Billboard, Sept. 6, 1952: “The Twin Drive-In, said the be the largest in the State, has been opened by Charles Weisenberg, Harold B. Wilson and John L. Fagan at Amarillo. Located on a 17-acre tract, it has a capacity of 1,008 cars.”
Billboard, Aug. 16, 1952: “A. W. (Jack) Lilly plans to open a 300-car capacity theater at Commerce, Tex., soon. It will have four program changes each week.”
Billboard, Sept. 6, 1952: “A. W. (Jack) Lilly has opened the new 330-car capacity drive-in at Commerce, Tex.”
Billboard, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Park Drive-In at Abilene, Tex., is undergoing extensive improvements, according to James Tharp, manager. Three new ramps are being installed to increase the parking space from 456 to 670 cars. New sound equipment also will be added.”
Billboard, Aug. 23, 1952: “Green Acres Drive-In Theater at Lethbridge, Alta., has been sold by Green Acres Drive-In Theater, Ltd., Calgary, to Majestic Theaters, Ltd., Lethbridge. Majestic is jointly owned by Lethbridge Theaters, Ltd., and Famous Players Canadian Corporation.”
Maybe the Rietta started with another name? Billboard, July 26, 1952: “The Tower Drive-In, the town’s first, has been opened at Henrietta, Tex., by Jim Bailey. The drive-in has a 200-car capacity.”
The only drive-in for Henrietta in the 1955 Motion Picture Almanac was the Tower, capacity 184, owner Joe Bailey. The 1956 MPA listed both the Tower, same details, and the Rietta, no details. The 1957-59 editions still listed both and added a 300-car capacity for the Rietta. The Tower dropped off in 1960.
The first drive-in to appear in the Theatre Catalog was the Rietta, capacity 316, in the 1955-56 edition.
The only drive-in near Henrietta that I could find on a 1957 topo map was the one Kenmore found, west of town. That drive-in appeared to be active in a 1953 aerial photo.
Same drive-in? Billboard, July 26, 1952: “Al Cook has announced that construction has been started on a new 600-car capacity drive in at Pecos, Tex.”
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog listed three drive-ins for Pecos. The largest, capacity 461, was the Eagle. That drive-in and the 300-car Sunset were owned by R. I. Payne, Theatre Entrs., Inc.
Some names from Billboard, July 26, 1952: “Cedar Rapids' second drive-in theater, with a capacity of 625 cars, opened July 11. It is located between Cedar Rapids and Marion and will be known as the Twixt Town. It occupies a 14-acre tract on First Avenue E. Owned by the Twixt Town Drive-In Theater Corporation, H. N. Schrodt is president. E. M. Garbett, R. G. Faulds and Arthur Thiele, Des Moines, are the other partners.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “John Carlisle, featured columnist of the Detroit News, paid tribute to Adolph and Irving Goldberg of Community Theaters and supervisor David Wilson for making their shows at the Bel-Air Drive-In available to patients of a nearby hospital. Finding the patients on a porch were able to see the screen without too much difficulty, they arranged to put in a special line to the hospital and amplifying equipment so they could hear the sound as well.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “Mrs. Ethel Jones Howze and son, Sammy Jones, held open house at their Rustic Drive-In Theater at Brownfield, Tex., celebrating 30 years of theater operation in the city. … The Rig Drive-In will be opened soon there, according to Mrs. Howze.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “Earl Worley has announced the opening of the new Chief Drive-In at Quanah, Tex., It is the first outdoor theater in that area.”
Billboard, July 12, 1952: “C. Coombes and E. G. Hudson have opened a drive-in theater, the town’s first, at Lloydminster, Sask. Pair operates the Empress and Rio theater in Lloydminster. New spot will accommodate 350 cars.”
Billboard, July 5, 1952: “F. W. McManus and H. Wood Fain have opened the new 500-car capacity Jasper Drive-In at Jasper, Tex. McManus will serve as manager.”
Billboard, July 5, 1952: “Jerry Ebeirer has sold his King Drive-In, San Marcos, Tex., to Frank W. Zimmerman who operates all the other theaters in that town.”
Same drive-in? Billboard, June 21, 1952: “Drive-In 84 Theater has been opened at Sudan, Tex., by Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Stevens. Spot has a 250-car capacity.”
Billboard, June 21, 1952: “Barton R. McLendon, head of the Tristates Theater Circuit, has announced that construction has been started at Atlanta, Tex., on the Rancho Drive-In, which is being built at a cost of $75,000. The drive-in is to be completed early in July.”
