Richard M. Hollingshead, of Camden, the father of the drive-in, had begun experimenting showing movies with a 16mm projector in his driveway. He could view it while sitting in his car provided no other car blocked his way. So he devised an inclined ramp where the front end of the car was tilted upward, allowing clear vision over the car in front. He patented the ramp and opened the world's first drive-in, a 400-car theater with eight rows and a 30- by 40-foot screen.Intermission...let's all go blow the family budget on popcorn, pepsi and 'dogs'!
One New York theater complained that movie-goers often unintentionally drove away with the speakers still attached to the cars. Absent minded drive-in patrons who drove away with the in-car speakers still hanging on their windows received a healthy jolt to remind them of their mistake. The cable attached to the speakers could withstand a 300- or 400 pound tug before letting the speaker go.
Parents complained that children living near drive-ins could see objectionable movies from their bedroom windows. This wasn't a problem for a jail warden in St. Louis, who had a perfect view of a local drive-in screen from his bedroom window -- the theater owners graciously installed a speaker in his room. Prisoners who also had a clear view of the screen got no such service.
"The popularity of drive-ins soared into the 1950s. A Saturday Evening Post article reported that movie attendance was down everywhere, except in the drive-ins. Traditional theater owners despised the drive-ins, but car owners loved them. "You can eat your dinner, get your car washed and see a movie all at once," the Post article said. Called "passion pits'" by some, "There are 2,200 of them in the U.S.A. now, and they're really making money," the Post went on.
The Post told of a small drive-in set up in a cow pasture near Salt Lake City and received a complaint from a woman who was watching the movie when a cow stuck his head in the window and licked her. In a Michigan drive-in ,a little girl got lost trying to find her way back to the family car. The father was summoned over the public address system and the two headed back to the car hand- in-hand. Shortly afterward they were back at the booth. The father had become lost, too!
Remember the intermission scene with parading hot dogs, soda pop, popcorn, chocolate bars and other goodies? Did you ever get lost trying to find your car on the way back from the concession stand?!
Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, Bugs.
Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar, playing slingshot.
When around the corner seemed far away.
And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Climbing trees.
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers.
Cops and robbers.
Cowboys and Indians.
Sittin' on the curb.
Pillow fights.
Being tickled to death.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Skipping stones across a river, lake, or pond.
Crowding around in a circle around the "after school fight", then running when the teacher came out.
The girl who had the big bubbly hand writing.
Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.
Two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds and PF Flyers) and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym"
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
when nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebread dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter was a huge bonus.
When a popsicle, fudgesicle or Klondike bar was enough to make your day....you'd hear that disticnt bell ringing, run in the house after your dad for a few cents to buy one and gather around the cart with all the other kids.
You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school if then.
Saddle shoes.
When all of your male teachers wore neck ties and female teachers had their hair done every day.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped without asking, for free everytime. And you didn't pay for air and you got trading stamps to boot!
Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
Moonpies.
When any parent could discipline any kid or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid thought a thing of it.
When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed and DID!
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home. We were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs and gangs it was our parents and grandparents who were the bigger threat!
Hardy boys and Nancy Drew books.
Pitching the tent in the back yard with my friends and telling ghost stories all night with flashlights.
Pea shooters.
Buying and selling comic books from the front porch
Mad magazine
Lemonade stands - 5 cents a glass.
The secret swimming hole.
45's and 78 rpm records
Dad roaring 20's, 30's and 40's music on the family's first hi-fi.
Putting pennies on the rairoad track and proudly pocketing the flattened version.
This is the part that makes parenting the best. Getting to do all of things all over again with your own kids.
Speaking of nostalgia - I picked up a cheapie video game last weekend - it has all the old games I used to play as a kid, packman, galaxa, centipede, etc. I'm having a blast playing them with my kids. They are amazed that their old mom can beat their high scores. LOL
The Beatles clashed with The Stones and people across the country got hooked on a new dance craze called the Twist…
• The biggest band of the 1960s - and probably of all time - was undoubtedly The Beatles. They had their first minor hit in 1962 with Love Me Do but 1963 was their breakthrough year.
