Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 12, 1952: “The Ned C. Steele father-and-son partnership will be dissolved with the 314-seat Colusa at Williams being taken over by Ned, Sr., and the Sun-Down drive-in, there, going to Jr.”
Thanks to the newspaper clippings posted by jamestx234, we now know that the Tower opened on June 10, 1949. The first program was “Frontier Gal” starring Yvonne DeCarlo, two “big” cartoons, and my favorite, “The Twilight Serenade - one-half hour of restful, inspiring recorded music for your listening pleasure every evening before the picture starts.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 5, 1952: “Lewis Cox, co-owner of Bayou Land drive-in, Barton, near Donaldsonville, La., was to close it January 3, and remain closed during January for renovations and alterations.”
More evidence confirming whorton’s closing date comes from Boxoffice, July 23, 1962: “Another of the (Barton) circuit’s drive-ins, the Tinker in Midwest City, is not in operation at this time.”
I just noticed a weird little detail in the Motion Picture Almanac listings for this place, besides the face that it called it just the “N. Eastern Drive-In” without the 66. From its first appearance in the 1951-52 edition, its owner was always listed as R. L. Barton. The Barton Theatres circuit list entry also included the “N. E. 66 Drive-In” beginning with the 1955 edition.
From the Daily Oklahoman’s perspective, the drive-in’s changed from “The new N. Eastern ‘66’” independent ad through the 1952 season to “NE ‘66’” within the Barton Theatres ad in 1953.
On the other hand, Lydia May Thomas’s obit mentioned that she and husband Leo Herbert built and operated the drive-in and the adjacent bowling center, which was announced in 1958. Leo’s obit said that the couple operated the drive-in “for eleven years.” That would line up with when its name changed to just 66.
So maybe the Thomases ran the NE 66 for Barton for several years starting in 1953?
To Wesley Horton, Welcome back! So great to hear from you! I just read your name in the “Tulsa Movie Theaters” book I bought this week. Please drop me an email at mkilgore@carload.com!
I bow to you in your superior Oklahoma drive-in knowledge, and probably much more, but every calendar I’ve accessed insists that March 6, 1948 was a Saturday. That would line up with the Daily Oklahoman believing that the 26th was a Friday. All I know is what I read.
Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art announced today that it would buy the Holiday and change it into a showplace for concerts, film, lectures and artist conversations starting in December. That’s according to an article in today’s Denver Post.
Tulsa World wrote a couple of years ago about the local White House Mansion, which looks nice when decked with Christmas lights and which was completed in 1985. We care about that here only because of one sentence, “Pieces from a defunct drive-in theater, the Riverside Drive-In, were used as support beams for the mansion’s ballroom floor.”
That story’s behind a paywall now, but you can still see it at the Internet Archive.
Thanks to the amazing work of the Reference Desk staff at the New Mexico State Library, I have more new info.
The exact date of the County’s grand opening was Oct. 29, 1948, with the double feature of “Way Out West” and “Bad Men of Missouri.”
The more surprising news is that there was an ad in the Tucumcari News on Aug. 24, 1956 announcing that the No Name Drive-In Theatre, “(Formerly County Drive-In)”, was under new management. The No Name continued to advertise through the summer of 1957.
Boxoffice, July 17, 1948: “Opening of the new Riverside Drive-In, being built by Commonwealth Theatres on the site of the old racetrack northwest of North Kansas City, delayed by frequent rains, has been set for July 22”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “KANSAS CITY — The Riverside Drive-In on highway 71 northwest of North Kansas City, third ozoner to be launched by the Commonwealth Amusement Corp., was opened last Thursday night (22). Situated on the site of the old race track in Platte county, the new 900-car drive-in is equipped with in-car speakers and a new type of all-wood screen said to be one of the largest in the United States. Features of the new open-air theatre include a playground for children, refreshment stands and novel color-lighted decorative effects. Since many patrons must cross the Fairfax toll bridge on the highway between their homes and the drive-in site, a round trip passage coupon will be presented at the boxoffice to any applicant as he leaves. Construction of the new open-air theatre was supervised by Jack Braunagel, manager of the drive-in division of the Commonwealth circuit. Paul Stonum is manager.”
Over on the CT page about the indoor Berwan Theatre is a note that lines up with the MPA ownership change.
