Drive-in Movie Theaters America is home to many unique things. For instance, movie entertainment is native to the United States. In the early nineteen hundreds, Americans combined two of their favorite things: cars and movies. They were called drive-ins and they were very popular in the United States. Drive-in theaters, which werealso known as ozoners, open-air operators, fresh-air exhibitors, outdoorers, ramp houses, under-the-stars emporiums, rampitoriums, and they were even known as auto havens, were the newest form of movie entertainment. Drive-ins were a place where people drove their vehicles to watch movies on a huge outdoor screen. Families all over the United States seem to have loved them no matter the quality of the sound …show more content…
In Judith Baughman’s "Drive-Ins" American Decades she says that in “the early 1950’s that drive-ins could hold between five to six hundred cars (Baughman). By 1958 there were more than four thousand drive-ins scattered across America. Later one chain even had the capacity to hold up to two thousand cars/ (Woloson) Drive-ins could be open for about twenty-six weeks of a year. They could stay open for longer periods of time in warm climates. In 1950 drive-ins sold more than seven million tickets a week. Wendy Woloson states that, “Because the drive-ins attracted a different audience than did traditional theaters, the success of these outdoor movie emporiums was entirely unexpected by the theater industry. In 1952 a traditional film exhibitor decided the drive-in entrepreneur's prospects as being no better than those of running a novelty shop.” (Woloson). This just goes to show what Hollingshead missed out on and how big of an industry he could have had if only he had not sold his patent and of course, if the movies were …show more content…
Drive-ins started their decline around 1960; the drive-in industry was starting to struggle. As the land prices started to increase drive-ins became more and more expensive. The drive-ins took up too much space and with the cost of land getting so high it caused an increase in the price of tickets. Frank Daniels wrote in The Tennessean that “Towns grew and encroached on the formally undeveloped areas that made for good drive-in locations, forcing up land costs and making the theaters a nuisance for neighbors.” (Daniels). “The increasing popularity of compact cars made sitting through a double or triple-feature an uncomfortable prospect. In addition, there was an increased level of freedom for teens, allowing them other ways in which to socialize.” (Edelman) At this time the quality of drive-ins really went downhill. The bad theater conditions drove people away, which caused even more of a decline because if they did not have anyone paying for tickets then that meant that they could not in turn pay for the renovations that were needed. (Woloson) Also drive-ins could only play movies when it was dark which meant at night. This made film producers favor the indoor movie theaters, where movies could be shown all day. The indoor movie theater could also offer multiple screens so different movies could play at the same time
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.
In 1929, America experienced a stock market crash that led the country into what is historically known as the Great Depression. Many industries across America experienced alterations in order to fit the social and economic changes that America was undergoing as a nation. Specific industries included Hollywood and the film industry. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the movies that Americans enjoyed viewing were considered immoral at the time. This was f...
Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler surfaced as the “Big Three” auto companies heading into the 1920’s. The invention of the automobile revolutionized transportation; by the 1920’s cars made places easier to access to people. Many of the traditionalists did approve of the automobiles, but some of them just favored the old way of walking places. The traditionalists were fearful of car accidents with the upbringing of the automobile. During the 1920’s a driver’s license was not needed in most states, and there weren’t really any “rules of the road” quite yet. No signs, signals, or traffic guards, and the roads were not ready for automobiles or pedestrians yet. Some traditionalists were not for these life risking ways of automobiles, but they were accepted among most for an increase in transportation and their easy access to even those who were not rich. The modernists at this time were known to want the exciting new changes and risks, so they were all for the automobiles. This rebellious group knew the advancement of technology with automobiles meant transportation to explore, and not be stuck in the same places within walking distance. The 1920’s
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.
