Birth of the Drive-In
Richard Milton Hollingshead, Jr. was born February 25, 1900. After his schooling was complete, he went to work for his father, who owned the Whiz Auto Products Company. But it wasn’t long before Richard tired of selling soaps and polishes. He wanted to create a business of his own, as his father had. Hollingshead stated that he “analyzed the market from the standpoint of what people gave up last. It came out this way: Food. Clothing. Autos. Movies. In order.”
His first thought was to construct the ideal gas station, with a Hawaiian Village theme, with thatched-roofed buildings and gas pumps that resembled palm trees. Inside one of the buildings would be a restaurant, while outside would be an outdoor theater. Although he did not follow through with the gas station, he did begin to plan on ho to construct the theater.
In trying to figure out why people didn’t go to the movies, Hollingshead came to the following conclusions. “The mother says she’d not dressed; the husband doesn’t want to put on his shoes; the question is what to do with the kids; then how to find a baby sitter; parking the car is difficult or maybe they have to pay for parking; even the seats in the theater may not be comfortable to contemplate.”
Hollingshead’s solution was to find a way that people did not have to leave the comfort of their cars to watch a show. At his home at 212 Thomas Avenue in Riverton, New Jersey, he began a series of experiments in his driveway. Nailing a screen to a tree, Hollingshead projected a movie onto it, setting a radio behind the screen to provide sound. He even simulated the effects of rain by using a lawn sprinkler. He was pleased with the results. Unfortunately, Hollingshead realized that if a car was parked in front of him, his view would be limited. To solve this problem he placed one car in front of the other, forty feet apart, and began placing blocks underneath the front tires of both cars. He repeated this experiment until he could sit in the back car and see the screen.
Anther difficulty he encountered was how to project the sound of the movie so that all the patrons on a 500 foot long lot could hear it. The problem was solved by the RCA Victor Company, who came up with something they called controlled directional sound. Three central speakers were used, which were supposed to deliver the same volume of sound to everyone in the lot.
On August 6, 1932 Hollingshead applied for a patent on his new invention, the “Drive-In Theater.”
“My invention relates to a new and useful outdoor theater and it relates more particularly to a novel construction in outdoor theaters... wherein the performance, such as a motion picture show or the like, may be seen and heard from a series of automobiles so arranged in relation to the stage or screen that the successive cars behind each other will not obstruct the view.” (See Appendix One for the complete patent and drawings).
As stated in the introduction, movies being shown outdoors had been going on for at least two decades by 1932. What made Hollingshead’s idea unique was that it focused on ways that people could drive to a theater and remain in their cars in comfort while still having an unobstructed view of the screen, the cars “to provide means whereby an audience, particularly in rural sections, may view a motion picture without the necessity of alighting from the automobile and, as a matter of fact, the automobile serves as an element of the seating facilities.”
On May 16, 1933 Hollingshead’s patent was approved. Construction began that same day, on Crescent Boulevard, just over the Camden town line. Hollingshead touted the benefits of his theater to the public in the local Camden newspaper, the Courier-Post, on May 17, 1933.
Inveterate smokers rarely enjoy a movie because of the smoking prohibition. In the Drive-In theatre one may smoke without offending others. People may chat or even partake of refreshments brought in their cars without disturbing those who prefer silence. The Drive-In theatre idea virtually transforms an ordinary motor car into a private box. The younger children are not permitted in movie theatres and are frequently discouraged even when accompanied by parents or guardians. Here the whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are apt to be and parents are furthermore assured of the children’s safety because youngsters remain in the car. The aged and infirm will find the Drive-In a boon because they will not be subjected to inconveniences such as getting up to leave others pass in narrow aisles or the uncertainty of a seat.
Called simply the “Drive-In Theatre” Hollingshead’s dream came true when the gates to the theater were opened to the public on June 6, 1933. The main attraction was Wife Beware, a picture already a year old. Hollingshead had been unable to rent a first-run movie from any distributors since it was feared that this would lessen the profit at the indoor theaters.
The architect for the first drive-in was Howard E. Hull, from Camden. The theater could accommodate 336 cars. The screen was 30 feet high and 40 feet wide, with the bottom of the screen twelve off the ground. A concession stand was later constructed, which not only sold to drive-in patrons at night, but served lunch and beer during the day as well.
The Camden drive-in proved not to be a money maker. Hollingshead sold the theater a couple of years later to a man who removed the equipment and set up a drive-in in Union, New Jersey.
Richard Hollingshead never opened another drive-in. By 1934 he was again working for his father at the Whiz Auto Products Company. The money he believed would come from his patent idea was never realized. Although some drive-in owners did pay for the right to build their theaters, many did not. Hollingshead took legal action against these owners. This included Herbert J. Ochs, who was sued for patent infringement resulting from his building two unlicensed drive-ins in Dayton (Dayton East and Dayton West). As happened most of the time Hollingshead went to court, he lost. More than likely any money that he may have received from his patent did not cover the cost of his legal fees in trying to enforce it.
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