Boxoffice, Oct. 4, 1952: “SUTHERLIN, ORE. - Lloyd O. Wood, Wood & Ulett Theatres, has announced that construction will start immediately on a 400-car drive-in one mile west of town. The drive-in will be ready for opening when weather permits next spring. It is being built by Wood & Ulett Theatres, which also owns the Grand Theatre here and the Jewel Theatre in Oakland.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 4, 1952: “MYRTLE CREEK, ORE. - The 500-car Tri-City Drive-In located on Highway 99 south of here has been opened by owners W. E. Love, who also is manager, J. H. Markham jr., and W. R. Markham, all of Riddle, Ore.”
There was a two-page write-up on the recently opened Sky-Hi in the Modern Theatre section of the June 7, 1952 issue of Boxoffice. “The Ski-Hi sign is constructed of five 2x6s, 27 feet high and lights up in red. Neon tubing goes up and down the posts. A blinker system is responsible for twinkling silver stars.” The screen was 40x160 feet on a tower of “laminaka fir timber.” (Unfortunately, no photos.) The drive-in’s water came from a 150-foot well.
“The drive-in is the realization of a two-year-old plan of Ralph A. Hahn, Don Dedriksen and Kieth Dedricksen, formerly of Lincoln, Mont.” Hahn was recalled to active military duty in Korea, which put construction on hold until October 1951.
The “Westernaire” held its grand opening on June 5, 1949, per coverage that week in the Lewistown Daily News. The opening program was “My Wild Irish Rose,” a cartoon and news.
Boxoffice, June 7, 1952: “LEWISTOWN, MONT. - Frank Machler, owner and manager, has started the fourth season of the Westernaire Drive-In here. A snack bar has been installed for this season and chairs placed at it so patrons may continue watching the show while waiting to be served. Adult admission is 60 cents.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 22, 1955: “Ralph and Bruce Isaacson and Glenn Metcalf, local business men, have bought the Westernaire Drive-In from Frank and Helen Machler, who operated it through the recently completed season.”
Boxoffice, June 7, 1952: “Mr. and Mrs. William Blair and son William jr. purchased the 507-seat Ritz Theatre in Calistoga, the only theatre there, from L-B Industries. The Blairs, who live in Cloverdale, own the Blair and Del Rio theatres.”
Boxoffice, May 24, 1952: “WHITEFISH, MONT. - Two drive-ins are planned for this locality. One will be built on Highway 40 between Whitefish and Columbia Falls by E. A. Massman and Walter Thompson, owners of the Orpheum and Lake theatres in Whitefish and the Park in Columbia Falls, Mont. They have bought ten acres just west of Blue Moon and Massman has made a trip to Chicago to purchase equipment.”
Boxoffice, May 10, 1952: “Hill’s Drive-In, Riverdale, was opened May 1 by Dr. Gerard Hill."
Boxoffice, May 17, 1952: “The grand opening of Hill’s Drive-In recently was a gala affair. Built at a cost of $60,000, the theatre has a capacity of 325 cars.”
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Mount Vernon Drive-In on Road 62 has reopened for the season under the management of new owners John and Stephen Miles and Mary and Joe Nickelick. They also own and operate the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 41 north of Evansville."
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Mount Vernon Drive-In on Road 62 has reopened for the season under the management of new owners John and Stephen Miles and Mary and Joe Nickelick. They also own and operate the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 41 north of Evansville. An extensive remodeling program has been undertaken at the Mount Vernon Drive-In during the off season. The concession stand has been rearranged."
Just a few more details to supplement rivest266’s note.
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Esquire Theatre has been renamed the Sequoia. Fred R. Sawaske, city manager for Hardy’s Theatres, said the change was made in order to obtain a name more fitting to the Fresno locale”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1951: “LA GRANDE, ORE. - The community’s first airer, the La Grande Drive-In, opened May 1 under the partnership of W. J. Shell and A. V. Parker. The 400-car outdoorer cost an estimated $50,000.”
