Boxoffice, June 4, 1949: Reynolds Drive-In near Transfer, Pa., has installed an electric clock on the large screen tower. This clock, facing the highway, has a six-foot dial, with neon-lighted hands and figures. Carl T. McKnight and Carl C. Blake, owners of the theatre, will run advertising lines on the clock such as: “For the Correct Time and Your Best Time Look to the Picture Tower of the Reynolds Drive-In Theatre.”
The Galva Autovue Facebook page says its final night was Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015, with “Inside Out” and “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”. In 2018, someone stole its marquee sign. Google Street View shows the screens still up, but few other signs of life. Maybe mark this drive-in closed?
For the closing date, the last active listing I could find in the Arizona Republic was for the weekend of Sept. 10, 1982. That’s when the Thunderbird showed Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Poltergeist.
By 1985, the Republic was running stories about the “vacant” or “defunct” Thunderbird site.
I wrote in the second edition of “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” but neglected to mention here, that the Fair Park apparently closed on Aug. 18, 1948. Its ads in the Black Dispatch ended on Aug. 14, with movies listed through the following Wednesday.
The Black Dispatch is now available on Newspapers.com, and I found a couple more fragments of information there, though still nothing new about the drive-in’s closure.
The Fair Park was slow to open. In its first “opening soon” ad on June 5, 1948, it said “for opening date / see next weeks edition of this newspaper”. That optimistic note was followed by similar ads on (at least) June 12, June 19, and July 3.
On July 17, the date of the Fair Park’s grand opening, the Black Dispatch ran a front-page article on the drive-in’s manager. “Mr. H. R. Fall (sic) of the Southwest Theatres anounced this week his appointment of local hotel man and owner-operator of several eastside enterprises, Winard Norman, as manager of the state’s first Negro outdoor theatre, the Fair Park Drive-In … his new responsibilities entail management of ten employees who serve as ticket sellers, ushers, concession aides, etc.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 20, 1948: “Birmingham - "Working a matinee in a drive-in theatre” is a standing jest among projectionists all over the country. But Ralph A. Root, business agent for MPPMO Local 236, recently was called upon to assign an operator to just such work. It wasn’t for a motion picture, however. It seems that a local radio evangelist wanted to hold a meeting at the new Fair Park Drive-In. He wanted to utilize a public address system, fed into the theatre’s in-car speakers. A projectionist would have to be on hand to monitor the sound. Root promptly assigned Hartwell Montgomery, regular projectionist, to handle the job."
The Raleigh Road must have opened by 1952, since the 1952 Theatre Catalog included it as one of five Fayetteville drive-ins. It was owned by H. B. Meiselman and had a capacity of 600 cars.
The Nov. 3, 1954 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor included the Raleigh Road as one of the many drive-ins destroyed or heavily damaged by Hurricane Hazel. But it must have been repaired or rebuilt.
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Jan. 17, 1962: “FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The College Community Planning Board has advised that it plans to take legal action to close the Raleigh Road Drive-In, located near the new Methodist College campus. The drive-in, operated by H. B. Meiselman Theatres, Charlotte, was closed for a long period of time, during which the Planning Board passed an ordinance banning drive-in theatres in the area. Recently, the drive-in was reopened to business.”
Film Daily, May 3, 1948: (under Theaters Opened) “Bonds, drive-in, Bennettsville, S. C., by Walter H. Bonds.”
The Nov. 3, 1954 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor reported that “Hurricane Hazel was the greatest calamity ever suffered by drive-ins in the Carolinas.” The “Bonds Drive-In” was one of dozens listed as “destroyed or badly damaged”.
Looking at the yearbook, the “Mystic Maze,” I don’t see a copyright notice anywhere. That would make its contents, including this ad, public domain material.
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “Mr. and Mrs. U. Walker, owners, have finished their new Skyvue (sic?) drive-in, Winona, Miss., which opens next week.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “M. H. Miller, owner, reports his Starlite drive-in, Henderson, Ky., has been finished and is ready for formal opening May 13.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “Marie Goodhand is this week opening her new 400-seat Goodhand, Kimball, Neb. It will take the place of the old America, which will be remodeled for other business.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “The Allen theatre, Lowell, formerly the Crown, which has been closed for three years, has been converted into a merchandising store, leased to the Middlesex Supply Company.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “American Theatres Corp. opened its sixth drive-in April 30 in Oxford, Mass., on Routes 20 and 12.”
