History of the Drive-In Movie Theater
The story of the drive-in movie theater begins with one man. That man was Richard Milton Hollingshead, Jr., born on February 25, 1900, the "father" of the drive-in.
The drive-in got its humble beginnings in the driveway of Hollingshead’s Riverton, New Jersey home, at 212 Thomas Avenue. This is where his first experimentations took place. Setting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of the family car, he projected the film onto a screen he had nailed to a tree. He tested the potential hazards of foul weather by turning on his lawn sprinkler to simulate a rainstorm. His home radio sitting behind the screen to provide sound, Hollingshead sat in his car watching and listening. The car windows up or down, sprinkler on or off, he liked what he saw and heard. And with that, the drive-in’s inception was well under way.
Of course there were a great many problems to work out. But once he felt he finally had his major problems solved, Hollingshead landed the financial backing needed for his venture. His major partner was Willie Warren Smith, also of Riverton. Smith was a cousin and operator of parking lots in Camden, New York, and Philadelphia. The two men formed a company they called Park-In Theaters, Inc. As soon as his patent was granted, Hollingshead assigned it to this company. Other backers in the venture included road contractor Edward Ellis, who graded the first drive-in in exchange for company stock; and Oliver Willets, a Campbell’s Soup vice president who bought stock in the new company.
Construction did not get under way until May 16, 1933, the day the patent was officially granted. The world’s first drive-in opened on Tuesday, June 6, 1933. Most sources site Admiral Wilson Boulev...
... middle of paper ...
...pulation because more people rushed into the industry to try to score a quick million.
Drive-ins today sit at the edge of extinction. The last handful may be around yet for decades. But they are finished as part of the American landscape, and no new ones will ever be built. For those still around, it is only a matter of time, before they, too, disappear, forever.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Margolis, John & Emily Gwathmey. "Ticket to Paradise–American Movie
Theatres and How We Had Fun." Little, Brown, and Company. (Boston, Toronto, London); 1991. P. 139, 144.
McKeon, Elizabeh & Linda Everett. "Cinema Under the Stars–America’s Love
Affair with the Drive-In Movie Theater." Cumberlabd House. (Nashville, Tennessee); 1988. P. 41
Segrave, Kerry. "Drive-In Theaters–A History from Their Inception in 1933."
McFarland & Company, Inc. (Jefferson, North Carolina); 1992.
Holcomb, Billy. Theater Row Movie Palaces of Denison, TX. Denison: Denison Heritage Inc, 1999. Print.
Tucker began a one month trek to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He had a big interest in race cars and their designs, and decided to move to Indianapolis to get closer to the automobiles. He earned a job as the transportation manager, and looked over deliveries for the company. The designer and leader of the company, Harry Miller faced bankruptcy in 1933. Tucker and Miller then formed “Miller and Tucker, Inc.” and started building race cars. This new company continued race car development until Miller’s death, 10 years later.
In 1985, Blockbuster opened its first store in Dallas, Texas. After the first few stores opened, founder David Cook built a six million dollar warehouse, which could pull and package multiple stores in a day. Blockbuster’s ability to customize a store to its neighborhood, loading it up with films geared specifically to demographic profiles in addition to the popular new releases, and a sizable collection of catalog titles. Blockbuster had instant success. In the early 1980’s and 1990’s Blockbuster put neighborhood mom and pop video stores out of business by offering better selection and convenience. However, success like that enjoyed by Blockbuster can foster arrogance. For Blockbuster, arrogance meant they believed they could do anything within their stores. For example, Blockbuster purchased Sound Music and Music Plus chains. This move took Blockbuster from movies to music. Secondly, this Blockbuster Music meant they were no longer renting now they were selling.
...still did a booming business and it was feasible to do all your shopping within a short walking distance. Small businesses flourished at the intersection of Joy and Grand River at this time. Delicatessens, drug stores, dimes stores, barbers, butchers and grocers all set up shop in this district that was growing denser by the day. The neighborhood was becoming so packed that it even had its own hook and ladder company the XXX at 8xxxx Grande River...192X would see the opening of the magnificent Riviera movie palace that could seat 2xxxx patrons per show. So great was the demand that the Rivera Annex was built just one block away to handle the overflow. To put this into context the first talking motion picture, The Jazz Singer was released in October 1927. These were boom times in America’s third largest city and the masses were looking to be entertained.
