Fredericksburg Drive-In
3534 Fredericksburg Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78201
3534 Fredericksburg Road,
San Antonio,
TX
78201
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My guess is that the actress on the mural was Joan Crawford. She was a native San Antonian
The abstract art on the back of the screen was 3 squares interlocked.
I would say that the actress was Janet Gaynor, who was huge in the late 20s, until she retired in 1939. She was the first winner of the Best Actress Oscar (for three simultaneous films between 27 – 28, awarded in 1929).
Opened with “Gateways to Panama(March of time)” and “The life of the party”.
The Drive-In theatre opened on October 23rd, 1940. Grand opening ad posted.
Billboard, Nov. 27, 1954: “Robo, the monstrous robot elephant owned by Ezell & Associates, is scheduled for a one-week stay at Fredericksburg Road Drive-In San Antonio. The elephant will make a tour of Texas, stopping at various cities where Ezell & Associates has drive-ins. Robo is 9 feet high, 12½ feet long, weighs 2,500 pounds and is powered by a four-cylinder, 10-horsepower motor.”
The shopping centre(springwood?) and the marquee sign are little to the right of the street view photo!
Does anyone know who the actress on the mural was?
An extra large aerial of the Drive-In shortly after it opened.
View extra large detailed photo
Uploaded aerial from 1966. It looks like the curved cinema-scope screen was mounted in front of the flat screen.
Mural of an actress on the screen tower of the Fredericksburg Drive-In Theatre, 3534 Fredericksburg Road, 1940s.
View extra large detailed photo
1955 Aerial View:
View link
Some photos and ads here:
http://tinyurl.com/ybgolxl
Here is a 1948 ad from the San Antonio Light:
http://tinyurl.com/2mambr
The “Fred. Road”, as it was usually called opened in 1940. This was before the advent of in car speakers. The lot had speakers under grates. One would park over the grate and the sound would come up through the floorboard! When the In Car Speaker made it’s debut in 1946, the Fred. Road was finally outfitted with this revolutionary development. The original manager of the Fred. Road lived on the property and stayed on the job until his death in the mid 70s! His wife stayed on as assistant manager, and lived on the property until her death a few years later.
The original name, “The Drive-In”, for this theatre, was changed when The Alamo Drive-In opened a couple of years later to “Fredericksburg Rd. Drive-In.” At that time, it was the only drive-in right on the outskirts of San Antonio at the time, so they just named it with a basic name. This theatre also featured some X-rated movies around its end, along with the Lackland DI.