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Drive-In Movie Theaters
Researched and Written by Janine Weins
(Posted 7/26/06)

The Segway^TM, Polaroid cameras, and heart valves are the kind of devices most people think of as patented inventions. Few would think of the drive-in movie theater as an invention, let alone a patented invention, but it is. In 1933, Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., was issued U.S. Patent 1,909,537 for the Drive-In Theater. His patent claimed "an outdoor theater comprising a stage, alternate rows of automobile drive-ways and vertically inclined automobile stall-ways..."

To perfect his invention, Hollingshead nailed a sheet to trees in his backyard, put a Kodak projector on the hood of his car, and hooked up a radio for sound. To test how well his new idea would work in inclement weather, he turned on the lawn sprinkler. His tests revealed that the placement of the cars was critical. If the cars were not aligned properly and on the right grade, cars in front would block the view of those behind. Much of the teaching in Hollingshead's patent is directed to the proper placement of the "stall-ways" and the vertical inclines on which the cars were parked.

The first drive-in theater opened June 6, 1933, in Hollingshead's home state of New Jersey. By 1958, there were nearly 5,000 drive-in theaters in the country. Most of those are now closed, and the land on which people parked to see a movie is now used for shopping centers, housing complexes, and industrial parks. The drive-in theater where I saw movies on summer nights when I was growing up in Lyme, the Starlight Drive-In in Orford, is now closed. The land is used by Thompson Trucking.

The only remaining drive-in theater in the area is the Fairlee Drive-In on Route 5 in Fairlee, Vermont. The Fairlee Drive-In was built in 1950. In the 1960s, when the interstate highway ended in Fairlee, a motel was built on the edge of the drive-in so travelers could spend a night and see a movie. In 2000, the Fairlee Drive-In was still using its original carbon arc projector, the sound system had not been modernized, and the screen was old. In 2003, the drive-in was purchased by the Trapps, owners of Thunder Ridge Ranch in Piermont, New Hampshire. Peter Trapp had memories of going in the back of a hay truck to the Fairlee Drive-In. He wanted to provide the opportunity for other young people to have the drive-in theater experience. The Trapps put up a new screen, purchased a new projection system, installed an FM stereo sound system, and upgraded the food at the concession stand. The hamburgers sold at the Fairlee Drive-In are made exclusively from the Black Angus beef raised on the Thunder Ridge Ranch.

At the drive-in the movie starts at dusk, but the show starts as soon as the patrons start to arrive. People come with couches in the back of their pick-up, dogs and babies on the back seat, lawn chairs in the trunk. Before the movie starts kids play, the adults catch up with old friends and meet new friends. When the sky darkens and the movie fills the giant screen nestled next to the pine trees, some settle into their lawn chairs or the front bucket seats of their car while other retreat to the privacy of the backseat.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 28, 29, and 30, the second billing on the double feature will be A Prairie Home Companion. If you haven't seen the movie, I would recommend it. If you have not been to a drive-in theater lately, I would recommend you include a night at the Fairlee Drive-In in your summer plans.

The land on which the Starlight Drive-In was located is now used by Thompson Trucking.	The big screen next to the pines at the Fairlee Drive-In.	The billboard announcing this weekend's movies: The Devil Wears Prada followed by A Prairie Home Companion.