Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “SHELDON, IOWA - The Sheldon Drive-In has been sold to the Sheldon Theatre Corp. by G. E. Sessler. The corporation is made up of the same group of Des Moines men who recently bought the Iowa Theatre in downtown Sheldon. The drive-in was constructed south of Sheldon last year. This season it was completely redocorated and landscaped.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “PAOLA, KAS. - In hopes of an early lifting of the federal ban on amusement building, the Griffith Theatre Enterprises, owners of the Paola and Osawatomie Theatres, have purchased ten acres of land near here for a drive-in.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “LOS ALAMOS, N. M. - The federal ban on amusement building will not affect the construction of a new theatre on the proving grounds here. The new building, scheduled for completion next summer, will contain office and commercial space in addition to the theatre.”
The editors messed up the spelling of Magee, but some of the other info checks out.
Boxoffice, Nov. 11, 1950: “MAGEEHE, MISS. - The Mageehe Drive-In at Mageehe, Miss., has opened under the management of Mrs. H. A. Everett. Motiograph sound, projectors and lighting equipment was installed by the Hodges Theatre Supply Co. The new outdoor cost about $75,000. Mrs. Everett also is owner of another theatre here.”
A few months after I posted this here, I discovered that it was taken in 1979 by Steve Fitch. Since it’s still on Pinterest, I’ll leave this photo up until I hear differently.
A 1967 aerial photo showed a drive-in at the future Lakeview site. It appears that this drive-in opened as Allen’s, the name of the first Leitchfield drive-in to appear in the Motion Picture Almanac’s annual list, debuting in the 1971 edition. It didn’t change to Lakeview until the MPA’s reboot in 1977.
Boxoffice, May 28, 1973: “Tri-State is servicing the Allen’s Drive-In, Leitchfield, Ky.”
Boxoffice, July 11, 1977: “Ralph McCoy’s Lakeview Drive-In, Leitchfield, … screen was caught in a sudden gust of wind during some violent weather that covered the state Thursday, June 30 … a small portion of the structure still was standing”
The MPA included the Lakeview through its final drive-in list in 1988.
Andy Wetzel announced last week that he’s selling the Stateline, but that he hopes to keep it as a drive-in theater. He plans to reopen as usual for the 2023 season next month. More info, including a video, here.
Sacramento Bee, Oct. 8, 1949: “A drivein theater, estimated to cost $20,000, was under construction today at South Fourteenth Street, Arden Way and the North Sacramento Freeway. A permit to build the theater was issued by the county board of supervisors last month to Wilbur B. Baptist of 4425 Franklin Boulevard, representing the Allied Theaters Corporation. The show house will be named Starlite Drivein Theater and will be managed by a San Francisco firm which operates similar theaters in San Francisco and Belmont.”
The grand opening, almost a year later, featured Jack Carson in “The Good Humor Man” and Jon Hall in “(On) The Isle of Samoa.”
After the grand opening (posted above), every ad I’ve seen spelled it Starlite. By the following week, it was packaged with the El Rancho and Fruitridge drive-ins.
One more update. The page for the William J. Lucas Route 66 Photograph Collection says, “Copyright held by William J. Lucas estate, Albuquerque, N.M. Permission required for reproduction.”
I take that back. The font and layout of this ad look like something from a typical high school yearbook advertising section. IF that’s what it is, almost all yearbooks were published without copyright notices, which make them public domain.
In the 1954 Tucumcari Yellow Pages, the County was listed at “1002 w Gaynell av”. There is no Gaynell any more, but 1002 W Tucumcari Blvd (present-day equivalent) points to about the right spot.
Some history from the July 12, 1962 story in the Jal Record about the July 8 fire: “The (Rex) building was erected in 1933 and later was sold to C. C. Caldwell who operated the show and built the Panther Drive In, which he sold to (Bruce) Wilkerson and Morris Wood seven years ago. Wilkerson later purchased the two theaters from his partner.”
Based on its ads in the Las Cruces Sun-News, the Rocket opened on July 20, 1952. Its first movie was “Too Young to Kiss” with June Allyson and Van Johnson “plus news and cartoon”.
In the spring of 1950, on May 5th, the Oxford Drive-In Theatre Opened. The first movie played was “Life with Father” starring William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor. Over the years the Drive-In was owned by several families. In 1975 the wooden screen blew over in the winter and a new screen was erected.
Other pages say that the current owners “reopened” the Oxford in 2020, and that it’s currently for sale, “Land not included.”
In a retrospective prompted by the Baseline’s arson, the July 30, 1989 San Bernardino County Sun wrote that the “Base Line showed its last picture show in 1988.” Which is weird, because that newspaper was including movie listings for the “Base Line” through at least May 11, 1989.
This is a cropped version of a 2019 photo by Carol Highsmith which is part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 2020 photo by Carol Highsmith which is part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “SHELDON, IOWA - The Sheldon Drive-In has been sold to the Sheldon Theatre Corp. by G. E. Sessler. The corporation is made up of the same group of Des Moines men who recently bought the Iowa Theatre in downtown Sheldon. The drive-in was constructed south of Sheldon last year. This season it was completely redocorated and landscaped.”
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “PAOLA, KAS. - In hopes of an early lifting of the federal ban on amusement building, the Griffith Theatre Enterprises, owners of the Paola and Osawatomie Theatres, have purchased ten acres of land near here for a drive-in.”
That 1954 note may have been a season opener.
