Get in the Trunk!
I would guess most kids growing up today wouldn’t want anything that their parents had. We had three channels. They have about 300. We barely had black and white TV. They have color and high def. We had one home phone that was tethered to the wall with a cord. They have one on their wrist that goes anywhere.
But, we had one thing that I’m sure much of this generation is missing out on: the drive-in movie.
What a wonderful thing it was, watching a motion picture under a starry sky while in the comfort of your own car. Rows of cars and speakers facing a giant silver screen. Being indoors and outdoors at the same time.
As a child, going to the drive-in was a major event. My sister and I would put on our pajamas (the kind with sewn-in feet), get blankets and pillows, and head for the back seat of our 1963 Chevy Impala. Mom popped a copious amount of popcorn and placed it in a brown paper grocery bag. No need to buy those high-priced snacks from the concession stand.
My father would carefully find the parking spot that would give us the best possible viewing angle of the screen. Finally, he attached the car speaker in our window so that the sound, which was tinny and somewhat irritating, properly flooded the interior.
Most of the movies were first-run and carefully vetted by my mom for proper content. For example, “Son of Flubber,” or “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” would certainly get the mother stamp of approval. An Elvis film like “Fun in Acapulco” was iffy, and a James Bond movie like “Dr. No” was a certain no-no for obvious reasons. That really didn’t matter much to us because sister and I rarely made it through the entire film without falling asleep. That meant my parents had a semblance of a date night, even if it was only 90 minutes or so.
A few years later, the drive-in became a cheap source of entertainment for me and my high school buddies. Every weekend, cars full of teenagers would flock to the place, including several who were hiding in the trunk to get out of paying the outrageous $1.25 admission. Sometimes as many as four people were crammed inside. One friend who worked at the drive-in years ago said, “I can’t tell you the number of times a car with one person pulled up to the gate, told me they were alone, and handed me $1.25. When they drove in, I noticed that the rear bumper was almost touching the ground.” We were lucky no one
was asphyxiated.
The drive-in was also a prized location to take a date.
Once I took a date to the drive-in to see “The Ten Commandments.” The opening credits had barely finished running when she turned and planted one on me. We didn’t come up for air until Moses parted
the Red Sea.
Think that’s over the top? I have a buddy who frequented the drive-in throughout high school. He said once they showed the same movie for over three months, and he still went to see it every weekend. Apparently his girlfriend felt safer there rather than being parked on some deserted road in the middle of nowhere. He can’t recall what the movie was. That’s because he wasn’t watching the film.
In fact, he even had a special parking spot. To be sure they weren’t disturbed, he pulled beside a row of tall hedges on the driver’s side of his car. And for complete privacy, he cut the wires of the car speakers beside the passenger side, ensuring that no cars would
park near him.
Fortunately, there are still a few hundred drive-ins scattered over the country. In fact, several still operate in Alabama. So, if you’re feeling nostalgic, take a short drive, pay the admission, and don’t hide anyone in the trunk. Then relax, and watch a movie in an old-fashioned way.
Don’t forget to bring along a giant bag of popcorn. And be sure not to park beside that car that’s near the hedges. Those speakers may not work.
Joe Hobby is a standup comedian, a syndicated columnist, and a long-time writer for Jay Leno. He’s a member of Cullman Electric Cooperative and is very happy now that he can use Sprout from his little place on Smith Lake. Contact him at [email protected].