They split in 1970 but only get more and more popular as the years roll on.
• Originally known as the Ravens, The Kinks formed at the end of 1963 and hit the big time with their third single You Really Got Me.
One of the biggest bands of the 1960s they had everyone rocking along to tunes such as All Day and All of the Night, Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Waterloo Sunset.
• As famous for their trashing tendencies as their music, the bad boys of rock The Who first made it big with My Generation.
However, quite remarkably they never had a number one single either side of the Atlantic.
• Although marketed as rivals for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones ironically had their first top 20 hit with a Lennon and McCartney song I Wanna Be Your Man.
But these drug-taking, gyrating rock 'n' roll icons went on to set the UK charts on fire in 1965 with three number ones - Get Off My Cloud, The Last Time and the unforgettable I Can't Get No Satisfaction.
• The Beach Boys and The Beatles competed throughout the 1960s to be the most experimental band in the world.
As part of the battle, American mavericks The Beach Boys brought out the album Pet Sounds in 1966. Containing classics such as Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows (the first time the word God had been used in a pop song), the album left an important legacy behind.
• 1967 was a magic year for The Monkees, the first manufactured boy band: their ditty I'm a Believer picked up a transatlantic number one.
• Now probably the biggest guitar icon in the world, Jimi Hendrix became a big star in 1968 with album Electric Ladyland and the hit All Along The Watchtower.
• The folky sound of Simon and Garfunkel captivated audiences in the late 1960s and with groovy tunes such as Sound of Silence and Mrs Robinson on the soundtrack for The Graduate they helped make the film a massive hit.
• Chubby Checker released The Twist in 1960 and Let's Twist Again in 1961 - teenagers all over the country went wild.
• Helen Shapiro scooped two number ones in 1961 with Walkin' Back to Happiness and You Don't Know.
• Cliff Richard managed to hit the singles charts every year of the 1960s.
• Cilla Black had her only two number one hits in 1964: Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World.
• Dusty Springfield's I Only Wanna Be With You was in the top 10 everywhere in 1963. When it became a hit in the US, Dusty became the first British female singer to chart in America.
Then in 1966 she out-did even herself: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me became an even bigger hit.
Btw --- I think it was the Dave Clark Five who first knocked the Beatles out of the number one spot (November of 1963), with their hit "Glad All Over". Made it to number 1 in England, but only number 6 in the States.
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Cowgirl
DRIVE IN THEATRES.............
Richard M. Hollingshead, of Camden, the father of the drive-in, had begun experimenting showing movies with a 16mm projector in his driveway. He could view it while sitting in his car provided no other car blocked his way. So he devised an inclined ramp where the front end of the car was tilted upward, allowing clear vision over the car in front. He patented the ramp and opened the world's first drive-in, a 400-car theater with eight rows and a 30- by 40-foot screen.Intermission...let's all go blow the family budget on popcorn, pepsi and 'dogs'!
One New York theater complained that movie-goers often unintentionally drove away with the speakers still attached to the cars. Absent minded drive-in patrons who drove away with the in-car speakers still hanging on their windows received a healthy jolt to remind them of their mistake. The cable attached to the speakers could withstand a 300- or 400 pound tug before letting the speaker go.
Parents complained that children living near drive-ins could see objectionable movies from their bedroom windows. This wasn't a problem for a jail warden in St. Louis, who had a perfect view of a local drive-in screen from his bedroom window -- the theater owners graciously installed a speaker in his room. Prisoners who also had a clear view of the screen got no such service.
"The popularity of drive-ins soared into the 1950s. A Saturday Evening Post article reported that movie attendance was down everywhere, except in the drive-ins. Traditional theater owners despised the drive-ins, but car owners loved them. "You can eat your dinner, get your car washed and see a movie all at once," the Post article said. Called "passion pits'" by some, "There are 2,200 of them in the U.S.A. now, and they're really making money," the Post went on.