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “LARNED, KAS. - The Larned Drive-In, which opened last June, has closed for the winter.”
Same theater?
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “LOS ALAMOS, N. M. - The federal ban on amusement building will not affect the construction of a new theatre on the proving grounds here. The new building, scheduled for completion next summer, will contain office and commercial space in addition to the theatre.”
The editors messed up the spelling of Magee, but some of the other info checks out.
Boxoffice, Nov. 11, 1950: “MAGEEHE, MISS. - The Mageehe Drive-In at Mageehe, Miss., has opened under the management of Mrs. H. A. Everett. Motiograph sound, projectors and lighting equipment was installed by the Hodges Theatre Supply Co. The new outdoor cost about $75,000. Mrs. Everett also is owner of another theatre here.”
Same drive-in?
Boxoffice, Nov. 18, 1950: “DeRidder, La. - Gay Ranchero Drive-In, $80,000, under construction. John Harvey, manager.”
Another capacity data point:
Boxoffice, Nov. 11, 1950: “Las Vegas, N.M. - Remodeled 726-seat Serf reopened by Fox Intermountain.”
A few months after I posted this here, I discovered that it was taken in 1979 by Steve Fitch. Since it’s still on Pinterest, I’ll leave this photo up until I hear differently.
A 1967 aerial photo showed a drive-in at the future Lakeview site. It appears that this drive-in opened as Allen’s, the name of the first Leitchfield drive-in to appear in the Motion Picture Almanac’s annual list, debuting in the 1971 edition. It didn’t change to Lakeview until the MPA’s reboot in 1977.
Boxoffice, May 28, 1973: “Tri-State is servicing the Allen’s Drive-In, Leitchfield, Ky.”
Boxoffice, July 11, 1977: “Ralph McCoy’s Lakeview Drive-In, Leitchfield, … screen was caught in a sudden gust of wind during some violent weather that covered the state Thursday, June 30 … a small portion of the structure still was standing”
The MPA included the Lakeview through its final drive-in list in 1988.
Andy Wetzel announced last week that he’s selling the Stateline, but that he hopes to keep it as a drive-in theater. He plans to reopen as usual for the 2023 season next month. More info, including a video, here.
Sacramento Bee, Oct. 8, 1949: “A drivein theater, estimated to cost $20,000, was under construction today at South Fourteenth Street, Arden Way and the North Sacramento Freeway. A permit to build the theater was issued by the county board of supervisors last month to Wilbur B. Baptist of 4425 Franklin Boulevard, representing the Allied Theaters Corporation. The show house will be named Starlite Drivein Theater and will be managed by a San Francisco firm which operates similar theaters in San Francisco and Belmont.”
The grand opening, almost a year later, featured Jack Carson in “The Good Humor Man” and Jon Hall in “(On) The Isle of Samoa.”
After the grand opening (posted above), every ad I’ve seen spelled it Starlite. By the following week, it was packaged with the El Rancho and Fruitridge drive-ins.
That photo appeared in the January-February 1950 issue of California Highways and Public Works, which appears to be in the public domain.
A few more names to throw on the pile.
Boxoffice, Sept. 4, 1948: (San Francisco notes) “R. F. Robb, Butler in Tonopah, was in town for a few days”
Boxoffice, Sept. 18, 1967: “Tonopah, Nev. - The Butler Theatre reopened here after being renovated. Bill Meyer and Monte Barrett are the owners.”
One more update. The page for the William J. Lucas Route 66 Photograph Collection says, “Copyright held by William J. Lucas estate, Albuquerque, N.M. Permission required for reproduction.”
I take that back. The font and layout of this ad look like something from a typical high school yearbook advertising section. IF that’s what it is, almost all yearbooks were published without copyright notices, which make them public domain.
In the 1954 Tucumcari Yellow Pages, the County was listed at “1002 w Gaynell av”. There is no Gaynell any more, but 1002 W Tucumcari Blvd (present-day equivalent) points to about the right spot.
Some history from the July 12, 1962 story in the Jal Record about the July 8 fire: “The (Rex) building was erected in 1933 and later was sold to C. C. Caldwell who operated the show and built the Panther Drive In, which he sold to (Bruce) Wilkerson and Morris Wood seven years ago. Wilkerson later purchased the two theaters from his partner.”
Based on its ads in the Las Cruces Sun-News, the Rocket opened on July 20, 1952. Its first movie was “Too Young to Kiss” with June Allyson and Van Johnson “plus news and cartoon”.
According to its web site:
In the spring of 1950, on May 5th, the Oxford Drive-In Theatre Opened. The first movie played was “Life with Father” starring William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor. Over the years the Drive-In was owned by several families. In 1975 the wooden screen blew over in the winter and a new screen was erected.
Other pages say that the current owners “reopened” the Oxford in 2020, and that it’s currently for sale, “Land not included.”
The owners announced this week on Facebook that they have sold the Franklin, which will not reopen as a theater.
In a retrospective prompted by the Baseline’s arson, the July 30, 1989 San Bernardino County Sun wrote that the “Base Line showed its last picture show in 1988.” Which is weird, because that newspaper was including movie listings for the “Base Line” through at least May 11, 1989.
This is a cropped version of a 2019 photo by Carol Highsmith which is part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This is a cropped version of a 2020 photo by Carol Highsmith which is part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive of the Library of Congress. The original is effectively in the public domain.
This 2014 photo by Carol Highsmith is part of the Carol M. Highsmith Archive of the Library of Congress, and is effectively in the public domain.