drive-in theaters
Outdoor car movies
Drive-in theaters are outdoor movie venues where patrons watch films from their parked cars.
The screen stands at one end of a large lot; sound comes through portable speakers hung on car windows or broadcast over FM radio.
Drive-ins flourished in mid-20th-century America, offering families and teenagers an informal alternative to indoor cinemas.
Most have closed, but survivors draw nostalgia seekers: We caught a double feature at the drive-in.
- big screenTheater projection surface
- concession standVenue food sales point
- feature filmsStandard-length theatrical movies
- projectorLight-casting display device
- parking spacesDesignated vehicle berths
classic cars · snack bar · cartoons · nostalgia · social gatherings · ticket booth · starry skies · summer nights · Americana · date nights · first dates · suburbanization · car clubs · car hops · post-war era · baby boom · community bonding · FM radio
- 1950sEisenhower, poodle skirt, Elvis Presley, Rosa Parks, baby boom
- 1950s nostalgiapoodle skirts, hula hoops, sock hops, jukeboxes, saddle shoes
- entertainment historyvaudeville, silent films, talkies, Hollywood, movie palaces
- vanishing thingsblacksmiths, cobblers, lamplighters, switchboard operators, telegraphers
- entertainmentmovie, movies, films, band, television
- American pastimesbaseball, basketball, football, barbecue, barbecues
drive-in theaterscineplexes
Multi-auditorium film venues
megaplexes · multiplexes · movie theaters · movie palaces · screening rooms
drive-in theatershome video
Personal recordings for private viewing
home theaters · Netflix · private viewing · DVD players · VCRs
drive-in theatersstreaming services
On-demand video delivery platforms
Netflix · digital streaming · video on demand · Hulu · Amazon Prime Video