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “Car service will be a new feature at the La Grande Drive-In this season. Carhops will take orders for refreshments from the theatre audience, saving them them trips to the snack bar during intermission and performances.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 9, 1954: “LA GRANDE, ORE. – Parker and W. J. Shell, owners of the drive-in theatre, have sold it to Francis Greulich of La Grande and Ted Jones of Santa Monica, Calif. Greulich and Jones own the two La Grande theatres, the Liberty and the Granada.”
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: Arizona’s first 1952 theatre casualty is the Twin Screen Drive-In, which closed recently after a year of operation. The outdoorer, a McCormack-Nace enterprise, was the largest in this area."
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Twin Screen Drive-In, which closed early last January, has been reopened by Fred Crockett and Harry L. Nace as the Acres of Fun. Only one screen is being utilized, reducing the capacity of the airer, formerly a McCormack-Nace enterprise, to around 625 cars. The dual screen outdoorer was the largest drive-in in the state under its original operation. The current manager is Otto Silvester.”
This entry needs to list “Hollis Drive-In” as a previous name. I suspect Lynn Teeter was the person who renamed it. And here’s an approximate opening date:
Exhibitor, May 20, 1953: “Watt Long, Lavista, Hollis, Okla., will open his new drive-in, the Hollis, May 27.”
I’m getting out some twine to connect pushpins on a corkboard. I’m starting to guess that the 100 speakers that Cavasos used in Socorro came from Hatch.
The Hatch drive-in, capacity 100, closed after the 1948 season. The Starlite opened with 100 speakers the following spring. It makes a kind of sense.
I agree that the HistoricAerials (NETR) version for 1949 looks like the high-res Oct. 1 set. Maybe we’ll figure it out some day.
Boxoffice, March 29, 1952: “New manager of the Moonlite Drive-In in Hollister is Don Hooton. Hans Severinsen, owner, said Hooton replaces Dallas Haney, who shifted to a Santa Cruz theatre.”
Do you use USGS' EarthExplorer? https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It’s nowhere near as friendly and easy as HistoricAerials, but it can fill in a lot of gaps. HistoricAerials often uses those same USGS maps as its starting point.
In particular, I can see that Socorro’s 1949 photos were taken on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The latter set is unusually well detailed. You’re better at spotting these drive-ins, so maybe you could look them over.
I’m thinking of the drive-in at Hatch NM, about 100 miles down the highway. Its outline looked almost nothing like the typical clamshell drive-in site, but it could have influenced Cavasos, who had a Hatch connection. After his drive-in closed, Cavasos opened a radio/TV repair shop in Hatch.
So if you could look at some EarthExplorer TIF files with an eye toward an unconventional setup, maybe you’ll fill this longstanding hole in my knowledge.
Hi Kenmore. Sorry to be late with this reply. I wish you were right, but a couple of data points get in my way.
The Sierra (which would become the Sierra Vista) opened on April 24, 1952. Earlier Socorro drive-in notes are all consistent with Edsel Cavasos' Sunset/Star-Lite. Aerial photos from 1950 clearly showed that the future Sierra site was still unimproved land. It’s one of the few places that I know for sure wasn’t where the Sunset was. :)
There is so very much that I don’t know about this drive-in. I hope that one day some Socorro historian will be motivated to check it out.
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: “E. D. Winslow has reopened the Maywood in Maywood, the house operating on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday basis and closed the rest of the week”
The Feb. 2, 1952 Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice included a photo of the Ellis with the words “Celebrating our first anniversary” on its marquee, suggesting a 1951 (or 1950) opening date.
It was still active on July 23, 1963, when the Beckley Post-Herald reported the arrest of one of the robbers of the “Ellis Drive-In Restaurant and Theater at Clarksburg”.
Boxoffice, Oct. 4, 1952: “SUTHERLIN, ORE. - Lloyd O. Wood, Wood & Ulett Theatres, has announced that construction will start immediately on a 400-car drive-in one mile west of town. The drive-in will be ready for opening when weather permits next spring. It is being built by Wood & Ulett Theatres, which also owns the Grand Theatre here and the Jewel Theatre in Oakland.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 4, 1952: “MYRTLE CREEK, ORE. - The 500-car Tri-City Drive-In located on Highway 99 south of here has been opened by owners W. E. Love, who also is manager, J. H. Markham jr., and W. R. Markham, all of Riddle, Ore.”