“My family owned the Berwan and Grande Drive In. It wass open through the late 1970s, then we closed it and eventually it was torn down. The Drive In stayed open a few more years—1981, 1982?—then we sold it as well. The new owners (don’t know their names) kept it open for one or two more seasons but eventually sold it and it too was demolished.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1961: “George M. Jennings recently won a district court judgment for $9,015 against the D-X Sunray Oil Co. for loss of business suffered by Jennings' 81 Drive-In south of Duncan from Dec. 15, 1958, through May 1, 1961, during which time the DX refinery near the airer neglected to replace a stack muffler. The resulting loud noise discouraged patronage at the drive-in, Jennings alleged.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1961: “In town (Oklahoma City) … Jack Hankins, who formerly operated Hankins Drive-In at Lawton, which he disposed of a few years ago to his opposition, Volney Hamm, who operates the Mount Scott”
But in the Motion Picture Almanac’s circuit list, the Video Independent Theatres chain included the Sheridan through the 1964 edition. In 1965, Video’s entry didn’t mention the Sheridan. No idea where the drive-in list people got that “Metropolitan Theas.”
Weird! In the Edwards and Plumlee entry in the 1960 Motion Picture Almanac’s circuit list, it shows that the company owns both the Corral Drive-In in Farmington and the Belt Drive-In in Flat River.
An online PDF list of Southern Missouri theaters includes the Belt, “? 1961-? 1975 / Edwards and Plumlee Theatres owned this drive-in.” But a spot check of the Flat River Daily Journal’s Edwards and Plumlee ad from 1963 doesn’t show it. I’ll bet that online list got the info from the MPA, which got it cross-wired somewhere and took a long time to fix it.
Boxoffice, March 12, 1973: “The Lakeside Drive-In, Pawnee, has been sold to Pat McCray and his wife Sandra by Mr. and Mrs. Milan G. Steele, who built the airer in 1953 and operated it continuously as a family theatre. The family policy will be carried on by the McCrays, who also own the Pawnee Western Auto Store.”
Thanks for the note, Kenmore. Tulsa TV Memories is an excellent site, though sometimes I can’t tell where their info came from. In this case, it says that the Apache “Closed by June 1984, presumably end of 1983 season.” That sounds like what I’d write if I had only a June 1984 issue of Tulsa World and the Apache didn’t advertise in it. Left unsaid is a reason to believe it was open in 1983 or any other given year.
I want to emphasize that I love Wesley Horton’s work, and I’d give a whole roll of nickels to be able to correspond with him. But I digress.
Cool that you worked at the 11th Street, Kenmore! Do you know why it closed in 1959, then reopened in 1964, or are my dates wrong? (I guess it would be more helpful if you go to that drive-in’s page to describe what happened.)
Please help me out here. As I type, the Apache’s description above says that it closed in 1979. That’s quite possible, since it fell of the Motion Picture Almanac’s annual list after the 1982 edition. But where did 1979 come from? Is that when the Apache stopped advertising? Did historian Wesley Horton write a note about that somewhere? Is this the personal memory of someone who worked there? Knowing the source would help me better understand how reliable that date is.
Motion Picture Exhibitor, June 1, 1966: “BOSTON—Richard A. Smith, president. General Cinema Corp., announced acquisition of two drive-ins by the Boston-based chain. The theatres are the Admiral Twin, Tulsa, Okla., and the Young Street, Buffalo, N. Y. Announcements of the acquisition of the drive-ins were made in joint statements by Smith and H. B. Robb and Alex Blue, operators of the Admiral Twin; and Nate Dickman and Harry Berkson, operators of the Young Street. The linking of the two drive-in theatres to the chain brings the number of units in the circuit to 106.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 31, 1953: “Tecumseh drive-in theatre, Shawnee, Okla., had its first preview Oct. 21 at 11:30 p.m. Admission for Adults only 65 cents.”
The more I look at this photo, the more I think it was colorized for a calendar. There’s a hint of a hole at the top, and the edges of the wind-blown plant above the Now! sign are green past the plant itself. I love how this looks, but I doubt it was real.
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 12, 1952: “The Ned C. Steele father-and-son partnership will be dissolved with the 314-seat Colusa at Williams being taken over by Ned, Sr., and the Sun-Down drive-in, there, going to Jr.”
