Daddy's Home by Tony Rubino and Gary Markstein for May 06, 2018

sure is, lad

The original one

Tony asked, about 5 hours ago

Remember Drive Ins?

Hardly.

I absolutely remember drive-ins….

Usually the way our family went to the movies when I was young.

We kids did go to discounted “children’s matinees” at the real theaters…

a ten or fifteen year old movie, cowboys or horror, usually…

paired with a cartoon and a twenty year old serial.

I know this makes me old… but I remember my parents giving us each a quarter….

15 cents for the ticket, 10 cents for candy… which we often bought on the way, and smuggled in, because it was cheaper.

But in the evening… whoo boy…. just a kid’s ticket was a whole quarter….

and imagine…. the parents paid fifty or sixty cents apiece!

No way could our family afford over two whole dollars, plus overpriced treats. A 5 cent candy bar was 6 cents!

So it was off to the drive-in on Dollar Night…

Two adults in casual clothes… these were the days when some people dressed up to go to a real movie theater.

Three kids in the back seat, already in their pajamas.

One dollar a carload.

Sitting in a big comfy Buick, eating home made cupcakes or popcorn….

soft drinks from the machine at the gas station…

we hardly ever got to buy anything in the snack bar.

Sound from a scratchy speaker hooked over a half-open window and then clamped in by rolling it up.

The bargain way to go that seems like luxury now.

The drive-ins were still around for young adulthood…. packing seven or eight students in a car…

the rule was no more than six, so two hid on the floor between the seats.

I’ve heard of some hiding in the trunk but my friends tended to be less reckless, I guess.

And drive-ins on dates, drive-ins with my brother’s family when his kids were very small…

and then it seemed like one day, they were all gone.

The problem was getting enough light to make a picture bright enough to see. The old projectors used carbon arc electrodes hooked to a giant power supply that could be used as an arc welder.

I went to a drive in on a date – once. When we rolled down the windows the skeeters tried to drag us out of the car, and when we rolled it up, we sweltered. We didn’t even stay for the whole movie.

I believe they are watching a billboard here.

Drive-ins were the best!!! You got to see multiple movies and got to go casually dressed!!!

We had a drive-in in my town until just two years ago. They claimed that they could not afford do upgrade to the digital format. I guess it was expensive, but I am sure they would have made up the cost in one season. The drive-in was always busy, even on weekdays. At one time, there were two drive-ins in town. The other one closed about 20 years ago. It had a kids play area just in front of the screen, and their concessions were better, but their land was too valuable and they sold out to some big outfit. It was always great to go there for a great movie or two. Once they had a James Bond Marathon. We managed to stay awake for half of them, then decided to go home at about 3:30 AM. Now I do not go to the theater at all. The cost is too high for my budget. Instead, I reserve the movies from my Library and can watch them at home.

When I was a kid living in Quebec we didn’t have Drive Ins. So my father would take us once a month on a trek to Plattsburgh New York. The first movie I ever saw was The Sound of Music. In the early 90s I moved to Ontario and the last Drive In movie MY family saw was Jurassic Park. The following year they tore it down and built a Mega Plex movie theater. I’m just happy my kids got the chance to experience something I enjoyed as a kid.

I don’t have to remember. There’s one 5 miles from my house.

Drive in movies were great. The drive in near us charged by car not per person. But drive ins were even better when I got my driver’s license. Yes sir! A drive in, a car with bench seats and foggy windows. I can’t tell you how many movies I DIDN’T see at the drive in. ;-)

@Tony:

Fondly. Sadly, they’ve all but completely disappeared. But what isn’t disappearing any time soon is today’s…

Second “Daddy’s Home” Question:

What was the last movie you saw at a drive-in? (Me: “How The West Was Won”.)

Yes, I remember drive-ins, both in Montreal, and Lake George, NY. My dad was a fan of John Wayne. I distinctly remember seeing Big Jake and The Green Berets. The latter we saw in Lake George after seeing it on the screen from our seats in Howard Johnson’s the night before. Good Times.

A lot of memories about drive-ins. None that I can repeat.

What? You went to a drive in to actually, physically WATCH a movie?

When they switched over to having you listen to the movie on your radio we would put chairs in the bed of a pickup truck.

Two would sit in the bed (truck facing backwards) and two or three chairs behind the truck.

Sound via a boombox.

First job I ever had was working at a drive in. Position: Ramp Boy – guiding cars as to where to park. Lots of fun in those days.

I remember drive-ins! Mom and dad would load up the car with us kids and off to the local drive-in on either a Friday or Saturday night for the double-feature! We’d stop off at the local Dog and Burger for supper to go and then enjoy the shows munching our dogs or burgers (all the way – Carolina style). Us kids would wear our PJs and be nice and comfortable. Also, our local drive-in charged by the car, not the person.

I do remember Drive-Ins, but didn’t go much. I’ve never been big into movies (with a few exceptions). Nowadays, my city will show movies in the park during the summer. Bring the kids, lawn chairs or a blanket and enjoy for free.