8mm Forum: I like Drive-Ins

This is topic I like Drive-Ins in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Clay Smith (Member # 4122) on July 16, 2014, 06:27 PM:

There were several in St. Louis where I grew up. The 66 Drive-In on Watson Road (Route 66 as it went through Crestwood, Missouri into St. Louis) and Ronnies 66 Drive-In were the ones close by. As kids we could set up our telescope in the backyard and take turns watching the movies at Ronnies about a mile away. These were in silent and mono-vision mode of course, peering through the Poplar trees that the drive-in planted, we presumed, to thwart such activity.
In Dalhart, Texas, where my grandparents lived, there was the El Rancho Drive-In which had an animated neon sign out front depicting a cowboy throwing a lasso around a heifer. My older sister tells the tale of once visiting when she was 7 and grandpa taking her in the old Ford pickup to the El Rancho to see Alfred Hithcock's Vertigo. I still imagine my sister, in pigtails and propped up on the front seat, her and Emory munching on popcorn as Kim Novak plunges to her death in the film's climax. Ha, my grandmother was not amused when she later asked my sister about the moving picture show they went to. "Emory, how could you take her to see such a movie?" My sister loved it and it is one of her favorite stories about Grandpa Emory. Years later, I would see such films as Easy Rider and The Last Picture Show at the El Rancho. Anyway, all gone now those Drive-Ins. But great memories.

Posted by Clay Smith (Member # 4122) on July 20, 2014, 05:29 PM:

The 66 Drive-In St. Louis, MO

The El Rancho Drive-In Dalhart, Texas (funny, until I dug up this photo in my storage I always thought there was some cattle in there somewhere.

Aerial view of the El Rancho Drive-In. You can spot the concession stand in the middle of the lot. The main road pictured is Highway 87, headed to Amarillo, Texas (90 miles to the southeast).

Rare 10" snow on May 2, 1978

1993 -Last days of the "66" Park In Theatre - St. Louis, MO

Those were the days. - Clay

[ July 20, 2014, 09:32 PM: Message edited by: Clay Smith ]

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on July 20, 2014, 08:54 PM:

Clay,

The cattle are probably at the concession stand. Great pictures!

Doug

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on July 20, 2014, 09:50 PM:

Those drive-ins are boring compared to the AUTOSCOPE!

Seriously, click here for amazing pictures .

Posted by Terry Lagler (Member # 1110) on July 22, 2014, 07:53 AM:

That is seriously crazy. Must have been a nightmare to set up!

Cheers
Terry

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