The “Broncho” was still open on May 30, 1965, when it was included as Wellington’s entry in a statewide ad for the movie “Shenandoah” in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1959: “Walt Houser, owner of the LaFa Theatre at Lafayette, presented two free Christmas shows for the grade school children of the town. No doubt they were a very quiet, well-behaved audience since Houser is the principal of the Lafayette grade school”
According to a story in the May 21, 1974 Hale Center American, Boyd Prather opened the XIT “around 1952 … The drive-in was named in honor of the famous XIT ranch.” Skeet Norris bought it years later and renamed it the Bozo. The article said the Bozo closed “in the mid 1960s,” and a tornado wrecked the screen in 1967. The wreckage and ramps were still there at the time of the 1974 article, when the site was given to the FFA for a lamb breeding program.
In a Looking Backward column on April 8, 1994, the American included movie listings for the Bozo on that day in 1964.
The April 24, 1967 Boxoffice reported that Ted Contreras of Lubbock had purchased the Bozo from Skeet Noret of Lamesa “who had owned the situation the last five years and had not planned to reopen this spring due to the complications of making a smalltown airer pay off.” Contreras reopened for the season on April 9 that year. I hope that he bought tornado insurance.
The Motion Picture Almanac didn’t include the name “Bozo” until its 1966 edition, when it erroneously listed two drive-ins for Hale Center – the 200-car Xit, owned by Boyd Prather, and the 275-car Bozo, owned by Skeet Woret. Both persisted through the 1976 edition, but when the MPA rebooted its drive-in list for the 1977 edition, Hale Center no longer had any drive-ins.
Billboard, Sept. 6, 1952: “The Twin Drive-In, said the be the largest in the State, has been opened by Charles Weisenberg, Harold B. Wilson and John L. Fagan at Amarillo. Located on a 17-acre tract, it has a capacity of 1,008 cars.”
Billboard, Aug. 16, 1952: “A. W. (Jack) Lilly plans to open a 300-car capacity theater at Commerce, Tex., soon. It will have four program changes each week.”
Billboard, Sept. 6, 1952: “A. W. (Jack) Lilly has opened the new 330-car capacity drive-in at Commerce, Tex.”
Billboard, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Sunset Drive-In has been opened at Earth, Tex., by E. Ted Borum. The theater has a 252-car capacity.”
Billboard, Aug. 30, 1952: “The Park Drive-In at Abilene, Tex., is undergoing extensive improvements, according to James Tharp, manager. Three new ramps are being installed to increase the parking space from 456 to 670 cars. New sound equipment also will be added.”
Billboard, Aug. 23, 1952: “Green Acres Drive-In Theater at Lethbridge, Alta., has been sold by Green Acres Drive-In Theater, Ltd., Calgary, to Majestic Theaters, Ltd., Lethbridge. Majestic is jointly owned by Lethbridge Theaters, Ltd., and Famous Players Canadian Corporation.”
Maybe the Rietta started with another name? Billboard, July 26, 1952: “The Tower Drive-In, the town’s first, has been opened at Henrietta, Tex., by Jim Bailey. The drive-in has a 200-car capacity.”
The only drive-in for Henrietta in the 1955 Motion Picture Almanac was the Tower, capacity 184, owner Joe Bailey. The 1956 MPA listed both the Tower, same details, and the Rietta, no details. The 1957-59 editions still listed both and added a 300-car capacity for the Rietta. The Tower dropped off in 1960.
The first drive-in to appear in the Theatre Catalog was the Rietta, capacity 316, in the 1955-56 edition.
The only drive-in near Henrietta that I could find on a 1957 topo map was the one Kenmore found, west of town. That drive-in appeared to be active in a 1953 aerial photo.
Same drive-in? Billboard, July 26, 1952: “Al Cook has announced that construction has been started on a new 600-car capacity drive in at Pecos, Tex.”
The 1953-54 Theatre Catalog listed three drive-ins for Pecos. The largest, capacity 461, was the Eagle. That drive-in and the 300-car Sunset were owned by R. I. Payne, Theatre Entrs., Inc.