The two bothers Jack and Augustus purchased the company that Jack worked for (Fallsen and Berry) and began the Mack Company. Mack trucks began in the late 1800s producing farming equipment such as tractors and many other goods. They were famous for their tractor that was on tracks and rarely got stuck. Their Third brother William soon teamed up with them and began dev...
Ford decided that he wanted to become an automobile manufacturer. After two unsuccessful tries, Ford motor company was finally incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as the Vice President and Chief Engineer. When the company first started it was only producing a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. A group of two or three men would work on one car from components made to order by other companies (Lewis 99 - 100)
Drive-Ins started to develop even more and began to make their own systems, techniques, and policies, Sal-Val being one of the first extremely prosperous ones. The Sal-Val was opened on June 10th, 1938 just outside of Burbank, California and was owned by the California Drive-In Theatres Corporation. Six hundred eighteen cars in nine rows was the capacity of the ten-acre lot, which cost $54,563 to build. The screen area was made out of metal-lath-and-plaster covered with lightweight canvas bedded in white lead and painted a flat white. Between each ramp was a distance of forty feet and the projector was one hundred eighty six feet away from the screen. Like other later ozoners, the projection booth was two to three feet underground to minimize
As you drive in your car today do you ever think to yourself where did all this start? Who made it the invention of the car, when and where? As the best friend of Henry Ford. I’m here to tell you the questions you want to hear.
The cinema of attractions is an idea that Tom Gunning and Mr Gaudreault developed and over time coined as a term to describe the capabilities of film. They had a different idea of the early days in film history and wanted that to ...
He was the” President of the United States, first secretary of state, minister to France, governor of Virginia and congressman”. Unlike Thomas Paine, Jefferson came from a well to do family with the dad being a “county official and a surveyor “.Thomas Jefferson did believe there was a greater God which he did not undermine but also believed that religion and science can work together. He contributed to the revolution and Independent by writing to encourage a lot of people through pamphlets.” In 1774 he wrote an influential and daring pamphlet called A summary view of the Right of British America, denying all parliamentary authority over America and arguing that ties to the British monarchy were voluntary and not irrevocable”. Jefferson did brought about the declaration on Independence and also believed strongly in democracy. He was of the view of having faith in the individuals and common man, emphasizing on the importance of education especially science, responsibility and justice for
The General Motors Company was founded by William Durant on September 16, 1908. Initially, “Durant was a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan before making the transition into the automobile industry”(GM). At its inception, “GM held only the Buick Motor Company, but within just a few short years they would acquire more than 20 companies including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland, today known as Pontiac”(GM). In doing so, General Motors became an automotive manufacturing powerhouse.
Although this extremely close connection of the individual with nature, the basic principle of Japanese gardens, has remained the constant throughout its history, the ways in which this principle has come to be expressed has undergone many great changes. Perhaps the most notable occurred in the very distinct periods in Japanese history that popularized unique forms of garden style—Heian (781-1185), and the Kamakura (1186-1393). Resulting from these two golden ages of Japanese history came the stroll garden from the former period and the Zen garden from the later. As we shall see, the composition of these gardens where remarkably effected by the norms of architecture and the ideals of popular religion in these eras. Therefor, in understanding each garden style in its context, it essential to also take into account the social, historical, and theological elements as well as the main stylist differences.
General Motors was build in 1892 by an R. Olds who created the Oldsmobile his vision was to create horseless carriages. He started the automobile factory in Detroit and was soon followed by others in the industry, and he and several others decided to create amalgamation of over different companies. The new automobile entities became known as General Motors. Each new partner brought in his brand as they began consolidating (general Motors ,2014).
Henry Ford was a young engineer who had a vision and a mission to create and sell affordable, efficient and reliable vehicles for everyone. In 1903, he convinced a group of 11 businessmen to back him in his vision and together they created the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan. A month later, the first car produced by the new company was the Model A. In 1908...
Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company in 1903 (“Ford Motor Company”.). In 1908 GM was founded (“Company: History and Heritage”.) and in 1937 Mopar was founded (“Evolution of a trademark”). Today, there are numerous automobile companies in competition and the automobile is the most reliable transportation in America and around the world. The invention of the automobile undoubtedly had one of the biggest impacts on American History.