In their heyday , push back - in movie theaters were a dime a dozen , with more than4000of them spread out across the U.S. alone . They were so numerous that theaters had to invent gimmicks to outdo the competition — their tricks include “ washing while you wait ” and evenfly - inmovies that could admit modest planes .
But though it seems quaint now , the drive - in was n’t in the beginning fabricate as a doohickey . Creator Richard Hollingshead wasinspiredto create the unique movie set - up because his female parent , a larger cleaning lady , find it difficult and uncomfortable to sit in regular movie theatre seats . Would n’t it be great , she mused , if you could just learn film from your car ?
He took her seriously , and in 1928 set about toying with the idea . Hollingshead take off by hanging a tabloid from some trees in his backyard and mounting a movie projector onto the goon of his gondola . He experimented with dissimilar consideration , rolling the windows down at various height to quiz sound quality , and using a lawn sprinkler to simulate pelting . He even built small ramps for his test cars to assure that row in the back could see the blind just as well as the rows in the front .
After five years of test - drives , so to speak , Hollingshead received a patent for the “ Automobile Movie Theater ” in 1933 . He spent $ 30,000 to launch the first one — site in Camden , New Jersey — on June 6 , 1933 . “ The whole family is welcome , disregardless of how noisy the children are , ” he advertised . More than600 peopleshowed up , paying 25 cents each to watch a 1932 pic calledWives Beware .
Loews licence the effort - in theater idea from him , which should have made Hollingshead a very wealthy piece . regrettably , he had worry collecting , and in 1950 , his patent was declared invalid . " He did n’t make much money off it , '' his wife , Pauline , latersaid .
As of 2014 , the number of cause - ins in the U.S. had dwindled to just338 .
