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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 08:57 AM
Original message
Ever been to a drive-in movie?
Or a drive-in restaurant?
Were the carhops on roller skates?

Don't see these much any more.
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Hugin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 08:59 AM
Response to Original message
1. There is only one drive-in in the area now...
*sigh*

Good times... Good times...
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Squatch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:02 AM
Response to Original message
2. Does Sonic count?
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Hugin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Do they use roller skates?
No roller skates... Doesn't count.
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xmas74 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:06 PM
Response to Reply #4
43. They used to on car club and 50's nights.
I used to carhop there years ago. On certain nights they encourage the carhops to dress up ala 50's Sockhop style and to wear roller skates, if they feel comfortable w/ them.

I loved those nights. In four hours I'd bring home $100 in tips and I was only 17!
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:18 AM
Response to Reply #2
7. Sonic is the only one we have.
And now they have credit card readers in the carside menu thingy.
:eyes:
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MissMillie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:05 AM
Response to Original message
3. We used to go all the time when I was growing up
In fact, the drive-in theatre is STILL in operation near my home town.

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joeybee12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:11 AM
Response to Original message
5. When I was a kid, that's the only theater we went to!
Indoors were too expensive!

They were fun--pack up the neighborhood kids in the station wagon and head on over.

Sigh--good old days.
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:20 AM
Response to Reply #5
10. Went in your jammies, too, dintcha'?
And during intermission my mom let me go to the concession stand in my jammies.
I was the only kid there in night-clothes, either.
:-)
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swag Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:14 AM
Response to Original message
6. Yes, both.
Those were different times.
The poets studied the rules of verse, and the ladies, they rolled their eyes.
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Hugin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:18 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. Very poetic.
:thumbsup:
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jpgray Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:38 PM
Response to Reply #6
23. Sweet.
Edited on Sun Apr-09-06 12:38 PM by jpgray
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JanMichael Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:19 AM
Response to Original message
9. Yes, yes and yes.
Then again I'm 37 (38 in May) and lived West of the Mississippi.
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:23 AM
Response to Original message
11. Ever drive off with the speaker still hung on the window?
I did once.
Turned it in at the ticket booth.
That was before they started using steel cable that would rip your window out.

Now, no speaker.
Get the audio on an FM frequency on your radio.
It just ain't the same.
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Orsino Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:23 AM
Response to Original message
12. Not since the seventies. n/t
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GOPisEvil Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:26 AM
Response to Original message
13. Yes and yes.
I remember getting my my uncle's mid-'60s vintage Ford Station Wagon and heading to the drive in. I also went to the drive-in in Kerrville, TX while in high school. It's now a Wal-Mart. x(

There is a local drive-in restaurant here. It's featured in "Dazed and Confused". It's called Top Notch. No roller skates, but there is car service.
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:26 AM
Response to Original message
14. Ever try to get a date with the carhop?
We did, all the time.
Never could.
"What time do you get off?"
"Too late for you, sonny."
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Paladin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:31 AM
Response to Original message
15. I Understand That Drive-Ins Are Making A Comeback
There was a feature on a new one on the 4/9 CBS Sunday morning news show.

I'd love to see one open in my area. I've gots lots of great memories about drive-ins, and who knows? With advances in technology, the speaker quality might be worth a flip now (although crappy speaker quality constitutes one of the charms of old-time drive-ins as I remember them).
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:34 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. Just saw it. Inspiration for post.
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Hugin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:42 AM
Response to Reply #17
19. Let's just hope the fundies don't kill them again...
The reason drive-ins went away last time wasn't
entirely due to a lack of attendance.

It was a favorite axe-to-grind of the fundies.

They complained about all of the intimacy displayed
in the open air for all to see...

They even had specially edited "drive-in" versions
of movies which had any hint of physical affection
edited out.

Although, in those days the most such scenes amounted
to was two fully clothed people of opposite genders
hinting at activities near a bed and then there was
a cut to flowers blooming or fireworks. Wrapped up
by a scene of hair brushing and boot pulling on.

I guess they didn't see "Brokeback Mountain" on the
horizon. I wonder how showing that movie at a drive
in would go over.
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Paladin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:36 PM
Response to Reply #19
22. Wonder How The Fundies Would React......
....to a quaint old documentary film called "Birth of Triplets."

That's what was showing in Austin, TX back on high school graduation night, 1968. A bunch of us got a couple of six packs and parked behind the rear fence of the drive-in (we knew they wouldn't let us in as paying customers). We watched the flick through gaps in the tin fence; it had all the allure and sex appeal of a medical school gynecological text, but we were easliy satisfied back then.

I TOLD you I had a bunch of good memories about drive-ins. Long may they run.....
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redwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:05 PM
Response to Reply #19
42. My guess is the land was too valuable for drive ins
And it was sold off for malls and condos. That's what happened to the drive ins in Jersey where I grew up.
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Floogeldy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 02:12 PM
Response to Reply #15
29. You can find them at driveinmovie.com
There are still a few open.

