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Drive-in Movie days

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GTP1960

GTP1960

Jedi Knight
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in my outback rambles I came across the "Big Mo".
An operating Drive-in movie theatre, in Monetta, SC.

Nothing showing right now, but double features are common in the summer.
image.jpg

I remember those summer nights with my folks & family....(watching John Wayne westerns no doubt.)

image.jpeg

The chalk hill drive in, Cockrell Hill, Tx was our regular.
 
Sunset Drive In in Shreveport, La. in the fifties was our regular spot; then after moving to Corpus Christi, went to one there with a friend, but don't remember the name.

There's one nearby in Maryville still operating. Closed for the winter, but operates a flea market on Fridays and Saturdays year-round. Will be opening back up in the spring; they have two showings each evening. First one is usually family-oriented; second one for more mature audiences. It's also been a location for car shows from time to time.

Recently it was reported that WalMart has been pushing for putting in a store across the highway from them, but they've been fighting it due to traffic and "washout" from the lighting of the parking lot. Haven't heard whether that's going to happen.
 
We used to hang out the East Drive Inn on Colfax Ave in Aurora, CO. Many were the times we'd drive in with one or two kids hidden in the trunk. This thread reminded me one this song.

 
GTP1960 said:
Mickey, here's a couple of shots of the old "Sunset"

View attachment 47147View attachment 47148

you might find this YouTube clip interesting.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OlTVUqqcUm4
Click to expand...

WOW! That brings me back! The two cars on the left in the picture of the drive-in are heading south on Mansfield Rd. (Hwy. 171). That big "W" was the sign for Weingarten's, a grocery store. We lived in the area behind Weingarten's (Sunset Acres) when I was 2 or 3, in '52/'53. Don't remember much of that time, but do remember quite well going to the drive-in later on.

Thanks for the memories!
 
Never thought about it until I started searching "drive-in theatres", But what a great place to look at vintage car photos back in the day.

(never mind the 1st one......some kind of discrimination was going on at the "love bug" feature)

image.jpegimage.jpeg
 
Great memories there! Here's the Parkaire Drive In in Fort Worth, where I saw many a film in the 1950s and 60s (including 2001 A Space Odyssey). I went to Paschal High School, then TCU.

View attachment 47157

Guy - What's the center car in your second photo, with the two sitting on top?
 
Don't know for sure, but I was thinking it was a '63 vette.
(Bet he never had trouble finding a date to the drive-in!)

maybe a '62 more likely.
image.jpeg
 
Funny - I was thinking the early 60s Corvette too. But those young ladies sitting on top sure must be small, compared to the size of that relatively small Corvette. And I guess that's a VW Bug on the left?
 
Some of those other cars appear to be from the '70's.
so the vette was already "vintage ".

my folks used to expand out to neighboring slots, drag out lawn chairs & the cooler & shoo us kids off to playground & hotdog stand.

If the movie didn't cut it, the swings did; we all had fun.
 
Mom and Dad divorced when I was nine. Mom and my sisters and I moved from Shreveport to Corpus Christi shortly after that; we went to drive-ins there as well. My buddy and I once went with his mom... in a cab, as they had no car. Cab driver dropped us off; we watched the movie from a table at the concession stand, then took a cab back home.
 
GregW said:
I thought this story was going to be you watched the whole movie in the cab.
Click to expand...

Wonder what the fare would've been... :eeek:
 
Women back then had to solider on.
(guess they do now too, but with more Gov't support & equality)
Responsible for keeping the family together & making tough decisions.

my grandmother was widowed when mom was 5 in '29 ( they lived in Shreveport btw:smile:
no money, no prospects, but faith, relatives & friends pulled em thru.
 
GTP1960 said:
Women back then had to solider on.
(guess they do now too, but with more Gov't support & equality)
Responsible for keeping the family together & making tough decisions.

my grandmother was widowed when mom was 5 in '29 ( they lived in Shreveport btw:smile:
no money, no prospects, but faith, relatives & friends pulled em thru.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it wasn't an easy time. But we made it.

Amazing, though, how small this world is. Where did your grandmother live and how long was your mother there? PM me if you'd rather keep it off the forum.
 
Don't know how long they were in Shreveport.
But Grandma got a job in Tyler, used her meger life insurance $$ to buy a boarding house there. She raised 4 kids on her own. Mom went to john Tyler high.
 
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