Summer Pleasures, July 2010

THE ALLURE OF THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE

The concept of the drive-in movie business originated with one man, Richard M. Hollingshead Jr., who first tested the idea in his own driveway.  After pinning a white bed sheet up between two trees in his backyard, he pointed his car toward the sheet and placed a Kodak projector on the hood of the car.  Based on this experiment, he decided the idea was viable, and he set out to solve the problems he foresaw.  Among them how to get sound to people sitting in separate cars, and  how cars could park so that everyone could see the screen.

For sound, Hollingshead contacted the RCA Victor Company and described his concept for an outdoor theatre. The company agreed that three speakers placed around a lot where cars were parked could provide adequate sound. (Eventually this speaker system was replaced by individual speakers that were kind of tinny-sounding but could bring the sound directly into each car.)

The design solution for viewing the screen was to install an over-sized screen raised 15-20 feet off the ground.  Hollingshead then designed a system so that cars could line up in rows with each car parked on a slight incline for more comfortable viewing.  He then applied for a patent.

By May 16, 1933 Hollingshead received his patent, and he purchased a custom-built 30 by 60-foot screen. He opened the first drive-in movie theatre, Park-In Movies,in Camden, NJ on June 6, 1933.

Over time, the business model was copied and business practices evolved: Tickets were sold on a per-customer basis, but it was not unusual for teens or children to hide under blankets in the backseat in order to attend for free. Once on the property, an “usher” greeted cars with a flashlight signaling where each car should park.  Concession sales were a big part of the business, so since drive-in movies usually offered a double feature, theatre owners provided an intermission of 10-15 minutes.

Drive-in movies could not start the films until after dark, and by the 1950s, most drive-ins also had playgrounds.  Families could arrive early and let the children play until it was time for the movie to start.  If parents were lucky, the whole family could enjoy the first film, and then the kids would fall asleep for the second one.  (I have a vivid memory of returning to the drive-in one morning with my mother; my brother had thrown one of his shoes out of the car and it was impossible to find it in the dark.  The idea of children sleeping during the second feature probably falls in the category of best-laid-plans.)  And of course, high school kids relished the privacy of the car while ostensibly watching a movie.

Though a few drive-in movie theatres still exist, the limitations on a business that could only be conducted during better weather meant that as towns expanded, most theatre owners were perfectly willing to sell to a strip mall developer or a car company looking for a sales lot.

All in all, I think I prefer going to a Multiplex, but I certainly do remember going to the drive-in movies.  Write me with your favorite memory.

SMALL GAME, BIG IMPACT: The Joys of Miniature Golf

The beginning of miniature golf could be traced to several sources, but the first patent on the game was obtained by Garnet Carter (1883-1954). Carter owned a hotel on Lookout Mountain in Tennessee, and while he was waiting for the contractor to complete the resort’s 18-hole golf course, he asked the fellow to build a miniature course near the hotel to amuse guests.

Guests enjoyed the experience so much that Carter started the Tom Thumb Golf Company; he built miniature courses throughout the south, and sold to another company the right to build courses in the north.  Within just a few years, there were 25,000 courses in the United States. Carter’s wife did most of the design work, and many courses were done in a Fairyland theme.

One of the places where miniature golf was most popular was Manhattan where mini golf courses were built on rooftops. By the early ‘30s, there were 150 rooftop courses in the city. The game was considered an adult amusement, and couples often played in their evening clothes after the theatre or an elegant dinner.

The craze over miniature golf was so big that Wanamaker’s Department store sold Tom Thumb fashions and advertised: “When you’re Lilli-putting on the Miniature Golf Course, Remember your Clothes Technique!”

Though the game began as a business, the Depression affected people’s ability to pay for leisure activities.  The beauty of miniature golf was that people could create their own game on unused areas of land, using pipes, wood, and other substances to create obstacles.

The popularity of the game died out after the ‘30s, but it came back as a family activity in the 1950s and ‘60s. Today miniature golf is still popular.  The courses tend to be part of a family entertainment complexes, and the courses themselves feature various gimmicks to keep people coming back.  From elaborate traps to courses offering glow-in-the-dark challenges, miniature golf still brings in customers.

FAST FACTS ABOUT MINIATURE GOLF

• The first miniature golf course built in the U.S. is said to have been built by James Barber in 1916 at his estate, Thistle Dhu (This’ll do) in Pinehurst, NC.
• Because it was hard to grow grass in a small space with lots of foot traffic, the fellow who created and patented a surface substance from cottonseed hulls and oil (dyed green),  made a lot of money from the game without having to own courses himself.
• Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford opened a miniature golf course in Los Angeles.  The game because so popular in Hollywood that movie companies put into stars’ contract that they would not be filmed playing miniature golf.  It was considered big competition to movie-going.
• In 1931 Modern Mechanics wrote that there were 50,000 miniature golf courses in the United States.
• Whispering Pines Miniature Golf course in Sea Breeze, NY is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It dates to 1930 and is thought to be the oldest remaining course in the U.S.