Comments about Silver Moon Drive-In in Lewisburg, PA

50sSNIPES on December 15, 2023 at 10:28 am

The Silver Moon Drive-In actually opened on May 28, 1952 with Betty Grable in “Meet Me After The Show” along with a few unnamed short subjects.

It was expecting to open earlier but delayed due to weather conditions. The Silver Moon originally had an original capacity of 660 cars and a 55x62ft screen withstanding a wind force of 70 MPH. It was first managed by Robert Cassidy.

However, there was picketing by union laborers outside the drive-in right before grand opening happened, protesting non-union conditions in the construction site of the theater under contractor W.A. Albertson of Bloomsburg. This was due to the representatives of the IATSE Local 403 of Sunbury reported that they had been completely unsuccessful in getting a contract to hire union projectionists at the nearby Nu-Way Drive-In in Sellingsgrove, but successfully added in getting a contract for both the Silver Moon in Lewisburg and the Modern Open-Air Drive-In between Danville and Northumberland. The Central Union voted to have the secretary wrote a letter to inform the owners nearby of the organization’s interest and concern in the matter, and they also voted to have the secretary do the same thing to the Gulf Corporation of Philadelphia asking co-operation in not selling oil through local retailer to the Milton Hosiery Mills Inc.