Travel back in time.

For mere humans like us to see the past we need to place ourselves at the present or the future but not to forget that it is our past which determines ours or their present & future. While thriving through the pandemic a month back I was gazing upon these articles over the internet where I came across these O2 articles embedded with some of these soulful vintage photographs from the Heydey drive-in theatre clicked by photographers Hulton Archive|NY Times Co. Doug Griffin|Toronto Star & Allan Grant|The Life Picture Collection via Getty Images and going forward came across a news article which said about a new drive-in theatre establishment in Cochin to tackle the situation prevailing in the country for movie buffs. During the covid times they instilled a nostalgic feeling of an era that I was not a part of but it clearly had an influence on me of missing out on theatres and its community watching premonition where we used to celebrate film at the theatres.

Let me try to explain them using these photographs from a different perspective. The whole idea of this article is not to explain what we are missing out on during this pandemic but to point out and discuss certain aspects that I think we already missed out on. Yet again can be brought back to life before its too late. From the sources over the internet drive-in theaters got their start in1933. Invented in the United States drive-in theaters reached their peak popularity right after World War O2 during the 5Os and 6Os drive-ins popped up all over the country allowing guests to enjoy movies in a giant parking lot under the stars and in the comfort of their cars which turned them out to be one of the most popular places to take the family or a date to enjoy a movie and snacks.

To keep in mind that necessity is the mother of all invention late Richard Hollingshead 25.O2.19OO—13.O5.1975, a sales manager set out to create a unique movie viewing experience after defining a problem statement as his mother complained about uncomfortable theater seats. His answer was to allow people to watch a movie in the comfort of their cars. In 1933 he opened the first drive-in movie theatre called Park-In Theaters Inc New Jersey. Hollingshead charged 25 cents per car and per person to view a movie under the stars. The first movie Hollingshead showcased the British comedy Wives Beware.

Drive-in theaters quickly became popular and by 1949 Hollingshead's innovative idea spread throughout the country. The idea spread so fast that some of the theatres could even accommodate 25OO cars at a time on a 28-acre lot. Here are some re-engineered color photographs from some of the drive-in theatres around the world. Jim Kopp of the United drive-in theatre owners association told The Smithsonian that drive-ins started to really take off in the 5Os where they tried to offer family entertainment. People could sit in their cars, they could bring their babies and could even smoke. Drive-ins offered more flexibility than indoor theaters. From his words there were 4O63 drive-in theaters nationwide in 1958.

But today there are only a few hundred left in the US. The format saw steep declines in the ’7Os and ’8Os, and drive-ins have all but disappeared in the new millennium, with an estimated 348 or less remaining across the country. Now being that the future and present of the drive-in theaters nationwide lets take a look back at one of the best american moviegoing experiences.

A night out at the drive-in.

These children watched from the station wagon as parents take in a drive-in movie. Those eyes gazing back at the youngsters belong to someone in the first of a twin horror movie bill.

While drive-ins are attracting family audiences some operators said that they are losing the passion pit reputation. It is amazing to think of how many places you can watch a movie these days— on your smartphone or tablet screen, the video game console, or even in the traditional setting of a movie theater. Then there was a type of venue that is still around but hardly gets the mentions it used to— the drive-in movie theater. Rising to popularity in the 195Os and 196Os there were once thousands of drive-ins dotting America. Along with the practicality of being able to bring the entire family to a movie without dealing with everyone actually leaving the vehicle, it also afforded young men and women of the era some much-needed privacy, which got itself nicknamed the passion pit.

in 1938 the invention of an unusual product bundling phenomenon of motoring & motion pictures helped achieve a happy wedding in the drive-In theatres of Los Angeles which brings us to queuing theories which is the study of queues and the random processes that characterised them. For example, a mob of people queuing up at a bank or the tasks queuing up on your computer's back end. In queuing theories, we often want to find out how long wait times or queue lengths are and we can use models to do this. Balking being customers deciding not to join the queue if it is too long. Reneging defined to be customers leave the queue if they have waited too long for service & Jockeying which stated customers switch between queues if they think they will get served faster by so doing a queue of finite capacity or infinite capacity.

The theater were parking lot with graduated tiers from which motorists watch the films projected on a giant screen and a manual ticketing system embedded entrance to solve the issues of queuing with the help of staff and a fixed number of slots with pre-booking and on-booking facilities for a better viewing experience. Hence reduced the above mentioned issues of queuing at the cinemas. Throughout its heyday, drive-in theaters would often show often showed B grade movies, independent films, and rarely the big blockbuster hits. Eventually as drive-ins decreased in popularity they started showing X-rated films. 

Another great feature of drive-ins was the food options.

Attendants used to serve refreshments during a performance. Sure movie theaters today have concession stands but drive-ins had more diverse options and some even had full-service restaurants. 