Now, they transmit the soundtrack on an FM frequency instead of using speakers. :)
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kid a Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:34 AM
Response to Original message
16. Yes - We have a drive on thats open in the summer! FUN in a pick-up
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:38 AM
Response to Original message
18. Foggy windows.
Man, we didn't call it the "passion pit" for nothin'.
You'd look up after some serious "making out" and discover you'd suddenly gone zero visibility.
If the rent-a-cop saw foggy windows he'd come bang on the hood and tell you "I want to see heads above the seat."
Damn, that was embarrassing.
:-(
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peekaloo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:44 AM
Response to Original message
20. Lots as a kid. As a teenager we would have contests as to how many
people we could "smuggle" in. :-)
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 09:45 AM
Response to Reply #20
21. Got caught doing that once.
Scared the bejesus out of us.
They just made everybody buy a ticket.
<whew>
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LeftyMom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:43 PM
Response to Original message
24. We still have a drive-in theatre here
I took my kid last year to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith there. One of the local veg restraunts is a drive-in (no carhops on rollerskates though.)
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auntAgonist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
25. We used to
go to the drive in movies a lot (back in the day hehe).
There was also an A&W Drive In we used to frequent about 20 years ago, it's not there anymore. :shrug:

aA
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Heidi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
26. First movie I ever saw was at a drive-in.
"True Grit," Lousiville, Kentucky, about 1970 or 1971. I was about six or seven years old. Between the change of reels, they showed a trailer for the "adult" film, "Fanny Hill," and my dad made my sister and me cover our eyes in the back seat. :rofl:
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Heidi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 12:57 PM
Response to Original message
27. Self-delete. Dupe. (nt)
Edited on Sun Apr-09-06 12:59 PM by Heidi
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bertha katzenengel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 01:03 PM
Response to Original message
28. Yes to all three. I really miss drive-in movies.
:cry:
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Oeditpus Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 02:24 PM
Response to Original message
30. Yup. Yup. Yup.
First movie I ever saw was at a drive-in. Can't remember if it was "101 Dalmatians" or "The Shaggy Dog."

My sister was ramp manager of the Salinas 4 drive-in from 1973-74. I and anybody in the car got in free. I had a lot of friends then. :eyes:

Mel's Valley in the Sky was the teen hangout when I was 3 or 4. It had carhops on roller skates, and Coke made from carbonated water and syrup. If you knew the soda jerk, you could get extra syrup, or extra cherry syrup in a cherry Coke. The straws were paper, and you could blow the wrapper off 'em 15 feet on a good day.

When I was 17 or so, my cruisin' buddy and I ate at A&W almost every day. You ordered on the "squawk box," then the carhop came out and hung your food on your car window. No skates.

All three of those places are gone now. :cry:
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 02:28 PM
Response to Original message
31. Yes and yes.
I've been to drive-in movies a lot, starting with the Lucky Twin Drive-In in Burnsville, MN; the one I went to most frequently was the late, lamented France Avenue Drive-In in Edina, MN.

When I was a kid, we had an A&W Drive-In restaurant with skating carhops. They had the Papa and Mama burgers and the Teenburger!
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Kat45 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 02:29 PM
Response to Original message
32. A few times. Even went to a XXX drive-in once.
Bet they'd never allow one of those these days. We don't have any drive-ins left around here anyway.
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NNadir Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:37 PM
Response to Original message
33. Oh yeah.
It was a long time ago. The last one I ever went to was in Wellfleet, MA in the 1990's. It was the last one I ever saw open.

When I was a teenager, we seldom watched the movies. I'd say more about that but sex threads aren't allowed.
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Bluzmann57 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:46 PM
Response to Original message
34. Of course
Used to work in a restaurant right next to a local drive in theater and we snuck in a few times after work. And when I was a mere lad, my dad used to take us to a local drive in restaurant where the carhops were on roller skates.
A few words about drive in theaters. They were obviously great make out places, but they were also party heaven. Many many beers were drunk there as well as joints being smoked. I miss the old drive ins. Nothing quite like hiding people in the trunk so as to avoid paying for them to get in. Yep, that was common practice at most drive ins. Gawd I'm old.
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RevCheesehead Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:51 PM
Response to Original message
35. I used to work at one.
My first job, as a matter of fact.
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blondeatlast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
36. Ice cold cokes in the ice chest, grocery bags full of home-popped
popcorn, my sisters in the back seat, me in pajamas in the middle on the front bench seat--

yup, I remember the drive-in movies well.

Siiiiigh....
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bigwillq Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
37. I love drive-ins!
:bounce:
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 05:57 PM
Response to Original message
38. Biggest drive-in movie money maker: Snow cones.
My uncle was part owner of a drive-in movie for a few years.
He said the cost of a 10 cent snow cone was about 1.5 cents, including the cup.
Some nights they made more money off the snow cones than they did the ticket sales.
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merh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:01 PM
Response to Original message
39. Sure, I've hidden in the trunk of an old Falcon with 3 others
until we got past the ticket booth and then we crawled out of the seat and watched the movie. 4 for the price of 1.

I also attended the movie with my boy friend who decorated the inside of his folks van with bean bags, thinking for sure he would hit a home run. He didn't, the movie was really, really good. ;)

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redwitch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:02 PM
Response to Original message
40. Oh yeah and I still go.
Friend owns a drive in theatre upstate, not too far from me.

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wildhorses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:03 PM
Response to Original message
41. yes to both
doesn't The Varsity in Atlanta still use roller skates? and so does the Sonic, right?

It has been a LONG time since I went to a drive-in movie...miss it
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-09-06 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
44. My buddy's dad had a station wagon.
In the days before mini-vans.
It was a real woody.


He'd load up us kids, lawn chairs, picnic stuff, a portable grill, cooler, maybe a kitchen sink, too?
He'd back into the parking space, and put the chairs and all the other stuff out behind the wagon.

Before the break between the double features, he'd fire up the grill. I don't know how he got away with this, since he was "taking" business away from the concession stand. Maybe he tipped them heavy?

Anyway, we had burgers and dogs, hot off of his grill. Ice cold Cokes from the cooler for us kids (I think he may have included "adult beverages" for himself and the other grown-ups.).

Them was the days.



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