Despite the fact that only 45 percent of American households owned a car in the 1930s, the first drive-in theater opened on June 6, 1933. Cars packed into Park-In Theaters in Camden, New Jersey, where central speakers broadcasted to a full lot of cars filled with happy families. The term “drive-in movie theater” came later, but whatever eager movie-goers called it, the idea was the brainchild of Richard Hollingsworth.
As the story goes, Hollingworth’s cutting edge idea came about due to his mother’s discomfort in traditional theater seats. After experimenting in his own driveway, mounting a Kodak projector on the hood of his car and stringing a screen to some trees, Hollingsworth received a patent in 1933. He invested $30,000 and charged 25 cents per car/25 cents per person at his Camden drive-in.
In 1949, Hollingworth’s patent was overturned, and it didn’t take long for drive-in theaters to become as American as apple pie. Eventually, cars would have individual speakers, and by 1958, 4,063 of these American icons were spread across the country.
Sadly, as real estate prices rose, the number of indoor theaters increased, and video rental stores became popular, the drive-in theater lost its luster. Only about 300 or so are in operation today.
