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, June 14, 1952: “A 150-car drive-in theater is being built at Unity, Sask., making it the smallest-sized community in Saskatchewan to have an outdoor theater. The drive-in, locally owned, is being built by Victor Wauters and William MacIntosh.”
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “After having its original opening postponed because of heavy rains, the Tex-Ok Drive-In formally opened last week at Burkburnett, Tex. Louis Littlefair is manager.”
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “George Franklin, owner-operator of Colonial Drive-In, Argyle, Tex., has completed plans to make the spot a twin drive-in. A second screen, which will increase the capacity from 300 to 600 cars, is being added. The drive-in observed its fifth anniversary June 3.”
Billboard, June 7, 1952: “The 550-car capacity Fiesta Drive-In has been opened at Midland, Tex., by J. Howard Hodge & Associates. Audie Adwell is manager. The drive-in is equipped with RCA sound and projection equipment. There is (sic) 125 lawn chairs for walk-in patrons in a special patio.”
Billboard, May 31, 1952: “R. A. Erickson and O. M. Kirksby, owner-operators of the Tower Drive-In, Abilene, Tex., last week announced that they have purchased an additional tract of land adjoining the Tower and will build a twin drive-in. A second screen will be placed so it backs up to the rear of the present Tower screen.”
Adding a name, Billboard, May 24, 1952: “Roland Duss has opened the new Cole-Anna Drive-In at Santa Ana (sic), Tex. Spot is located between Coleman, where Duss operates the Oak Drive-In, and Santa Anna.
Billboard, May 24, 1952: “Albert Knopp has opened the Pioneer Drive-In at Hebbronville, Tex. It has a 400-car capacity. The Long Theater Circuit also plans a drive-in there. It is expected to be completed and ready for opening within two weeks.”
Billboard, May 17, 1952: “Gerritt Nyholt is building a $50,000 drive-in theater at North Battleford, Sask., to be known as the Park. Theater, the city’s first, is expected to be operating by early June and will accommodate 300 cars. Individual speakers will be installed.”
The 1955 Motion Picture Almanac listed the North Park, owned by G. Nyholt, with a capacity of 300.
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”
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “A 150-car drive-in theater is being built at Unity, Sask., making it the smallest-sized community in Saskatchewan to have an outdoor theater. The drive-in, locally owned, is being built by Victor Wauters and William MacIntosh.”
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “After having its original opening postponed because of heavy rains, the Tex-Ok Drive-In formally opened last week at Burkburnett, Tex. Louis Littlefair is manager.”
Billboard, June 14, 1952: “George Franklin, owner-operator of Colonial Drive-In, Argyle, Tex., has completed plans to make the spot a twin drive-in. A second screen, which will increase the capacity from 300 to 600 cars, is being added. The drive-in observed its fifth anniversary June 3.”
Billboard, June 7, 1952: “The 550-car capacity Fiesta Drive-In has been opened at Midland, Tex., by J. Howard Hodge & Associates. Audie Adwell is manager. The drive-in is equipped with RCA sound and projection equipment. There is (sic) 125 lawn chairs for walk-in patrons in a special patio.”
Billboard, May 31, 1952: “R. A. Erickson and O. M. Kirksby, owner-operators of the Tower Drive-In, Abilene, Tex., last week announced that they have purchased an additional tract of land adjoining the Tower and will build a twin drive-in. A second screen will be placed so it backs up to the rear of the present Tower screen.”
Adding a name, Billboard, May 24, 1952: “Roland Duss has opened the new Cole-Anna Drive-In at Santa Ana (sic), Tex. Spot is located between Coleman, where Duss operates the Oak Drive-In, and Santa Anna.
Billboard, May 24, 1952: “Albert Knopp has opened the Pioneer Drive-In at Hebbronville, Tex. It has a 400-car capacity. The Long Theater Circuit also plans a drive-in there. It is expected to be completed and ready for opening within two weeks.”
Billboard, May 17, 1952: “Gerritt Nyholt is building a $50,000 drive-in theater at North Battleford, Sask., to be known as the Park. Theater, the city’s first, is expected to be operating by early June and will accommodate 300 cars. Individual speakers will be installed.”
The 1955 Motion Picture Almanac listed the North Park, owned by G. Nyholt, with a capacity of 300.