Mahoning Drive-In

DavidZornig on October 17, 2017 at 1:59 pm

I can’t answer that. But the e-mail and phone number for the author of the above article are in the link.

MichaelKilgore on October 28, 2017 at 1:10 am

Although the drive-in’s old web site (seen at Archive.org) claimed the Mahoning opened in 1948, that’s just wrong. The March 26, 1949 Billboard magazine said that Max Korr “in association with Mitchell Rappeport and others” was building a drive-in in Mahoning Valley. The first time it was mentioned in The Morning Call of Allentown was April 18, 1949 when it wrote that “the theatre has been completed” and that it “will bring to this section one of the nation’s finest theatres.” And there was a later interview with a guy “who witnessed the theater’s opening in 1949”.

The Mahoning’s first appearance in the Theatre Catalog series was the 1949-50 edition; the listed “Exec” was Max Korr, and its capacity was 500. In the 1952 TC, the exec/owner was “A. M. Ellis Th. Ct.” and the capacity was bumped to 600. In the 1955-56 edition, the exec/owner was James Humphries.

The Morning Call wrote on May 23, 1952 that Mitchell Rapaport, president of the Mahoning Corporation, had sued the drive-in and A. M. Ellis Theatres Co. Separately, the drive-in had sued Ellis Theatres for interfering with operations. It was a complicated, long story of loans, intertwined businesses, and hiring Max M. Korr Enterprises two weeks earlier to buy and book films.

An auction notice for the drive-in (725 car capacity), its lease, equipment, and name was in the Oct. 4 Philadelphia Inquirer. Five days later, The Morning Call wrote it was sold at auction by the Ellis Theater Company to Dr. Joseph J. Humphries and R. C. H. Becker Sr. “Both men had been associated with the operation of the theatre,” wrote the Mauch Chunk Times-News.

Amazingly, it gets more confusing. The Nov. 15, 1952 issue of Billboard magazine said the Mahoning was sold at auction to Max Korr and associates.

Despite the sale, the Motion Picture Almanacs continued to list Ellis Theatres as the owner through the 1961 edition. At first the capacity was 500, then in 1956, the capacity dropped to 450, where it stayed. The owner for at least the 1963-66 editions was Claude Reinhard, who had founded Palmerton TV Signal Corporation, an early cable TV company.

The MPAs didn’t list owners for at least 1969-76. After that, the editions on my shelf list the Mahoning’s owner as:
1978: Riant Entp.
1980-82: J. Morgan.
1984-88: J. Farruggio.

The Morning Call wrote on Aug 23, 1992 that Amos Theaters Inc. (owned by Joseph Farruggio) had owned the Mahoning since 1981. Its manager was described as “an employee of the Palmerton Telephone Company”.

On Aug. 22, 1997 The Morning Call wrote about Farruggio preparing to show adult movies and trying not to run afoul of the Carbon County DA. “He’s shown no movies this year, but now says he’ll play the explicit films two weeks to maintain the drive-in’s 49 years of continuous operation, then close again.” Farruggio said he needed the proceeds to pay overdue taxes. (He eventually backed down and showed Mimic and Copland instead.) He had been battling “for five years” to get permits to add three screens. The drive-in is adjacent to an airport (then Carbon County, now Jake Arner Memorial) so the FAA was involved.

In 1998, the Mahoning opened for only a few weeks because health permits “require the facility to be open at least one night a year.”

I’m not sure when Mike and Deb Danchak came in, or there were other owners in between. In 2013, as the digital conversion loomed, the drive-in had a misadventure starring a guy who said he fixed up drive-ins but never told me which ones. My story and that guy’s comment can be found here.

The Morning Call called Jeff Mattox “a new owner” on October 23, 2014. He joined with two former Temple University film students, Virgil Cardamone and Matthew McClanahan, to embrace the 35mm nostalgia factor and keep the Mahoning running film even today.

welder1977 on April 7, 2018 at 3:41 am

Neon Michael has some very interesting facts and again excludes William C Shirar and Loretta K Shirar were also partners with Dr Humpries and Mr Becker. There was another business and partnership the Mahoning Valley Floral Conmpany located south of the Drive In.SAd thing everyone has passed away so the facts are messed up! Thank You and named Mahoning was a Native American word for a creek or a lick hence the name Mahoning.

DavidZornig on April 8, 2019 at 1:35 am

Video of the unveiling of the repaired marquee last May.

https://www.tnonline.com/mahoning-drive-theater-unveils-repaired-marquee?fbclid=IwAR0XtAomdRnGHBbqBMMVX5TgQ9zQl-bMYSTurxw-P2ollaUWSjnYxA3Tleo

DavidZornig on July 17, 2021 at 12:06 am

Current article that says the solar company looking to buy the land has backed off.

https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/carbon-county/mahoning-drive-in-theater-saved-in-one-day/523-f8e615ee-1b2f-49f2-a896-db6a17345a9a?fbclid=IwAR120tInN2tCHt70CvlBurlZPIKX0HhJ1n7PZ-DlGkxGC3VUeCnZKMzhcgM