The theater were not just all about cinema and food. Remember how Richard Hollingshead, a sales manager set out to create a unique movie viewing experience after defining a problem statement as his mother complained about uncomfortable theater seats. So for him this invention was all about collective watching as well. These complementary services defined as a service that comes with a product for support. They offered additional services to their business and assisted the customers in using that service.

Hence some drive-ins including his even had playgrounds at the foot of the screens for children to entertain themselves. The theatres complimented the visitors with playgrounds for their children and even had bottle warming stations to help mothers and children better enjoy the movie. Here a couple can be seen warming a bottle for their baby to drink during the movie. AMCs today has implemented a new full-service option at some theaters but it is in a traditional theater setting and not in a vintage car.

Young couple in California & visitors of a drive-in cinema 1938.

It was the perfect family outing especially for younger children who couldn not sit through an entire movie in a theater. With the rising cost of suburban land  and the increasing popularity of home movie watching drive-in theaters greatly diminished throughout the country. Although there are a few hundred left, drive-ins now are to be considered a thing of the past. 

For those without families, drive-ins also became a popular date destination. Privacy was one of the best features of drive-in theaters.

I am sure that none of us here has not gotten over the debate at the United states senate and Supreme Court Justice in suggesting regulations for social media platforms as we live in an era where privacy is a seriously asked question inside and outside the virtual world. In October 2O2O Mark Zuckerberg, appeared before the Senate commerce committee along with Google’s Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey of Twitter to discuss on how these platforms used data and how they respect privacy of their users. I am sure even a kid in this era is aware of the judgments and verdicts in that court room. In written testimony on Financial Times released ahead of the hearing I still remember, Mr Zuckerberg called on Congress to “update the law to make sure it’s working as intended”. For the question Does Google collect your data Sunder Pichai? He himself explains that most of the data we collect is to help users and provide personalized experiences back”, he shot back, neatly avoiding the key point that the access Google has given itself to people's data by cross linking their web browsing with Google IDs and product activity enables the tech giant to generate massive profits. This brings us to drive-ins which also became a popular date destination where privacy was one of the best feature. Dinner and a movie ahve always beena a popular date option but drive-ins offered a unique experience for couples. For many, watching a movie from the comfort of your car actually meant watching a movie from the privacy of your car. Not to forget that all these happened when computers was not a usual thing among us and before 1973 when the first O2 kilograms × 4.4 lb handheld cellular mobile phone was introduced by John F. Mitchell and Martin Cooper of Motorola which then we never knew would literally change our lifes forever. 

Vehicles fill a drive-in theater while people on the screen stand near a new car 195Os.

Let us now talk about the pricing strategy these drive-in theatres followed in late ‘4Os and then how the innovators used user experience to enhance the experience for their consumers. One of the most Hollingshead charged only 25 cents per car and per person to view a movie under the stars. Drive-in theaters quickly became popular, and by 1949, Hollingshead's innovative idea spread throughout the country.

Not to forget that one of the main issues faced by the film kinship today being piracy from all sides the rate of piracy issues were recorded so low in this golden era due to channeled distribution and streamlined processes. Drive-ins started to really take off in the ‘5Os, Jim Kopp of the United Drive-in Theatre Owners Association told The Smithsonian. He also added that they concentrated to offer family entertainment. People could sit in their cars, they could bring their babies, they could smoke. Drive-ins offered more flexibility than indoor theaters. All-Weather Drive-In in upstate New York was one of the biggest theaters at the time which could accommodate 25OO cars at one time on a 28-acre lot. 

When it comes to any service we should understand how important user-experience is for its consumers and to learn from the past not only did Hollingshead reinvent movie watching, but he also invented a multi-level ramping system so that each car could see the screen. But it was in-car speakers that helped drive-ins become extremely popular. Synchronized amplifiers in front of each automobile make the movies audible. At this drive-in, they used an accordion-like arm to stretch speakers into cars so Eventually, drivers were able to switch to an FM radio station to hear the movie playing in front of them. Cars parked at Rancho Drive-In Theater with the accordion-like fulcrum arms of movie speakers reaching into each driver’s front window, which they will push back onto the central post when the movie is over. 

Going through the article I hope you release that the article talked about how simple things were in our past along with practices where man gels together with nature. Things were not just in the forms of binaries but comprised of more soulful purpose lead actions which can be understood from the statement and life of Richard Hollingshead, a sales manager set out to create a unique movie viewing experience after defining a problem statement as his mother complained about uncomfortable theater seats. It is always more than just binaries. not to forget that for mere humans like us it is our past that determines ours or their present & future but in-order to see the past we need to place ourselves at the present or the future. Should we travel back in time?

Amidst the pandemic where both economic and social order is disturbed remember United States invented the drive-in theaters which reached their peak popularity right after World War II during the 5Os and 6Os drive-ins popped up all over the country allowing guests to enjoy in movies in a giant parking lot under the stars and in the comfort of their cars. Persistant permanence is the cue. Life should & will move on but always remember to keep your eyes|ear and heart wide open to create a new and better world together in years to come.

21.O5.2O21