Boston Globe, June 15, 1956: “Oxford Kiddie Park, New England’s newest amusement park, located in North Oxford at the junction of Routes 20 and 12, is nearing completion and will be open with special ceremonies tomorrow. The Kiddie Park is under management of the American Theatres Coporation, operators of the adjacent Oxford Drive-In Theatre.”
Yet another spelling. Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “L. P. Head, manager of the Co-Pia drive-in, Hazelhurst (sic), Miss., advised that April 30 was the date for the ozoner’s re-opening.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “Two long-dark Iowa theatres have reopened … The Lido reopened Apr. 25 under the management of H. S. (Doc) Twedt, a former owner. Twedt, who also operated a hours in Britt where he now resides, has installed a new wide screen at the Lido.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: (under Cincinnati) “Marc Cummins, local circuit operator, who recently opened his Acme drive-in, between here and Hamilton, Ohio, was compelled to close the theatre almost immediately because of highway improvements which necessitated the rerouting of vehicular traffic.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “A mid-June opening for the Hill-Top drive-in, East Greenwich, is set for the new theatre under construction for the Erinakes brothers, George and Harry.”
Same drive-in? Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “Two Saskatchewan drive-in theatres - the Valley drive-in at Fort Qu ‘Appelle and Webb’s drive-in, near Prince Albert - will not open this season.”
Same drive-in? Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “Two Saskatchewan drive-in theatres - the Valley drive-in at Fort Qu ‘Appelle and Webb’s drive-in, near Prince Albert - will not open this season.”
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porterville drive-in, Porterville; the Palo Alto drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in, San Mateo.”
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porterville drive-in, Porterville; the Palo Alto drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in, San Mateo.”
Boxoffice, June 4, 1949: Reynolds Drive-In near Transfer, Pa., has installed an electric clock on the large screen tower. This clock, facing the highway, has a six-foot dial, with neon-lighted hands and figures. Carl T. McKnight and Carl C. Blake, owners of the theatre, will run advertising lines on the clock such as: “For the Correct Time and Your Best Time Look to the Picture Tower of the Reynolds Drive-In Theatre.”
The Galva Autovue Facebook page says its final night was Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015, with “Inside Out” and “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”. In 2018, someone stole its marquee sign. Google Street View shows the screens still up, but few other signs of life. Maybe mark this drive-in closed?
For the closing date, the last active listing I could find in the Arizona Republic was for the weekend of Sept. 10, 1982. That’s when the Thunderbird showed Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Poltergeist.
By 1985, the Republic was running stories about the “vacant” or “defunct” Thunderbird site.
I wrote in the second edition of “Drive-Ins of Route 66,” but neglected to mention here, that the Fair Park apparently closed on Aug. 18, 1948. Its ads in the Black Dispatch ended on Aug. 14, with movies listed through the following Wednesday.
The Black Dispatch is now available on Newspapers.com, and I found a couple more fragments of information there, though still nothing new about the drive-in’s closure.
The Fair Park was slow to open. In its first “opening soon” ad on June 5, 1948, it said “for opening date / see next weeks edition of this newspaper”. That optimistic note was followed by similar ads on (at least) June 12, June 19, and July 3.
On July 17, the date of the Fair Park’s grand opening, the Black Dispatch ran a front-page article on the drive-in’s manager. “Mr. H. R. Fall (sic) of the Southwest Theatres anounced this week his appointment of local hotel man and owner-operator of several eastside enterprises, Winard Norman, as manager of the state’s first Negro outdoor theatre, the Fair Park Drive-In … his new responsibilities entail management of ten employees who serve as ticket sellers, ushers, concession aides, etc.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 20, 1948: “Birmingham - "Working a matinee in a drive-in theatre” is a standing jest among projectionists all over the country. But Ralph A. Root, business agent for MPPMO Local 236, recently was called upon to assign an operator to just such work. It wasn’t for a motion picture, however. It seems that a local radio evangelist wanted to hold a meeting at the new Fair Park Drive-In. He wanted to utilize a public address system, fed into the theatre’s in-car speakers. A projectionist would have to be on hand to monitor the sound. Root promptly assigned Hartwell Montgomery, regular projectionist, to handle the job."
