Drive-ins have been a past time of America since the 1930's. Drive-ins were created to bring the entire family together (and yes this includes infants). Families of any size could spend time together, teens could be with their friends and even go on dates! It took about a decade to master the problem with hearing the films. Different techniques were used to create sound including placing speakers into the actual screen- this technique created an echo affect, which caused the voices and sound to be off. Finally the idea came to create individual speakers which connected on the car itself-- this allowed for families to hear the entire film inside the car or out.

Drive-Ins saw their peak in the late 1950's to early 1960's. At this time there were over 4,000 drive-ins in the United States. It was hard to create revenue when the films needed to viewed after the sun set. Often drive ins only operated on the weekend, which caused a limit in the profits they could make. The weather could also interfere with making a profit and most locations only operated in the summer. In such an unstabilized environment drive-ins had to look for other ways to produce. The options were limited to providing more films for people to watch. In the 1970's some theaters ended up showing what we would refer to as rated "R" films, while others decided to show pornographic films to reach a bigger audience. This strategy was one of the main reasons why drive-ins started declining at a rapid pace. Patrons didn't feel comfortable bringing their families to the same location pornographic movies would be showing later on in the evening. Land started becoming more valuable and more costly to maintain. Advances in television and especially the VCR also helped end the drive-in era.



