80 Years Ago the First Drive-Movie Opened
Saturday, June 08, 2013
Bass Hill Drive-In Cinema (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By CNBNews Staff
GLOUCESTER CITY NJ--On June 6, 1933—80 years ago—Richard Hollingshead opened the world’s first drive-in movie theater on Crescent Blvd., Camden City, in Camden County, N.J., a year after conducting a series of tests in the driveway of his home in Riverton, N.J. that led to a patent application in August 1932. The patent was awarded in May 1933 and Hollingshead was in business.
The price of admission was 25 cents for the car and 25 cents per person.
The first movie he showed was “Wives Beware” starring Adolphe Menjou, which one reviewer described as “An unpleasant little comedy.” Reviews notwithstanding, the idea caught on and by the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were about 4,000 drive-in theaters across the country.
At their peak, drive-ins represented about 25 percent of the movie screens in the U.S. Today that’s down to 1.5 percent. One of the drive-ins that still in operation is the Last Drive-In Picture Show on South Highway 36 in Gatesville, which opened more than 60 years ago as the Circle S'.
QUESTIONS--There was a Drive-In movie in Gloucester City, NJ in the 50's 60's and 70's many years.
Does anyone know the name of it?
Where in Gloucester City was it located?
When did it open?
When did it close?
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