Sorenson of Modern Theatre Equipment Co. of Dallas reports he has equipped the San Pedro Drive at San Antonio complete from signs, marquee, projection and in-car sound equipment to ticket booth accessories. The owners are Al Wolf, former Warner Bros. employe, and Charles Albert, San Antonio businessman. The 500-car airer cost $160,000. The photos show night and day shots of the San Pedro’s huge sign and marquee.
Boxoffice, July 10, 1948: “As many outdoor theatres reported terrific business in this area, another ozoner opened its doors. The 600-car Geneva Drive-In was built north of Provo in the fast-growing Orem district by the Superior Amusement Co., headed by Don Clyde, Maurice Miller and Veigh Cummings. The ozoner has a modernistic boxoffice of glass blocks and a restaurant at the entrance.”
According to my reading of Historic Aerials and Google Maps, Chula Vista was both across Main Street and across Industrial Boulevard from the Big Sky site. So it was close, but the drive-in really was in today’s San Diego, if those maps are to be believed.
I’m not so sure about the closing date. The San Francisco News' list of movies on Nov. 14, 1951 included the 19th Avenue’s double feature of “Flying Leathernecks: and "Wabash Avenue.”
Exhibitor, May 30, 1951: “The 19th Avenue Drive-In, San Mateo, Cal., is the first outdoor theatre to drop prices. Operated by H. G. Price, Inc., for General Theatrical, the ozoner now admits a car, regardless of the number of passengers, for $1.”
Exhibitor, Dec. 5, 1951: “General Theatrical closed its 19th Avenue Drive-In, San Mateo, Cal., for the winter.”
“The Paneros' theater on Central Avenue near Five Points, which opened in May 1937, was still a state-of-the-art venue 10 years later, with its curving design features and rich decor. The front of the building had a rounded, opaque glass wall that gave diffuse light inside the lobby and a projection above with its name – SHAFTER – in large neon letters. The box office stood on the left side under the overhang, and inside the swinging doors there was the long candy counter to the left near the box office door. Across the lobby a wide, graceful ramp led down to the beautifully tiled bathrooms. Beyond the inner lobby doors there was thick, richly patterned carpeting that covered the floor between the lower seating and the loges above, a total of 750 seats.”
That’s part of an excellent theater-based memoir article by Dolly Hei in the Shafter Historical Society’s newsletter via the Wacso Tribune of April 8, 2021.
The Pine Breeze appeared in the 1951 Film Daily Year Book and the 1950-51 Theatre Catalog, which listed its capacity as 363 cars. In 1953, it was run by United-California, aka Golden State Theatres.
Joe Bob Briggs, July 31, 1987: “The Mo Kan Drive-In, which sets smack on the Missouri-Kansas state line of Highway 69 near Fort Scott, Kan., is full of cars - smashed-up rusty junk cars. Sometime last year they turned it into a salvage yard.”
Jeff Schaeffer of Key West, Fla., writing to Joe Bob Briggs, July 15, 1988: “It is my sad duty to inform you of the impending demise of what is probably the best drive-in in the whole U.S. of A. - the Stock Island Drive-In in Key West. What makes this drive-in different from all others? Well, it’s built out over the water on Cow Key channel, and to my knowledge it’s the only drive-in in the U.S. where you can fish for snappers and groupers while watching the flick. In fact, there is a place in the back where you can fish from both sides of the car. This was a beautiful place where generations of kids learned math by counting heads, drank beer and caught their next day’s breakfast, but it’s going to be taken over by the Monroe County Land Authority. They plan to use it for the godless activity called affordable housing.”
Joe Bob Briggs, July 14, 1989: “The Starlite Drive-In, on "the old highway” outside of Ashland, Ore., put up a “Closed For The Season” sign - about 18 months ago. How long is the goldurn season? Drive-in fan Max X. Smith reports it’s Communist anti-porno geeks that caused it."
Joe Bob Briggs, Nov. 24, 1989: “The screen from the Starlite Drive-In in Chico, Calif., is becoming the centerfield fence at Butte College. The Starlite was one of the oldest in California, opening in 1939 (sic?), but had been dark the last three years. They had to tear it down, though, because they needed a hay field. Disgusting.”
Joe Bob Briggs, May 2, 1990: “The Frontier Drive-In on Highway 199 just outside Cave Junction, Ore., has a big "For Sale” sign on it, and the wind is not only whipping through the pines around the screen - it’s whipping through the screen."
Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “Yakima is enjoying its sister-city’s new theatre, the Selah, located on the highway just south of the city limits.”
Boxoffice, Sept. 11, 1948: “Work was completed recently on remodeling the Motor-In Theatre, pioneer ozoner in the northwest area. Improvements made to the drive-in included a new boxoffice, new entrance and exit, new fence and a large neon sign. The boxoffice, finished in sheet aluminum, was constructed by the National Blower and Sheet Metal Co. of Tacoma, according to Tom Jones, manager of the Motor-In.”