We take them for granted when driving miles to the closest mall. We are unconscious of their usefulness when traveling to see a distant relative by car. We can't take a moment to stop and admire their beauty and usefulness; the architectural wonders that are highways and their interchanges; which have such a rich history embedded in the American suburbia of today. Let's go back to the early 1900's, when the automobile was starting to become a dominate part of the American life (Morton, 2014). Around this time; a shift began to occur towards private transportation over public by influencing policies in their favor (Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). One of these polices was created by the Federal Aid Highway of 1925; the United States Highway System which basically expanded the highways across the United States connecting one another, creating new opportunities for growth in many areas (Weingroff, 1996). This had many effects on different factors of the American way of life; specifically suburbia (Morton, 2014). After the war, the private home that was a luxury a few years prior, was now becoming affordable for many thanks to low interest rates and flexible payments through the National Housing Act of 1934, created by the Federal Housing Administration (Fishman, 1987). Perfect example of a policy acting towards private over public was the Los Angles Master Plan of 1941, which pushed the direction of private automobiles and singles households: there being 1.16 million cars (2.4 people per car) and having 31 percent of the city land dedicated for single family homes, this was really solidifying the post suburbia lifestyle (Fishman, 1987). In Los Angeles alone around this time, 900 square miles were transformed to tract development homes ...
Now there are fewer than 500 drive in theaters in the United States and the ones that are left are barely standing. Sure some might being doing well, but most people are too caught up in modern technology to go out to the drive in theater. Some drive in theaters ask for support from the community just to be able to keep them alive. Teens nowadays go to a walk in movie theater, or simply watch Netflix in the comfort of their own
Although the film industry first began in New York, Hollywood caught the attention of producers because of its various locations for shooting films and ideal weather for year-round production. The climate and scenery were not the only reasons filmmakers moved to Hollywood. Thomas Edison, along with other individuals, owned patents over the process of filmmaking, and moving to Hollywood was used by producers as a way to avoid lawsuits (Digital History, 2/12/11).
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
[2] Poggi, Jeanine. "Blockbuster's Rise and Fall: The Long, Rewinding Road." The Street. N.p., 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Car culture had caused some serious headaches for city planners in the 1950s. They had not anticipated the added traffic when building cities and were forced to adjust their plans with mixed results. There were many side effects to the restructuring of the city, and most were not good for the city center. Business and customers were no longer funneled into the now crowded city center in favor of the more spacious and convenient periphery. Community life as well as business in the city center really suffered as a result of suburbanization caused by the car. Jane Jacobs says in her chapter called "Erosion of Cities or Attrition of Automobiles" in the book Autopia, "Today everyone who values cities is disturbed by automobiles (259...
In the late Forties, Americans went to the movies an average of at least twice a month, but by the 1980s, people only went to the movies an average of five times a year. About 67% of Americans attended a play or a live theater performance at least once a year, and 60% attended a concert or other musical performance.
In the 1950s, everybody is dreaming of having a big car and cars became increase among the suburban and they are the heist who bought almost eight million cars in 1955. “Nine out of ten suburban families owned a car, as compared to six of ten urban households.” (Tindall and Shi 1255). New Technology changed everything, there transportation system were easy and this makes them travel from one place to another, the car changed their social life and make it suitability for them to go for shopping, better than riding animal and walking.
Movie theaters are conglomerates in the film industry. Only a few competing firms. Offer the same ticket prices and provide the same products and roughly the same services to customers.
A movie theater has its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that people can see the showing of different movies that have been newly released. The disadvantage is that, that is all there is to it and nothing more. At home, you can control the variety and ways to watch a movie. People buy many movies to watch at home and it can be anything at any time even at any place. The only bad thing about it is that they cannot see any of the newest released movies that recently came out in theaters. There are two types of ways people watch movies at their homes. One way is people already own DVDs or have bought many of them and start watching them in their DVD players. The other ways are streaming a movie through the internet. For this to happen, people would mainly buy the monthly subscriptions such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. Through this subscription people do not only watch movies in their homes but they also watch television shows. The only downside is there is a very limited number of movies added onto these
The first factor to consider is convenience. Netflix can be the simplest choice, because the average person does not have to leave the house. While there may be a few movie theaters in a town, they require a drive to get to them. Another aspect to consider is that movie theaters follow a set schedule, and the times cannot be altered. For example,