Drive-In Movie Theaters

 By Bruce Shawkey

From a 1939 book, "America at the Movies"

In a drive-in theater you watch the show from your own automobile. This one is in Burbank, California. There are about a dozen in the United States.

I remember these as a kid. We had two of these in Madison, the Badger on the East Side of town (see ad for the Badger; note admission prices: 60 cents for adults; children under 12, 9 cents);

and the Big Sky on the West Side. The West Side location now houses the Marcus movie complex. The East Side, a variety of small businesses. 

As of 2023, there are approximately 300 drive-in theaters still operating in the U.S.