Bill Alderman's Drive-In
4210 E. Hillsborough Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33610
4210 E. Hillsborough Avenue,
Tampa,
FL
33610
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments
Here’s what I found for this theatre:
Opening day was March 3, 1950. The ad carried in the Tampa Tribune was a small and simple word ad:
Grand Opening Tonight
Bill Alderman’s Drive-Inn Theatre
43rd & Hillsborough
1 feature, 1 serial, 3 cartoons
Marriage & Divorce
Last of the Mohicans (1st chapter)
Knock Knock/Woody Woodpecker
Mickey & the Giant/Mickey Mouse
Gandy’s Adventure/Gandy Goose
World’s most unusual drive-inn
FREE admission children must be escorted by parents
Continuous 6:45 to 1:00 AM
First off, what do they mean by “free” admission? Does that imply children only or everyone? I typed it above just as it appears in the ad. This ad ran from 3/3/50 to 3/5/50.
The program changed on 3/6/50:
Sports Thrills of ‘49
Flying Fisherman
Fun on the Run/Abbott & Costello
Come Clean/Laurel & Hardy
The last day this ad ran was 3/8/50 which was also the last day the ads were listed in the Tampa Tribune. The theatre vanished after that date. The showtimes were not posted under the Time Clock listings along with other theatres. I scanned two weeks prior to the opening and never saw a single mention or photo of the theatre. I also scanned through the end of March but never saw another ad.
So based on this it appears the theatre was open for only a couple weeks. If it was open longer then why did they cease running ads? Unless cost was a factor and they relied on word-of-mouth.
Also, “Restaurant” never appeared in any of the ads. The theatre was always advertised as “Bill Alderman’s Drive-Inn.” And yet it does appear in the the Sarasota papers ad….go figure! Unless the spelling of “drive-inn” signifies “restaurant.”
This is a mystery to be solved only by someone who was there and remembers. My instincts tell me it was probably a 16mm set-up (hence the lack of real features and instead comedies cartoons and shorts.) But was it in fact a combination drive-in/restaurant or a drive-in with a glorified refreshment center? And how long was it in operation? Too many questions and no answers. I need to drive by the area just to see if anything at all remains. Of course that’s highly doubtful.
40th Street is new to me. 28th Street was a segregated theater supposedly in the College Hill part of town.
Nick, I will give you a little help.
EAST BUFFALO Drive-in Parked 389 cars and was owned by Dale Elleman. i have a 40th Street Drive in ,but no 28th Street. In my 1956 Almanac. Nothing on Bonita Drive-in in the Almanac.
See if you can find out more about the Tampa 28th Street, East Buffalo, and Bonita Drive-ins. Can’t find out anything about those.
Hey, I told you there were of Ton Tampa theatres on CT.
WELCOME BACK, Mr.DiMaggio.
Hello Guys! I’m back. Sorry I was AWOL for so long. Wow! I’ve never heard of this theatre. I just spoke with Charlie (a former area operator) and he’s never heard of it either. But In 1950 he was working in Virginia for awhile so guess that’s the reason.
Heading to the library tomorrow to research other area theatres and will most certainly check this one out. Should prove to be quite interesting!
You know Nick, I bet Charlie might be able to put some story to this odd entry.
Just talked to Nick. He is back and really wants to get going on these theatres and catch up with you. He asked about you and Robin. He should be on soon.He was watching 2001. Which I was watching when he called.It is on TCM tonight. Nick, This was Drive-in I was Telling you about.
Still have,nt heard from Nick,Mike?
Hopefully he’ll pop in. This theater intrigues me more than most.
The only person I know that could answer this would Nick in Tampa, but I haven’t heard from him since early March. He did the great story on the DALE MARBY and 20th Century Drive-ins in your city.
Link to one of the newspaper ads in question:
View link