The Raleigh Road must have opened by 1952, since the 1952 Theatre Catalog included it as one of five Fayetteville drive-ins. It was owned by H. B. Meiselman and had a capacity of 600 cars.
The Nov. 3, 1954 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor included the Raleigh Road as one of the many drive-ins destroyed or heavily damaged by Hurricane Hazel. But it must have been repaired or rebuilt.
Motion Picture Exhibitor, Jan. 17, 1962: “FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The College Community Planning Board has advised that it plans to take legal action to close the Raleigh Road Drive-In, located near the new Methodist College campus. The drive-in, operated by H. B. Meiselman Theatres, Charlotte, was closed for a long period of time, during which the Planning Board passed an ordinance banning drive-in theatres in the area. Recently, the drive-in was reopened to business.”
Film Daily, May 3, 1948: (under Theaters Opened) “Bonds, drive-in, Bennettsville, S. C., by Walter H. Bonds.”
The Nov. 3, 1954 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor reported that “Hurricane Hazel was the greatest calamity ever suffered by drive-ins in the Carolinas.” The “Bonds Drive-In” was one of dozens listed as “destroyed or badly damaged”.
Looking at the yearbook, the “Mystic Maze,” I don’t see a copyright notice anywhere. That would make its contents, including this ad, public domain material.
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “Mr. and Mrs. U. Walker, owners, have finished their new Skyvue (sic?) drive-in, Winona, Miss., which opens next week.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “M. H. Miller, owner, reports his Starlite drive-in, Henderson, Ky., has been finished and is ready for formal opening May 13.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “Ernest Block opened last week his new drive-in at Sabetha, Kan., where he operates also a conventional theatre.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “Marie Goodhand is this week opening her new 400-seat Goodhand, Kimball, Neb. It will take the place of the old America, which will be remodeled for other business.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “The Allen theatre, Lowell, formerly the Crown, which has been closed for three years, has been converted into a merchandising store, leased to the Middlesex Supply Company.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 8, 1954: “American Theatres Corp. opened its sixth drive-in April 30 in Oxford, Mass., on Routes 20 and 12.”
Boston Globe, June 15, 1956: “Oxford Kiddie Park, New England’s newest amusement park, located in North Oxford at the junction of Routes 20 and 12, is nearing completion and will be open with special ceremonies tomorrow. The Kiddie Park is under management of the American Theatres Coporation, operators of the adjacent Oxford Drive-In Theatre.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “Fire broke out and gutted Angels Camp theatre, owned by Robert Patton, April 14, with damages totaling $175,000.”
Yet another spelling. Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “L. P. Head, manager of the Co-Pia drive-in, Hazelhurst (sic), Miss., advised that April 30 was the date for the ozoner’s re-opening.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “Two long-dark Iowa theatres have reopened … The Sun, owned by Fred Bullen, reopened on Easter Sunday.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “Two long-dark Iowa theatres have reopened … The Lido reopened Apr. 25 under the management of H. S. (Doc) Twedt, a former owner. Twedt, who also operated a hours in Britt where he now resides, has installed a new wide screen at the Lido.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: (under Cincinnati) “Marc Cummins, local circuit operator, who recently opened his Acme drive-in, between here and Hamilton, Ohio, was compelled to close the theatre almost immediately because of highway improvements which necessitated the rerouting of vehicular traffic.”
Motion Picture Herald, May 1, 1954: “A mid-June opening for the Hill-Top drive-in, East Greenwich, is set for the new theatre under construction for the Erinakes brothers, George and Harry.”
Same drive-in? Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “Two Saskatchewan drive-in theatres - the Valley drive-in at Fort Qu ‘Appelle and Webb’s drive-in, near Prince Albert - will not open this season.”
Same drive-in? Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “Two Saskatchewan drive-in theatres - the Valley drive-in at Fort Qu ‘Appelle and Webb’s drive-in, near Prince Albert - will not open this season.”
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “A. R. Michael took over the Mariposa at Mariposa, from R. G. Allen."
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porterville drive-in, Porterville; the Palo Alto drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in, San Mateo.”
Motion Picture Herald, April 24, 1954: “C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porterville drive-in, Porterville; the Palo Alto drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in, San Mateo.”