Boxoffice, June 28, 1952: “Two new theatres has their grand openings recently. One was the Grove, of Lemon Grove, Calif., owned by J. Van Gilse.”
There was a two-page write-up on the recently opened Sky-Hi in the Modern Theatre section of the June 7, 1952 issue of Boxoffice. “The Ski-Hi sign is constructed of five 2x6s, 27 feet high and lights up in red. Neon tubing goes up and down the posts. A blinker system is responsible for twinkling silver stars.” The screen was 40x160 feet on a tower of “laminaka fir timber.” (Unfortunately, no photos.) The drive-in’s water came from a 150-foot well.
“The drive-in is the realization of a two-year-old plan of Ralph A. Hahn, Don Dedriksen and Kieth Dedricksen, formerly of Lincoln, Mont.” Hahn was recalled to active military duty in Korea, which put construction on hold until October 1951.
The “Westernaire” held its grand opening on June 5, 1949, per coverage that week in the Lewistown Daily News. The opening program was “My Wild Irish Rose,” a cartoon and news.
Boxoffice, June 7, 1952: “LEWISTOWN, MONT. - Frank Machler, owner and manager, has started the fourth season of the Westernaire Drive-In here. A snack bar has been installed for this season and chairs placed at it so patrons may continue watching the show while waiting to be served. Adult admission is 60 cents.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 22, 1955: “Ralph and Bruce Isaacson and Glenn Metcalf, local business men, have bought the Westernaire Drive-In from Frank and Helen Machler, who operated it through the recently completed season.”
Boxoffice, June 7, 1952: “Mr. and Mrs. William Blair and son William jr. purchased the 507-seat Ritz Theatre in Calistoga, the only theatre there, from L-B Industries. The Blairs, who live in Cloverdale, own the Blair and Del Rio theatres.”
Boxoffice, May 24, 1952: “WHITEFISH, MONT. - Two drive-ins are planned for this locality. One will be built on Highway 40 between Whitefish and Columbia Falls by E. A. Massman and Walter Thompson, owners of the Orpheum and Lake theatres in Whitefish and the Park in Columbia Falls, Mont. They have bought ten acres just west of Blue Moon and Massman has made a trip to Chicago to purchase equipment.”
Boxoffice, May 10, 1952: “Hill’s Drive-In, Riverdale, was opened May 1 by Dr. Gerard Hill."
Boxoffice, May 17, 1952: “The grand opening of Hill’s Drive-In recently was a gala affair. Built at a cost of $60,000, the theatre has a capacity of 325 cars.”
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Mount Vernon Drive-In on Road 62 has reopened for the season under the management of new owners John and Stephen Miles and Mary and Joe Nickelick. They also own and operate the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 41 north of Evansville."
This drive-in was opened before 1952.
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Mount Vernon Drive-In on Road 62 has reopened for the season under the management of new owners John and Stephen Miles and Mary and Joe Nickelick. They also own and operate the Sunset Drive-In on Highway 41 north of Evansville. An extensive remodeling program has been undertaken at the Mount Vernon Drive-In during the off season. The concession stand has been rearranged."
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “Long shuttered, the Yucalpa Theatre in Yucalpa has been reopened by O. K. Warner"
Just a few more details to supplement rivest266’s note.
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Esquire Theatre has been renamed the Sequoia. Fred R. Sawaske, city manager for Hardy’s Theatres, said the change was made in order to obtain a name more fitting to the Fresno locale”
Boxoffice, May 19, 1951: “LA GRANDE, ORE. - The community’s first airer, the La Grande Drive-In, opened May 1 under the partnership of W. J. Shell and A. V. Parker. The 400-car outdoorer cost an estimated $50,000.”
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “Car service will be a new feature at the La Grande Drive-In this season. Carhops will take orders for refreshments from the theatre audience, saving them them trips to the snack bar during intermission and performances.”
