Happy Hollingshead Day, 2014!

We don’t often repeat posts, but on this date every year, we make an exception:

It was 81 years ago tonight that the world’s first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N.J. It was the brainchild of one Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. The first movie shown at the first drive-in? Wives Beware, starring Adolphe Menjou (Wives Beware was originally released some months before under the title Two White Arms).

Mr. Hollingshead’s theatre is long gone, we’re sad to report, but the second drive-in ever built—Shankweiler’s DI in Orefield, Penn.—is still going strong.

If you’re within an hour’s drive of an ozoner, you owe it to yourself to pack up the kids and take in a movie under the stars tonight. Not sure if there’s a drive-in near you? Drive-ins.com is the place to find out.

And just to whet your appetite, we’ll share these drive-in intermission clips with you, plus a television advertisement for a now-much-coveted Remco miniature drive-in toy from the 1950s (watch for a familiar face in the commercial).

At the Drive-in

photo of a 1950s drive-inYesterday, on Jeopardy, there was a category in the Double Jeopardy round that was entitled “At the Drive-in.” Host Alex Trebek noted that the category was intended to commemorate the fact that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the first drive-in theatre.

Below are the five questions in the category; how many can you answer? (Hover your cursor over the questions to reveal the answers.)


Camden in this state was the site of the 1st drive-in; creator Richard Hollingshead's large mom hated theater seats.

Made a national standard in 1967, it annoyed drive-in owners by forcing them to start the show an hour later.

The opening credits of this animated TV show feature a trip to the drive-in, Dino & all.

The 4,000 drive-ins of yesteryear are now 400;

Intermission trailers often reminded patrons not to drive away without removing this from their cars.

Happy Hollingshead Day, 2013!

We don’t often repeat posts, but on this date every year, we make an exception:

It was 80 years ago tonight that the world’s first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N.J. It was the brainchild of one Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. The first movie shown at the first drive-in? Wives Beware, starring Adolphe Menjou (Wives Beware was originally released some months before under the title Two White Arms).

Mr. Hollingshead’s theatre is long gone, we’re sad to report, but the second drive-in ever built—Shankweiler’s DI in Orefield, Penn.—is still going strong.

If you’re within an hour’s drive of an ozoner, you owe it to yourself to pack up the kids and take in a movie under the stars tonight. Not sure if there’s a drive-in near you? Drive-ins.com is the place to find out.

And just to whet your appetite, we’ll share these drive-in intermission clips with you, plus a television advertisement for a now-much-coveted Remco miniature drive-in toy from the 1950s (watch for a familiar face in the commercial).

Happy Hollingshead Day!

It was 79 years ago tonight that Richard Hollingshead Jr. opened the world’s first drive-in theater in Camden, New Jersey. Google’s marking the occasion with this delightful “doodle,” and we encourage you to celebrate by patronizing your nearest drive-in theatre!

What was the very first movie ever screen at the very first drive-in? Wives Beware (1932), starring Adolph Menjou.

Happy Hollingshead Day, 2011!

We don’t often repeat posts—in fact, we’re not sure we ever have—but on this special occasion, we’ll make an exception. Heck, we may offer a reprise of the following post every year on June 6:

It was 78 years ago tonight that the world’s first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N.J. It was the brainchild of one Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. The first movie shown at the first drive-in? Wives Beware, starring Adolphe Menjou (Wives Beware was originally released some months before under the title Two White Arms).

Mr. Hollingshead’s theatre is long gone, we’re sad to report, but the second drive-in ever built—Shankweiler’s DI in Orefield, Penn.—is still going strong.

If you’re within an hour’s drive of an ozoner, you owe it to yourself to pack up the kids and take in a movie under the stars tonight. Not sure if there’s a drive-in near you? Drive-ins.com is the place to find out.

And just to whet your appetite, we’ll share these drive-in intermission clips with you.