Thanks to the newspaper clippings posted by jamestx234, we now know that the Tower opened on June 10, 1949. The first program was “Frontier Gal” starring Yvonne DeCarlo, two “big” cartoons, and my favorite, “The Twilight Serenade - one-half hour of restful, inspiring recorded music for your listening pleasure every evening before the picture starts.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 12, 1952: (Denver notes) “Sam Dunevitz has bought out his partner, Fred Zekman, in the Park.”
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 5, 1952: “Leo Hershon and Saul Fruchtman have sold the Monica theatre to Bob Schwartz and Jack Hendricks."
Motion Picture Herald, Jan. 5, 1952: “Lewis Cox, co-owner of Bayou Land drive-in, Barton, near Donaldsonville, La., was to close it January 3, and remain closed during January for renovations and alterations.”
More evidence confirming whorton’s closing date comes from Boxoffice, July 23, 1962: “Another of the (Barton) circuit’s drive-ins, the Tinker in Midwest City, is not in operation at this time.”
I just noticed a weird little detail in the Motion Picture Almanac listings for this place, besides the face that it called it just the “N. Eastern Drive-In” without the 66. From its first appearance in the 1951-52 edition, its owner was always listed as R. L. Barton. The Barton Theatres circuit list entry also included the “N. E. 66 Drive-In” beginning with the 1955 edition.
From the Daily Oklahoman’s perspective, the drive-in’s changed from “The new N. Eastern ‘66’” independent ad through the 1952 season to “NE ‘66’” within the Barton Theatres ad in 1953.
On the other hand, Lydia May Thomas’s obit mentioned that she and husband Leo Herbert built and operated the drive-in and the adjacent bowling center, which was announced in 1958. Leo’s obit said that the couple operated the drive-in “for eleven years.” That would line up with when its name changed to just 66.
So maybe the Thomases ran the NE 66 for Barton for several years starting in 1953?
To Wesley Horton, Welcome back! So great to hear from you! I just read your name in the “Tulsa Movie Theaters” book I bought this week. Please drop me an email at mkilgore@carload.com!
I bow to you in your superior Oklahoma drive-in knowledge, and probably much more, but every calendar I’ve accessed insists that March 6, 1948 was a Saturday. That would line up with the Daily Oklahoman believing that the 26th was a Friday. All I know is what I read.
Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art announced today that it would buy the Holiday and change it into a showplace for concerts, film, lectures and artist conversations starting in December. That’s according to an article in today’s Denver Post.
Tulsa World wrote a couple of years ago about the local White House Mansion, which looks nice when decked with Christmas lights and which was completed in 1985. We care about that here only because of one sentence, “Pieces from a defunct drive-in theater, the Riverside Drive-In, were used as support beams for the mansion’s ballroom floor.”
That story’s behind a paywall now, but you can still see it at the Internet Archive.
Thanks to the amazing work of the Reference Desk staff at the New Mexico State Library, I have more new info.
The exact date of the County’s grand opening was Oct. 29, 1948, with the double feature of “Way Out West” and “Bad Men of Missouri.”
The more surprising news is that there was an ad in the Tucumcari News on Aug. 24, 1956 announcing that the No Name Drive-In Theatre, “(Formerly County Drive-In)”, was under new management. The No Name continued to advertise through the summer of 1957.
Boxoffice, July 17, 1948: “Opening of the new Riverside Drive-In, being built by Commonwealth Theatres on the site of the old racetrack northwest of North Kansas City, delayed by frequent rains, has been set for July 22”
Boxoffice, July 24, 1948: “KANSAS CITY — The Riverside Drive-In on highway 71 northwest of North Kansas City, third ozoner to be launched by the Commonwealth Amusement Corp., was opened last Thursday night (22). Situated on the site of the old race track in Platte county, the new 900-car drive-in is equipped with in-car speakers and a new type of all-wood screen said to be one of the largest in the United States. Features of the new open-air theatre include a playground for children, refreshment stands and novel color-lighted decorative effects. Since many patrons must cross the Fairfax toll bridge on the highway between their homes and the drive-in site, a round trip passage coupon will be presented at the boxoffice to any applicant as he leaves. Construction of the new open-air theatre was supervised by Jack Braunagel, manager of the drive-in division of the Commonwealth circuit. Paul Stonum is manager.”
Over on the CT page about the indoor Berwan Theatre is a note that lines up with the MPA ownership change.