Some names from Billboard, July 26, 1952: “Cedar Rapids' second drive-in theater, with a capacity of 625 cars, opened July 11. It is located between Cedar Rapids and Marion and will be known as the Twixt Town. It occupies a 14-acre tract on First Avenue E. Owned by the Twixt Town Drive-In Theater Corporation, H. N. Schrodt is president. E. M. Garbett, R. G. Faulds and Arthur Thiele, Des Moines, are the other partners.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “John Carlisle, featured columnist of the Detroit News, paid tribute to Adolph and Irving Goldberg of Community Theaters and supervisor David Wilson for making their shows at the Bel-Air Drive-In available to patients of a nearby hospital. Finding the patients on a porch were able to see the screen without too much difficulty, they arranged to put in a special line to the hospital and amplifying equipment so they could hear the sound as well.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “Mrs. Ethel Jones Howze and son, Sammy Jones, held open house at their Rustic Drive-In Theater at Brownfield, Tex., celebrating 30 years of theater operation in the city. … The Rig Drive-In will be opened soon there, according to Mrs. Howze.”
Billboard, July 19, 1952: “Earl Worley has announced the opening of the new Chief Drive-In at Quanah, Tex., It is the first outdoor theater in that area.”
Billboard, July 12, 1952: “C. Coombes and E. G. Hudson have opened a drive-in theater, the town’s first, at Lloydminster, Sask. Pair operates the Empress and Rio theater in Lloydminster. New spot will accommodate 350 cars.”
More names in Billboard, July 12, 1952: “The Apache Drive-In has been opened at Center, Tex., by Mac Riley and Bryan and George Smith.”
Billboard, July 5, 1952: “F. W. McManus and H. Wood Fain have opened the new 500-car capacity Jasper Drive-In at Jasper, Tex. McManus will serve as manager.”
Billboard, July 5, 1952: “Capacity of the Caprock Drive-In, Slaton, Tes., has been increased to 224 by Joe Dennis.”
Billboard, July 5, 1952: “Jerry Ebeirer has sold his King Drive-In, San Marcos, Tex., to Frank W. Zimmerman who operates all the other theaters in that town.”
Same drive-in? Billboard, June 21, 1952: “Drive-In 84 Theater has been opened at Sudan, Tex., by Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Stevens. Spot has a 250-car capacity.”
Billboard, June 21, 1952: “Barton R. McLendon, head of the Tristates Theater Circuit, has announced that construction has been started at Atlanta, Tex., on the Rancho Drive-In, which is being built at a cost of $75,000. The drive-in is to be completed early in July.”
The “Broncho” was still open on May 30, 1965, when it was included as Wellington’s entry in a statewide ad for the movie “Shenandoah” in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Cox was still open on May 30, 1965, when it appeared in a statewide ad for the movie “Shenandoah” in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
It was still the Circus on May 30, 1965, when it was included in an ad for the movie “Shenandoah” in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “A 300-car capacity drive-in is being constructed at Lockeney (sic), Tex., by Oscar R. May for Brad Seale.”
The Seale was still open on May 30, 1965, when it was included in a statewide ad for the movie “Shenandoah” in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Boxoffice, Dec. 21, 1959: “Walt Houser, owner of the LaFa Theatre at Lafayette, presented two free Christmas shows for the grade school children of the town. No doubt they were a very quiet, well-behaved audience since Houser is the principal of the Lafayette grade school”
According to a story in the May 21, 1974 Hale Center American, Boyd Prather opened the XIT “around 1952 … The drive-in was named in honor of the famous XIT ranch.” Skeet Norris bought it years later and renamed it the Bozo. The article said the Bozo closed “in the mid 1960s,” and a tornado wrecked the screen in 1967. The wreckage and ramps were still there at the time of the 1974 article, when the site was given to the FFA for a lamb breeding program.
In a Looking Backward column on April 8, 1994, the American included movie listings for the Bozo on that day in 1964.
The April 24, 1967 Boxoffice reported that Ted Contreras of Lubbock had purchased the Bozo from Skeet Noret of Lamesa “who had owned the situation the last five years and had not planned to reopen this spring due to the complications of making a smalltown airer pay off.” Contreras reopened for the season on April 9 that year. I hope that he bought tornado insurance.
The Motion Picture Almanac didn’t include the name “Bozo” until its 1966 edition, when it erroneously listed two drive-ins for Hale Center – the 200-car Xit, owned by Boyd Prather, and the 275-car Bozo, owned by Skeet Woret. Both persisted through the 1976 edition, but when the MPA rebooted its drive-in list for the 1977 edition, Hale Center no longer had any drive-ins.
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “Richard Guccini recently opened his new 100-car White Beauty Drive-In at Greentown Pa”