The Post told of a small drive-in set up in a cow pasture near Salt Lake City and received a complaint from a woman who was watching the movie when a cow stuck his head in the window and licked her. In a Michigan drive-in ,a little girl got lost trying to find her way back to the family car. The father was summoned over the public address system and the two headed back to the car hand- in-hand. Shortly afterward they were back at the booth. The father had become lost, too!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember the intermission scene with parading hot dogs, soda pop, popcorn, chocolate bars and other goodies? Did you ever get lost trying to find your car on the way back from the concession stand?!
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Cowgirl
Hide and seek at dusk.
Sittin' on the front porch.
Hot bread and butter.
The ice cream man.
Eatin' a "super dooper" sandwich.
The game "Red light, Green light"
Home milk delivery by a van in bottles and you'd put the money in the bottle that you owed the milk man and leave it on the porch over night.
chocolate milk, lunch tickets.
Penny candy in a brown paper bag.
Hopscotch, butterscotch, double dutch, kickball, dodge ball
Mother May I?
Hula hoops.
Mary Janes.
Running through the sprinkler (I can't get wet)
The smell of the sun and lickin salty lips...
Scout camp in the summer.
Watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Fat Albert, Road Runner, He-Man, The Three Stooges, Bugs.
Catchin' lightening bugs in a jar, playing slingshot.
When around the corner seemed far away.
And going downtown seemed like going somewhere.
Climbing trees.
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers.
Cops and robbers.
Cowboys and Indians.
Sittin' on the curb.
Pillow fights.
Being tickled to death.
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt.
Skipping stones across a river, lake, or pond.
Crowding around in a circle around the "after school fight", then running when the teacher came out.
The girl who had the big bubbly hand writing.
Eating Kool-aid powder with sugar.
Two types of sneakers for girls and boys (Keds and PF Flyers) and the only time you wore them at school was for "gym"
When it took five minutes for the TV to warm up.
when nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there.
When nobody owned a purebread dog.
When a quarter was a decent allowance, and another quarter was a huge bonus.
When a popsicle, fudgesicle or Klondike bar was enough to make your day....you'd hear that disticnt bell ringing, run in the house after your dad for a few cents to buy one and gather around the cart with all the other kids.
You'd reach into a muddy gutter for a penny.
When girls neither dated nor kissed until late high school if then.
Saddle shoes.
When all of your male teachers wore neck ties and female teachers had their hair done every day.
When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped without asking, for free everytime. And you didn't pay for air and you got trading stamps to boot!
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Cowgirl
Laundry detergent had free glasses, dishes or towels hidden inside the box.
Moonpies.
When any parent could discipline any kid or use him to carry groceries and nobody, not even the kid thought a thing of it.
When they threatened to keep kids back a grade if they failed and DID!
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to the fate that awaited you at home. We were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of drive by shootings, drugs and gangs it was our parents and grandparents who were the bigger threat!
Hardy boys and Nancy Drew books.
Pitching the tent in the back yard with my friends and telling ghost stories all night with flashlights.
Pea shooters.
Buying and selling comic books from the front porch
Mad magazine
Lemonade stands - 5 cents a glass.
The secret swimming hole.
45's and 78 rpm records
Dad roaring 20's, 30's and 40's music on the family's first hi-fi.
Putting pennies on the rairoad track and proudly pocketing the flattened version.
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Cowgirl
From Tiny Tears and Action Man to Lego and Twister, the youth of yesteryear had plenty of playthings to keep them occupied…
• Doodling was revolutionized with Etch-a-Sketch in 1960.
• 1960 gave birth to Lego - the building blocks of many a childhood.
• Barbie was lonely by 1961 so she got her very own plastic fantastic boyfriend Ken.
Then Sindy went on sale as a rival to Barbie in 1963.
• Spiderman the comic hit the shelves in 1962.