“My family owned the Berwan and Grande Drive In. It wass open through the late 1970s, then we closed it and eventually it was torn down. The Drive In stayed open a few more years—1981, 1982?—then we sold it as well. The new owners (don’t know their names) kept it open for one or two more seasons but eventually sold it and it too was demolished.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1961: “J. C. Drake reopened the old Moore Theatre in Duncan, renaming it the Rodeo”
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1961: “George M. Jennings recently won a district court judgment for $9,015 against the D-X Sunray Oil Co. for loss of business suffered by Jennings' 81 Drive-In south of Duncan from Dec. 15, 1958, through May 1, 1961, during which time the DX refinery near the airer neglected to replace a stack muffler. The resulting loud noise discouraged patronage at the drive-in, Jennings alleged.”
Boxoffice, Oct. 23, 1961: “In town (Oklahoma City) … Jack Hankins, who formerly operated Hankins Drive-In at Lawton, which he disposed of a few years ago to his opposition, Volney Hamm, who operates the Mount Scott”
But in the Motion Picture Almanac’s circuit list, the Video Independent Theatres chain included the Sheridan through the 1964 edition. In 1965, Video’s entry didn’t mention the Sheridan. No idea where the drive-in list people got that “Metropolitan Theas.”
Weird! In the Edwards and Plumlee entry in the 1960 Motion Picture Almanac’s circuit list, it shows that the company owns both the Corral Drive-In in Farmington and the Belt Drive-In in Flat River.
An online PDF list of Southern Missouri theaters includes the Belt, “? 1961-? 1975 / Edwards and Plumlee Theatres owned this drive-in.” But a spot check of the Flat River Daily Journal’s Edwards and Plumlee ad from 1963 doesn’t show it. I’ll bet that online list got the info from the MPA, which got it cross-wired somewhere and took a long time to fix it.
Boxoffice, March 12, 1973: “The Lakeside Drive-In, Pawnee, has been sold to Pat McCray and his wife Sandra by Mr. and Mrs. Milan G. Steele, who built the airer in 1953 and operated it continuously as a family theatre. The family policy will be carried on by the McCrays, who also own the Pawnee Western Auto Store.”
Thanks for the note, Kenmore. Tulsa TV Memories is an excellent site, though sometimes I can’t tell where their info came from. In this case, it says that the Apache “Closed by June 1984, presumably end of 1983 season.” That sounds like what I’d write if I had only a June 1984 issue of Tulsa World and the Apache didn’t advertise in it. Left unsaid is a reason to believe it was open in 1983 or any other given year.
I want to emphasize that I love Wesley Horton’s work, and I’d give a whole roll of nickels to be able to correspond with him. But I digress.
Cool that you worked at the 11th Street, Kenmore! Do you know why it closed in 1959, then reopened in 1964, or are my dates wrong? (I guess it would be more helpful if you go to that drive-in’s page to describe what happened.)
Please help me out here. As I type, the Apache’s description above says that it closed in 1979. That’s quite possible, since it fell of the Motion Picture Almanac’s annual list after the 1982 edition. But where did 1979 come from? Is that when the Apache stopped advertising? Did historian Wesley Horton write a note about that somewhere? Is this the personal memory of someone who worked there? Knowing the source would help me better understand how reliable that date is.
Boxoffice, Nov. 5, 1973: “Charles Townsend … in now in Nowata, Okla., operating the Rex Theatre and the Sky-Vue Drive-In, which he recently bought.”
Motion Picture Exhibitor, June 1, 1966: “BOSTON—Richard A. Smith, president. General Cinema Corp., announced acquisition of two drive-ins by the Boston-based chain. The theatres are the Admiral Twin, Tulsa, Okla., and the Young Street, Buffalo, N. Y. Announcements of the acquisition of the drive-ins were made in joint statements by Smith and H. B. Robb and Alex Blue, operators of the Admiral Twin; and Nate Dickman and Harry Berkson, operators of the Young Street. The linking of the two drive-in theatres to the chain brings the number of units in the circuit to 106.”
Motion Picture Herald, Oct. 31, 1953: “Tecumseh drive-in theatre, Shawnee, Okla., had its first preview Oct. 21 at 11:30 p.m. Admission for Adults only 65 cents.”
The more I look at this photo, the more I think it was colorized for a calendar. There’s a hint of a hole at the top, and the edges of the wind-blown plant above the Now! sign are green past the plant itself. I love how this looks, but I doubt it was real.