It sure looks like this drive-in opened as the Skylite.
The “Skylight” Drive-In, “one mile east of the College of Idaho on Highway 30,” opened on Sat., Aug. 7, 1948, according to a note in the previous day’s Idaho Statesman. J. F. Knuth of Meridian was the manager, and the drive-in was the third of a group of K and K outdoor theaters in the region.
The 1949-50 Theatre Catalog included the Skylite Drive-In, owner J. K. Knuth, capacity 250 cars. In the 1950-51 Catalog (which also included the “Motor View”), the owner changed to Moyle and Goodman. The Catalog’s next edition in 1952 dropped the Skylite, listing only the Motor-Vu and Terrace, owner Virgil Odell, capacity 300.
That lines up with a note in the Statesman on March 14, 1952, which said that Odell had purchased the Chief drive-in “two miles east of Caldwell from Rex and Marjorie Moyle of Star … The drivein will be renamed the Terrace and will open on March 18.” Boxoffice picked up that note a month later, as I posted here years ago.
Boxoffice, Sept. 4, 1948: “Orin J. Sears his wife and his son, have reopened their Apache Theatre at Elida, N. M. They have installed all brand new seats, machines, air conditioners and screen and have remodeled the building since closing July 1 for those repairs. All of the old equipment was sold to Mr. Yarbrough at House N. M. Sears started in business with the Alamente Theatre in Alamogordo in 1927, as an operator and sign writer at the age of 15. He has had the Apache since he returned from the army in September of 1945.”
More names. Boxoffice, Sept. 27, 1952: “James Cannon has bought the Apache, Elide (sic), N. M. from Raymond Keith”
Boxoffice, Aug. 28, 1948: “MISSOULA, MONT. - A 440-car drive-in will be opened here soon, according to Manager Bill Fower. It will be the second drive-in in Montana. The first was built in Billings last June.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “Cucamonga, Calif. - The town made famous to millions on the air by Jack Benny now claims another distinction - that of being the proud possessor of a genuine open-air theatre. It came about like this: Louis Torres, who used to operate the Lux in Los Angeles, had ambitious plans for the construction of the Cucamonga Theatre here. Then that popular modern plague - material shortages - hit him, hard. He wound up with four walls, but no roof. Undaunted, Torres opened on schedule. Business is just fine, he reports.”
The 1950 Film Daily Year Book listed the Mexico with 300 seats at 547 24th Street. That’s a valid address, but it’s in the middle of a block of single-family houses, so I don’t know.
A June 1921 Paramount ad in the Spokane Spokesman-Review included the Mabton in a list of theaters showing a week of Paramount movies.
The Spokesman-Review wrote in October 1936 that the Mabton theater, “scarcely a year old,” had reopened. Its owner, P. L. Carpenter, had closed it for a week of renovations including dropping the floor and enlarging the stage.
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “MABTON, WASH. - Two Yakima valley fire departments were called to fight a fire in the Liberty Theatre here recently, but despite all efforts the theatre was destroyed … The blaze began near the righthand corner of the screen, at 8 p. m. while 20 patrons were attending the show. The Liberty building is owned by Art Work and Vernett Grow, both of Mabton, and the theatre was operated by Bill Carey … Mabton will not be without theatre entertainment long. The new theatre being built by Vern Powell is expected to open within the next two months.”
Lorena Powell, Vern’s wife, told the Sunnyside Sun 29 years later that in 1948, she and her husband “went into hock to build the Mabton Theater which included rentals, private living quarters for the Powells and Doris’s Beauty Salon … The last picture shown in the theater was on the last Saturday of January 1976.”
Boxoffice, Aug. 21, 1948: “HAXTON, COLO. - Mrs. Lucille Campbell of Denver has purchased the Rialto Theatre here from Sam Feinstein, who gave ill health as his reason for selling. Mrs. Campbell will be assisted in the operation of the enterprise by her son Neal.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 3, 1951: “In Haxtun, Colo., the Rialto Theatre booked special programs during the annual corn show and festival. Free admissions prevailed for three hours on a Friday afternoon.”
Boxoffice, July 31, 1948: “DEXTER, N. M. - Joe H. Gray and Belle Hurst have announced the opening of their new theatre here. It is the only house is Dexter and seats 228 people. Gray said programs would be changed four times a week and that matinees would be given every Saturday and Sunday.”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “L. A. Wirtz, manager of the $200,000 Salem Drive-In recently opened here, announced that the theatre was scheduled to operate on a year-around schedule regardless of the weather. The drive-in was developed by Albert and William Forman and Ted and William Gamble of Portland.”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “The Hyland Drive-In, 3670 Highland drive, opened this week to become the fourth outdoor theatre here (in Salt Lake City). It is owned and operated by Golden P. Wright. It was built and equipped by Intermountain Theatre Supply.”
