That is very interesting! Perhaps I am wrong in my recollection of it as the Causeway Drive-In Theatre – I lived in another section of town, so I may be mistaken.
The State Theatre suffered from being located in an area that increasingly became a “skid-row” district back in the 1950s-60s. Much of that area was later cleared by urban renewal programs.
When the Britton was opened in the mid 1950s, it was described as the “largest theatre south of Washington, D.C.” I wouldn’t know how accurate that was, but I certainly remember that it was described that way.
I last watched a movie at this theatre back around 1963!
I noticed on Google Satellite that there is an area on the north side of 22nd St. (aka Causeway Blvd.) immediately south of McKay Bay that appears to be the property that was once the drive-in. It certainly is located at the approximate location on 22nd Street.
When the Hillsboro Drive-In was opened, Dale Mabry Highway (single-lane each way) went no further north than Hillsborough Avenue. The landscape between Buffalo Ave. (now ML King Blvd.) and Hillsborough Ave. was a combination of forested areas and open swamp-like areas with ponds surrounded by rings of cypress trees.
When our family drove north on Dale Mabry to the drive-in, there was one place (about half-way between Buffalo and Hillsborough) where you could look across the swamp and see the distant lighted screen of the theatre. (Closer to Hillsborough Ave., the forest obscured the view.) When we saw that screen from Dale Mabry, we were excited because we knew the theatre was waiting for us!
I don’t specifically remember this drive-in, but the 4800 address would indicate that it was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Cypress at Westshore (not where the Austin Center is located).
Around the late 1940s-early 1950s, every Saturday morning Tampa’s Palace Theatre had a live children’s show called “The Jack Dew Sealtest Review”, which featured a movie, cartoons, action serial, a live raffle, stage show, etc.
It was broadcast over radio station WDAE (or at least the live stage portion was). It was sponsored by Sealtest Dairies, a major milk and dairy producer of that time. The MC was Jack Dew, a local personality. Admission for children was only 25 cents! I recall I won a pair of roller skates one time on the stage portion.
Television arrived in Tampa in 1953, bringing with it a national TV circus show called the Sealtest Big Top. If the local Jack Dew Sealtest Review had not ceased by this time, no doubt the advent of television brought about its discontinuation.
Thanks for the discussion of the 20th Century Drive-In Theatre!
One remnant of the 20th Century Drive-In Theatre still remains: During its development, the owners planted a long row of punk trees around the theatre property to obscure the screen from the neighborhood. (Punk trees were tall and narrow, with peeling bark, and looked a little like birch trees.) That row of punk trees along Beach Street still exists on the apartment village campus. These trees go back to the founding of the drive-in.
The hamburger stand on Dale Mabry near the entrance road to the theatre was a Biff Burger. There was also another Biff Burger next to Plant High School.
That is very interesting! Perhaps I am wrong in my recollection of it as the Causeway Drive-In Theatre – I lived in another section of town, so I may be mistaken.
The State Theatre suffered from being located in an area that increasingly became a “skid-row” district back in the 1950s-60s. Much of that area was later cleared by urban renewal programs.
When the Britton was opened in the mid 1950s, it was described as the “largest theatre south of Washington, D.C.” I wouldn’t know how accurate that was, but I certainly remember that it was described that way.
I last watched a movie at this theatre back around 1963!
I noticed on Google Satellite that there is an area on the north side of 22nd St. (aka Causeway Blvd.) immediately south of McKay Bay that appears to be the property that was once the drive-in. It certainly is located at the approximate location on 22nd Street.
Thanks, Nick. Very interesting discussion.
P.S. I entered the name of another theatre that was not on the list – the Causeway Drive-In Theatre.
When the Hillsboro Drive-In was opened, Dale Mabry Highway (single-lane each way) went no further north than Hillsborough Avenue. The landscape between Buffalo Ave. (now ML King Blvd.) and Hillsborough Ave. was a combination of forested areas and open swamp-like areas with ponds surrounded by rings of cypress trees.
When our family drove north on Dale Mabry to the drive-in, there was one place (about half-way between Buffalo and Hillsborough) where you could look across the swamp and see the distant lighted screen of the theatre. (Closer to Hillsborough Ave., the forest obscured the view.) When we saw that screen from Dale Mabry, we were excited because we knew the theatre was waiting for us!
I don’t specifically remember this drive-in, but the 4800 address would indicate that it was on the southwest corner of the intersection of Cypress at Westshore (not where the Austin Center is located).
Around the late 1940s-early 1950s, every Saturday morning Tampa’s Palace Theatre had a live children’s show called “The Jack Dew Sealtest Review”, which featured a movie, cartoons, action serial, a live raffle, stage show, etc.
It was broadcast over radio station WDAE (or at least the live stage portion was). It was sponsored by Sealtest Dairies, a major milk and dairy producer of that time. The MC was Jack Dew, a local personality. Admission for children was only 25 cents! I recall I won a pair of roller skates one time on the stage portion.
Television arrived in Tampa in 1953, bringing with it a national TV circus show called the Sealtest Big Top. If the local Jack Dew Sealtest Review had not ceased by this time, no doubt the advent of television brought about its discontinuation.
Thanks for an interesting discussion!
Thanks for the discussion of the 20th Century Drive-In Theatre!
One remnant of the 20th Century Drive-In Theatre still remains: During its development, the owners planted a long row of punk trees around the theatre property to obscure the screen from the neighborhood. (Punk trees were tall and narrow, with peeling bark, and looked a little like birch trees.) That row of punk trees along Beach Street still exists on the apartment village campus. These trees go back to the founding of the drive-in.
The hamburger stand on Dale Mabry near the entrance road to the theatre was a Biff Burger. There was also another Biff Burger next to Plant High School.
Thanks again for a great discussion!