Boxoffice, Jan. 9, 1954: “LA GRANDE, ORE. – Parker and W. J. Shell, owners of the drive-in theatre, have sold it to Francis Greulich of La Grande and Ted Jones of Santa Monica, Calif. Greulich and Jones own the two La Grande theatres, the Liberty and the Granada.”
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: Arizona’s first 1952 theatre casualty is the Twin Screen Drive-In, which closed recently after a year of operation. The outdoorer, a McCormack-Nace enterprise, was the largest in this area."
Boxoffice, April 26, 1952: “The Twin Screen Drive-In, which closed early last January, has been reopened by Fred Crockett and Harry L. Nace as the Acres of Fun. Only one screen is being utilized, reducing the capacity of the airer, formerly a McCormack-Nace enterprise, to around 625 cars. The dual screen outdoorer was the largest drive-in in the state under its original operation. The current manager is Otto Silvester.”
The last ad I could find for the Crest in the Kiowa County Star-Review was Sept. 1, 1960. The program was “Pork Chop Hill” and “Tarzan the Ape Man”
This entry needs to list “Hollis Drive-In” as a previous name. I suspect Lynn Teeter was the person who renamed it. And here’s an approximate opening date:
Exhibitor, May 20, 1953: “Watt Long, Lavista, Hollis, Okla., will open his new drive-in, the Hollis, May 27.”
I’m getting out some twine to connect pushpins on a corkboard. I’m starting to guess that the 100 speakers that Cavasos used in Socorro came from Hatch.
The Hatch drive-in, capacity 100, closed after the 1948 season. The Starlite opened with 100 speakers the following spring. It makes a kind of sense.
I agree that the HistoricAerials (NETR) version for 1949 looks like the high-res Oct. 1 set. Maybe we’ll figure it out some day.
The latest link for that issue of Boxoffice is:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/26658832/boxoffice-june281948
Boxoffice, April 5, 1952: “Paul Herman sold his Victory Theatre in San Diego to Harry Ussery”
The Moonlite was open by 1952.
Boxoffice, March 29, 1952: “New manager of the Moonlite Drive-In in Hollister is Don Hooton. Hans Severinsen, owner, said Hooton replaces Dallas Haney, who shifted to a Santa Cruz theatre.”
Do you use USGS' EarthExplorer? https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ It’s nowhere near as friendly and easy as HistoricAerials, but it can fill in a lot of gaps. HistoricAerials often uses those same USGS maps as its starting point.
In particular, I can see that Socorro’s 1949 photos were taken on Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The latter set is unusually well detailed. You’re better at spotting these drive-ins, so maybe you could look them over.
I’m thinking of the drive-in at Hatch NM, about 100 miles down the highway. Its outline looked almost nothing like the typical clamshell drive-in site, but it could have influenced Cavasos, who had a Hatch connection. After his drive-in closed, Cavasos opened a radio/TV repair shop in Hatch.
So if you could look at some EarthExplorer TIF files with an eye toward an unconventional setup, maybe you’ll fill this longstanding hole in my knowledge.
Hi Kenmore. Sorry to be late with this reply. I wish you were right, but a couple of data points get in my way.
The Sierra (which would become the Sierra Vista) opened on April 24, 1952. Earlier Socorro drive-in notes are all consistent with Edsel Cavasos' Sunset/Star-Lite. Aerial photos from 1950 clearly showed that the future Sierra site was still unimproved land. It’s one of the few places that I know for sure wasn’t where the Sunset was. :)
There is so very much that I don’t know about this drive-in. I hope that one day some Socorro historian will be motivated to check it out.
Of course, I stand corrected about the Circle Autoscope’s closing date, which was really Labor Day 1964.
Boxoffice, Feb. 16, 1952: “E. D. Winslow has reopened the Maywood in Maywood, the house operating on a Friday-Saturday-Sunday basis and closed the rest of the week”
The Feb. 2, 1952 Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice included a photo of the Ellis with the words “Celebrating our first anniversary” on its marquee, suggesting a 1951 (or 1950) opening date.
It was still active on July 23, 1963, when the Beckley Post-Herald reported the arrest of one of the robbers of the “Ellis Drive-In Restaurant and Theater at Clarksburg”.