Shankweiler's Drive-In
4540 Shankweiler Road,
Orefield,
PA
18069
4540 Shankweiler Road,
Orefield,
PA
18069
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90th anniversary today.
Shankweiler’s Drive-In, in Lehigh County, was set to host a 90th anniversary celebration Saturday — until trump rolled into town.
Now that former President donald trump is holding a rally at a nearby firehall, however, Shankweiler’s has decided not to compete with the main attraction in Lehigh County that night.
“Literally less than a mile from the theater, the same day as our 90th-anniversary event, at the same time,”
https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/drivein-trump-pennsylvania-rally-movie-shankweilers-20240410.html
90th anniversary for this iconic venue coming up on April 15
article in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer…
https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/drive-in-shankweilers-mahoning-movies-summer-pennsylvania-20240329.html
So then it must say that this was the first “in the United States” to simulcast movie audio via FM Stereo in 1986.
I’ve read that the Dromana drive-in actually started using FM sound in early 1984 which would pre-date this one by two years.
The Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area would later open its second drive-in theater in 1940 called the 7th Street Drive-In in Whitehall six years after the Shankweiler’s opened its doors (which will have its Cinema Treasures page soon, and I made a huge mistake while finding history about the 7th Street Drive-In as I accidentally listed the 7th Street as the oldest in the area rather than it being the second-oldest because I totally forgot how close it was to Shankweiler’s, oops! My bad, but I hope someone can fix it).
Possibly the World’s oldest operating Drive-in theatre(but not the World’s oldest operating outdoor picture theatre though, that record is held by the Sun Picture Gardens in Broome, Western Australia, Australia which opened on 9th December 1916).
good news folks ! https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment/2022/11/shankweilers-oldest-still-running-drive-in-in-america-is-sold-to-new-owners.html
yes DRIVEIN101 they are looking to sell and it is currently on the market god i will never visit being i live on the west coast but it would be a shame if america’s oldest drive-in were torn down
I heard that Paul and Sue were looking to sell. But God forbid this historic landmark be torn down
Opened on 15/4/1934.
Shankweiler’s Drive-In is now for sale.
Brief history highlights from the article at the bottom can be added to Overview.
SHANKWEILER’S HISTORY
1934: Wilson Shankweiler opens the outdoor theater in North Whitehall Township.
1948: Installs speaker poles and car speakers
1965: Shankweiler sells the drive-in to Robert Malkames.
1982: Adds AM radio (and later FM radio) micro-vicinity broadcasting to deliver the soundtrack.
1984: Malkames sells to Paul and Susan Geissinger.
2013: Converts projection and sounds systems to digital format.
2018: Property for sale with asking price of $1.2 million
http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-biz-shankweiler-drive-in-for-sale-20180118-story.html
This place should be heritage listed!!
Shankweiler’s history page says it opened on April 15, 1934. Kerry Segrave’s book Drive-In Theaters also lists that date, but says it’s “questionable”. The first reference I could find in The Morning Call of nearby Allentown was on May 22, 1937 when an ad for Shankweiler’s restaurant added “Shankweilers’s Open Air Theatre Now Open (for the season?) – Talkie Shows Every Sun., Wed. & Fri. Evenings”.
The Segrave book says that Wilson Shankweiler was a movie buff who saw the original Camden NJ drive-in while on vacation in 1933. “Behind the hotel he owned in Orefield was a deserted landing strip, which Shankweiler converted to a makeshift drive-in. The first screen consisted of two poles and a sheet.” The hotel building, still there, was converted to a funeral home in 2010.
Lehigh Valley Business listed the chain of ownership in a 2015 article. In 1958, Shankweiler rented the drive-in to Al Moffa, a close friend who had helped him build it. “The next year, Shankweiler sold it to Moffa’s manager, Bob Malkemis.” In 1983, Malkemis sold Shankweiler’s to Paul Geissinger and his wife, who together “operated it as a second job and as a hobby.”
Geissinger is an electrician, and according to a now-vanished Project Drive-In article, in 1986 he built the first FM radio broadcast unit for use in a drive-in.
2013 Digital projection and sound equipment installed.
80 years! WOW!
This is a really nice drive-in! The owners are very friendly and truly care about the place. I was able to go their opening weekend this year in April. So cool!
http://driveinadventures.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/shankweilers-drive-in/
I have also been there for a show and it’s a FABULOUS place with a good presentation and nice people.
It truly is a National Historic Landmark!
Very cool the 2nd drive-in ever and is still open.
HAPPY 75TH ANNIVERSARY (BELATED), SHANKWEILER’S DRIVE-IN!!!
I’ve been there twice, and I plan on getting there this year. Wonderful place! I know Mr. Shankweiler and Mr. Hollingstead are celebrating this incredible landmark in Drive-In Heaven.
Speaking of landmarks, Shankweiler’s should DEFINITELTY be designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Official website:
http://www.shankweilers.com/
This is another great place within an easy drive of greater Phila/central NJ.
How great that this drive-in has lasted seventy years.