• Mr Potato Head was invented in 1964 and the humble spud took on an exciting new role.
• Tiny Tears arrived in the UK from America in 1966. Her ability to drink from a bottle and then cry and wet her nappy made her an instant hit.
• Twister, the floor game that is all about trying to get hands and feet on the right colours without injuring yourself, went down a storm in 1966.
• 1966 brought dolls for the boys in the form of Action Man.
• A bunch of sticks and marbles became a highly strategic sport in 1967 when Kerplunk hit the shelves.
• The Frisbee craze took flight in the UK in 1967.
• Board game Battleships brought naval warfare in a box in 1967.
• Hot wheels came out in 1969 and even those without a driving licence could get a fast car.
• Silly string: string in a spraying can was an instant party hit in 1969.
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Abigail
This is the part that makes parenting the best. Getting to do all of things all over again with your own kids.
Speaking of nostalgia - I picked up a cheapie video game last weekend - it has all the old games I used to play as a kid, packman, galaxa, centipede, etc. I'm having a blast playing them with my kids. They are amazed that their old mom can beat their high scores. LOL
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Share on other sites
Cowgirl
The Beatles clashed with The Stones and people across the country got hooked on a new dance craze called the Twist…
• The biggest band of the 1960s - and probably of all time - was undoubtedly The Beatles. They had their first minor hit in 1962 with Love Me Do but 1963 was their breakthrough year.
They split in 1970 but only get more and more popular as the years roll on.
• Originally known as the Ravens, The Kinks formed at the end of 1963 and hit the big time with their third single You Really Got Me.
One of the biggest bands of the 1960s they had everyone rocking along to tunes such as All Day and All of the Night, Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Waterloo Sunset.
• As famous for their trashing tendencies as their music, the bad boys of rock The Who first made it big with My Generation.
However, quite remarkably they never had a number one single either side of the Atlantic.
• Although marketed as rivals for the Beatles, the Rolling Stones ironically had their first top 20 hit with a Lennon and McCartney song I Wanna Be Your Man.
But these drug-taking, gyrating rock 'n' roll icons went on to set the UK charts on fire in 1965 with three number ones - Get Off My Cloud, The Last Time and the unforgettable I Can't Get No Satisfaction.
• The Beach Boys and The Beatles competed throughout the 1960s to be the most experimental band in the world.
As part of the battle, American mavericks The Beach Boys brought out the album Pet Sounds in 1966. Containing classics such as Wouldn't It Be Nice and God Only Knows (the first time the word God had been used in a pop song), the album left an important legacy behind.
• 1967 was a magic year for The Monkees, the first manufactured boy band: their ditty I'm a Believer picked up a transatlantic number one.
• Now probably the biggest guitar icon in the world, Jimi Hendrix became a big star in 1968 with album Electric Ladyland and the hit All Along The Watchtower.
• The folky sound of Simon and Garfunkel captivated audiences in the late 1960s and with groovy tunes such as Sound of Silence and Mrs Robinson on the soundtrack for The Graduate they helped make the film a massive hit.
• Chubby Checker released The Twist in 1960 and Let's Twist Again in 1961 - teenagers all over the country went wild.
• Helen Shapiro scooped two number ones in 1961 with Walkin' Back to Happiness and You Don't Know.
• Cliff Richard managed to hit the singles charts every year of the 1960s.
• Cilla Black had her only two number one hits in 1964: Anyone Who Had a Heart and You're My World.
• Dusty Springfield's I Only Wanna Be With You was in the top 10 everywhere in 1963. When it became a hit in the US, Dusty became the first British female singer to chart in America.
Then in 1966 she out-did even herself: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me became an even bigger hit.
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Cowgirl
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dmiller
Neat stuff!!
:)-->
Btw --- I think it was the Dave Clark Five who first knocked the Beatles out of the number one spot (November of 1963), with their hit "Glad All Over". Made it to number 1 in England, but only number 6 in the States.
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