Teenagers of the 50s and 60s were only some of the patrons of drive ins. The drive in was a great place to bring your family. In fact, most drive ins sported a playground at the base of the screen. Families would bring blankets and lawn chairs and the parents would sit and watch the kids play and chat with other parents. When the movies started, they would move the blankets back in front of their cars and the kids would watch from there.

Many drive ins also had a dance floor near the snack bar. The speakers played music before the show started, and anyone who felt the rhythym would walk up to the dance floor and dance for a while. People would arrive early to get a good parking space and to dance and play.

One of the best reasons for going to the drive in was economy. A majority of theaters would have a car load price. For one small fee, my parents could take 5 kids to the movies. We packed a big bag of popcorn and a jug of Kool Ade for refreshments. The 3 little kids came in their pajamas and usually fell asleep before the end of the first show. There were always 2 movies, previews of coming attractions and 2 or 3 cartoons. The cartoons were shown early so to give the littles time to fall asleep so that the bigs and grownups could watch the real movies without having to deal with them.

Teens also took advantage of the one price admission and double dating was common. If you think there was a lot of sex going on with another couple in the back seat, think again. The main difference was that we didn’t bring our own popcorn.

Even the movie theaters of that time were vastly different from theaters now. A theater might have 2 screens, but most only had one. A typical Saturday kiddie show would have 2 or 3 movies, a couple of serials (like TV shows now, where one episode would be shown each week) and at least 10 cartoons. Evening shows were mostly double features with some theaters showing 3 movies back to back.

Theaters also had continuous showings. You could go in any time, sit down, and stay as long as you liked. If you went in the morning on a Saturday, you could stay until closing time and see the same movies over and over. You could enter in the middle of a movie and just stay there through the end and then see the beginning when it started playing again. This was the origin of the saying “This is where I came in.”, meaning this conversation or situation has now grown obviously repetitive and looks to go on being so, and I will leave.

We put the speaker in the window, and we started kissing, before the movie even started, then the windows of the car will fog up,…. and we were in love!.

The commercials, were great, of a hot dog, jumping into a bun, to make you go get a hot dog, to make you want a hot dog!.

How wonderful?, nice memories, and the minds weren’t as dirty as they are now, maybe the actions were, but not the minds!. Is there a drive in left anywhere?, I want to go alone and watch a movie for once. and just remember those good times.

To compare todays theaters to a drive in, there is no comparison, you go to watch a movie, we didn’t.

Give me the old type drive in ,and you can have all of

todays theaters.

EdIT-

mr teacher, did you ever go to a drive in? please don’t come to conclusions about other answerers thoughts,

or statements. and do not call people that went to, or drive ins, gone with the days of the dinosaurs.

If you ever went to a drive in and people brought blankets and their own food, I would like to know where was this drive in at?.

You know nothing about a drive in, and who use to go or not!. also base your answer, on it’s or your own merits, and do not try to call others liars on wether they have been to a drive in or not, and do not try to downgrade their answers. There might have been kids with their pajamas, only if their parents took them cause they did not have a baby sitter.

I don’t know where you saw the drivein you describe,

but you are way off.

1.The type of plays they did then and the plays now.

2. The old theater seats wier almost outside and the ones now are inside.

3. Compare the struckture of the theaters.