From the July 10, 1948 issue of Boxoffice, which is in the public domain. The original caption:
NEW SAN PEDRO SIGNS - Henry Sorenson of Modern Theatre Equipment Co. of Dallas reports he has equipped the San Pedro Drive at San Antonio complete from signs, marquee, projection and in-car sound equipment to ticket booth accessories. The owners are Al Wolf, former Warner Bros. employe, and Charles Albert, San Antonio businessman. The 500-car airer cost $160,000. The photos show night and day shots of the San Pedro’s huge sign and marquee.
Boxoffice, July 10, 1948: “As many outdoor theatres reported terrific business in this area, another ozoner opened its doors. The 600-car Geneva Drive-In was built north of Provo in the fast-growing Orem district by the Superior Amusement Co., headed by Don Clyde, Maurice Miller and Veigh Cummings. The ozoner has a modernistic boxoffice of glass blocks and a restaurant at the entrance.”
Boxoffice, July 10, 1948: “A. R. Larson and L. L. Gillette have opened their new 500-car Motor-Vue Drive-In north of Bellingham”
According to my reading of Historic Aerials and Google Maps, Chula Vista was both across Main Street and across Industrial Boulevard from the Big Sky site. So it was close, but the drive-in really was in today’s San Diego, if those maps are to be believed.
I’m not so sure about the closing date. The San Francisco News' list of movies on Nov. 14, 1951 included the 19th Avenue’s double feature of “Flying Leathernecks: and "Wabash Avenue.”
Exhibitor, May 30, 1951: “The 19th Avenue Drive-In, San Mateo, Cal., is the first outdoor theatre to drop prices. Operated by H. G. Price, Inc., for General Theatrical, the ozoner now admits a car, regardless of the number of passengers, for $1.”
Exhibitor, Dec. 5, 1951: “General Theatrical closed its 19th Avenue Drive-In, San Mateo, Cal., for the winter.”
Facebook user Lee Fox wrote that the Del-Kern opened on Sept. 6, 1950.
First sighting in the directories was in the 1950-51 Theatre Catalog: “Del Kern Dr. Exec: Panero Ct. (M12-C375-D7)”
Hyphenated or not, please note the single L.
“The Paneros' theater on Central Avenue near Five Points, which opened in May 1937, was still a state-of-the-art venue 10 years later, with its curving design features and rich decor. The front of the building had a rounded, opaque glass wall that gave diffuse light inside the lobby and a projection above with its name – SHAFTER – in large neon letters. The box office stood on the left side under the overhang, and inside the swinging doors there was the long candy counter to the left near the box office door. Across the lobby a wide, graceful ramp led down to the beautifully tiled bathrooms. Beyond the inner lobby doors there was thick, richly patterned carpeting that covered the floor between the lower seating and the loges above, a total of 750 seats.”
That’s part of an excellent theater-based memoir article by Dolly Hei in the Shafter Historical Society’s newsletter via the Wacso Tribune of April 8, 2021.
The Pine Breeze appeared in the 1951 Film Daily Year Book and the 1950-51 Theatre Catalog, which listed its capacity as 363 cars. In 1953, it was run by United-California, aka Golden State Theatres.
Joe Bob Briggs, July 31, 1987: “The Mo Kan Drive-In, which sets smack on the Missouri-Kansas state line of Highway 69 near Fort Scott, Kan., is full of cars - smashed-up rusty junk cars. Sometime last year they turned it into a salvage yard.”
Jeff Schaeffer of Key West, Fla., writing to Joe Bob Briggs, July 15, 1988: “It is my sad duty to inform you of the impending demise of what is probably the best drive-in in the whole U.S. of A. - the Stock Island Drive-In in Key West. What makes this drive-in different from all others? Well, it’s built out over the water on Cow Key channel, and to my knowledge it’s the only drive-in in the U.S. where you can fish for snappers and groupers while watching the flick. In fact, there is a place in the back where you can fish from both sides of the car. This was a beautiful place where generations of kids learned math by counting heads, drank beer and caught their next day’s breakfast, but it’s going to be taken over by the Monroe County Land Authority. They plan to use it for the godless activity called affordable housing.”
Joe Bob Briggs, July 14, 1989: “The Starlite Drive-In, on "the old highway” outside of Ashland, Ore., put up a “Closed For The Season” sign - about 18 months ago. How long is the goldurn season? Drive-in fan Max X. Smith reports it’s Communist anti-porno geeks that caused it."
Joe Bob Briggs, Nov. 24, 1989: “The screen from the Starlite Drive-In in Chico, Calif., is becoming the centerfield fence at Butte College. The Starlite was one of the oldest in California, opening in 1939 (sic?), but had been dark the last three years. They had to tear it down, though, because they needed a hay field. Disgusting.”
Joe Bob Briggs, May 2, 1990: “The Frontier Drive-In on Highway 199 just outside Cave Junction, Ore., has a big "For Sale” sign on it, and the wind is not only whipping through the pines around the screen - it’s whipping through the screen."