Drive In Theaters
By fishtiger58
@fishtiger58 (29823)
Momence, Illinois
April 29, 2017 10:05am CST
I was reading a post yesterday about going to the movies on Saturday morning posted by @jaboUK and mentioned a drive in theater on the edge of my neighborhood. What great memories I have of those times.
The fence of the drive in was right up against the garages of the folks who owned houses on the edge of my neighborhood. I had a friend who lived along that fence. Us kids were to young to drive so we devised a way to watch those movies for free and without needing an adult to take us in.
The most common way was crawling under the fence, we dug holes to accomplish this. When a great movie was playing we would run around the neighborhood looking for as many kids as we could find. Then during the day when no one was there we would crawl under the fence and turn up every speaker in the place. Then when the movie was ready to play we would all get up on garage roofs with a big bag of popcorn and a can of pop and watch the movie.
When we got older we did things a bit differently. One or two of us would get a car and pack as many people in the trunks as possible to get in free. Or only one would get in by paying and drive to the very last row where a bunch of us would crawl under the fence and get into the waiting car. I know that wasn't right but we were kids with no money, not even the 2 dollars it cost to get in. Those were great times and memories that will stay with me forever.
Thanks to Jabo for reminding me of those times.
So did any of you ever get into a drive in riding in the trunk of a car? Or did you do it a different way?
19 people like this
18 responses
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
29 Apr 17
We sat in the back of a pick up truck. It was a good time. We went 10 years ago, that was the last one here and they have closed now. =(
3 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
It's a way good time. As we got older it was the place to go to drink, I know we were too young to drink but that's what kids do. I don't drink anymore haven't in probably 30 years.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (458179)
• Switzerland
30 Apr 17
@fishtiger58 I have never seen one, only in US movies.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
@LadyDuck That's to bad, they were the thing to do on Friday and Saturday nights in my childhood.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
They were such fun when I was young. I went to alot of them, they were much cheaper than going to a theater.
1 person likes this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
29 Apr 17
We've all done our fair share of sneaky things!
I didn't go to a drive in for the first time until I was an adult with kids of my own. We try to go every summer for the experience of it. I hope my kids also have fond memories.. although I pay for each of them to get in so they don't have to be sneaky!
2 people like this
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
29 Apr 17
@fishtiger58 Absolutely! Still, my family enjoys it. Maybe not so much the twins anymore.. they're to a point they'd rather go to an actual theater as you can see and hear better. I like it for the experience.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
@katsmeow1213 Me too brings back so many great memories of when I was young and had not a care in the world.
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
30 Apr 17
I have to say I was an honest child when it came to drive-ins, so I never hid (or had anyone hide) in the trunk of a car. But I have heard the stories about kids doing that.
2 people like this
@Carmelanirel2 (8084)
• United States
2 May 17
@fishtiger58 Well...I didn't mean to sound like I was a complete honest teenager and really, the closest theater was too far away for me to do this, otherwise I may have. I have done some really bad things when I was younger, so don't think I was judging you...
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
2 May 17
We didn't mean to be bad but it was a challenge to see if we could do it. I don't feel watching from the garage roof was wrong however.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
3 May 17
@Carmelanirel2 Oh no I didn't think you were at all. We sometimes have to do bad things or make mistakes to learn. None of us were angels.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118448)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Apr 17
I never snuck into a drive-in movie before, but I do remember going to them quite frequently with my parents when I was little! I always remember that they would show a double feature! I used to love going to the snack bar and loading up on junk food to bring back to my parents at the car. Those were fun times!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118448)
• Gainesville, Florida
1 May 17
@fishtiger58 I miss drive-in movies. I wonder if any are still in operation? There is one not too far from where I live, but as far as I know they don't ever show movies anymore. They mostly use it as a swap shop/flea market on weekends.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
2 May 17
@moffittjc Yea we have a couple that are strictly flea markets, but I think there is one in the Chicago area still in operation.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
Yea I think they always showed two movies, they wanted you to stay longer and load up on their snacks. It was fun times.
1 person likes this
@CRK109 (14558)
• United States
1 May 17
@fishtiger58 It had to be such great fun!
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
2 May 17
@CRK109 It was great memories.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
It was a challenge to see if we could get in free. I think they almost expected that, I mean it was up against our neighborhood, and the back area of the fence was a big open field. So we dug holes in the ground to go under that fence. What great memories.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
30 Apr 17
We only went the "legal" ways. Our whole family would pile in a car, usually a station wagon. We had blankets and snacks. When I was really little sometimes a couple of moms would pack a car full and we would go together with a pay one price for a car load.
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
Pay one price for a car load, what a great idea, I don't think ours ever did that.
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
No the kid would have to come up with a different way. Back in the day we could get 3 or 4 kids in the trunk.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
Oh Dianne it was such fun, we only did it when the movie was something we wanted to see. I have many memories of sitting on the garage roof watching.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325809)
• Rockingham, Australia
30 Apr 17
I didn't do this as I lived out of town but I know sometimes kids were hidden under rugs in front of the back seats as well as in the boot (trunk). It was all pretty harmless fun really. Almost a challenge to see if you could outsmart the people on the gate.
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
Yes that's it, it was a challenge to see if you could get away with it. Fun times and great memories.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66857)
• Philippines
30 Apr 17
no open theaters here for us before. we were 'enclosed' in a big room where the view was divided into- orchestra (lowest), balcony( highest) and lodge (middle). 
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
30 Apr 17
That's to bad a drive in theater was such a great time. I have so many good memories of those times.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
29 Apr 17
Mostly I did as well, but when we were young we sure didn't. Although turning up the speakers wasn't really wrong, my fiends garage was up against the theater fence, you can't tell people they can't look.
@chrissbergstrom (10767)
• Banks, Oregon
3 May 17
I miss drive in theatre's they don't really have many around here anymore
1 person likes this
@chrissbergstrom (10767)
• Banks, Oregon
4 May 17
@fishtiger58 I still remember my first ever time going to one, my dad had always talked about going to them with his dad but there we're none in our area, finally he decided to drive way out of town to the last remaining one and we saw the live action version of The Flinstones with John Goodman as Fred Flinstone.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
10 May 17
@chrissbergstrom And how did you like the whole drive in experience.,
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
3 May 17
It's a shame they are mostly gone, they were such fun.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
29 Apr 17
No, never went the trunk route. Haven't been to a drive in in decades.
2 people like this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
29 Apr 17
Me either they are mostly gone but I think there is still one in operating in the Chicago area somewhere.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
1 May 17
Oh, yes! My parents took us to the drive-in when we were little. As teens, we would pack as many kids as we could into a car and go. As a young couple, we would put our kids to sleep in the backseat and my husband and I would go to the drive-in. Too bad there are so few of them these days. Great memories.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40055)
• Laguna Woods, California
2 May 17
@fishtiger58 - I agree that they were a fun and different way to see a movie.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
2 May 17
It is great memories, and a different way to see a movie.
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
2 May 17
the Chicago area and surrounding suburbs had tons of them way back in the day. They were awesome.
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (17849)
• London, England
2 May 17
@fishtiger58 I saw in some film a drive in in Glendale Ca, as I was visiting the area a few months later I had a look, long gone sadly
1 person likes this
@fishtiger58 (29823)
• Momence, Illinois
10 May 17
Yes something I will always remember
1 person likes this
