And welcome back to the show.
If you were a child in the late 50s or
60s or you watched the movie grease,
you remember the iconic
drive-in movie theater.
They were commonplace all over America now,
not so much as we love a temperature
controlled roof over our heads,
recliner chairs and gourmet
food within easy reach.
But what happened to hot dogs?
Luckily, there are still a few
drive-ins around and historian
Felix Pannell joins me to talk
about those that are gone and
those still in this summer 11.
Business, thanks for joining us.
Happy to be here.
Yeah drive-ins are cool because
they they combine so many awesome
elements of American culture.
You know cars.
Yeah Hollywood junk food making out
with your girlfriend or boyfriend or
whatever and just and just you know
something to do on a crazy Friday or
Saturday night and they're the perfect.
They're perfect marker for how America grew,
especially after World War Two
when everybody's in the suburbs.
The baby boom was growing up
and then just this perfect
symbol of all things American.
So that was the heyday at
the post World War Two.
Yeah, we saw the economic growth.
I mean they had the first one
was in New Jersey in the 1930s,
the first one around here was in 1942.
Really, after World War Two where they
really explode and probably the coolest
one around here was the Duwamish.
Hmm, right along the Duwamish River.
Beautiful fan shaped area.
Some of the old Poplar trees that
were grown for the driving are still
there where it's now an office park.
Ohhh yeah and open 1948 and it
was just a really popular thing.
Let's get to the the the ones that are not
no longer here that like you mentioned.
But first let's start with the push
in a Puget Park in South Everett.
Yeah, that was right by Interstate 5 really
visible it was there it actually quarter.
The later ones built in 1968 cause
drive-ins had multiple eras and
they were still going strong.
We're building new ones in the late 1960s.
A lot of them turned into
swap meets and things.
There was a swap meet there for
a long time because you have
these big pieces of real estate.
Often family owned,
but as the economy changed and
people got VCR and cable TV,
the idea of this real estate
right next to a freeway was more
valuable is something that a a
movie theater you only use at night.
You know in the summer time,
for the most part.
So
especially here. Alright Valley and Auburn.
Yeah, Valley only went away in 2012.
Six screens, huge sprawling complex out
there in the valley near Kent and they have,
you know they. Again built in 1968.
Originally you could go there and pick
among from among six movie screens.
So 12 movies showing in any one time.
I went and visited it.
Not long after a close
it was like a graveyard.
All the old posts were still there.
The old speaker posts and some of the
concrete foundations of the of the
concession stand and the ticket booth.
But it's just this.
The fact that lasted till 2012.
That's a that's pretty amazing
for that part of the Kent Valley,
which was booming.
Where the real estate is very valuable.
Wow yeah alright, you mentioned
it first to Warmish in Seattle.
Yeah, a real classic drive
in Post World War Two.
A beautiful setting right by the river.
Lots of people have great memories
that opened in 1948 with a movie
starring President Ronald Reagan.
Oh well, future President Ronald
Reagan called the voice of the turtle.
It closed in 1980, right after
Reagan had been elected president.
There are these weird bookends of
Ronald Reagan and the Duwamish Theater.
I'm not sure what that means exactly,
but it's just a real classic
theater and a classic setting.
The poplars are still there
from where it was.
There's an office park
there now that Boeing uses,
but it's it's just a there's
no better spot that epitomizes
drive-ins in the northwest.
Oh my goodness, that is amazing.
It's beautiful to see.
Those poplars alright.
Well, the good news here is
there are a few drive-ins left.
The Blue fox drive in in Whitby,
which I've actually been to.
It's amazing.
Yeah, it's right there in Oak Harbor.
It's one of my favorites.
They have a great concession stand.
They have a place where
you can ride go karts.
They sort of come drawdowns drive-ins
combine other businesses and things Mm-hmm,
but they're still going strong.
They did a big fundraising campaign a couple
years ago to buy a new digital projector.
That was a that killed a lot of theaters,
not just drive in theaters.
This need to switch to digital, right?
But the blue fox survived
and they they seem to thrive.
They've got movies there all summer,
lots of time it sells out,
but it's a great spot right
there on Whidbey Island.
Yourself on the the.
This is a picture of my my minivan.
I forgot I didn't realize how great a minivan
is for a drive in movie theater show.
Yeah, so that's us in the back of the car.
We just kind of sticked it up
with the kids and had a blast.
They couldn't believe it.
They were so excited and
and all the different.
The differences when you go to the drive-in.
Now first of all it was hilarious
to see all of us trying to
turn off our automatic lights.
OK so that was the first one.
The second one was you don't have to
hook the box on the window anymore.
You just tune into the station.
Or it was just it's really interesting,
so I'm glad that that's still there.
It's like
a special event. I mean,
so much Movies Now with streaming,
even with a lot of big Multiplex cinemas,
it's just they feel so routine.
It feels like you're just going almost
to a doctor's appointment or something
for the drive in it takes, you know,
you have to plan to bring you bring
snacks with you or buy snacks there.
It's a whole different experience.
It feels like a special event,
especially if you're sharing
with people you care
about. I will say I love the
blue fox too because the the
snacks were not overpriced.
We bought a ton of stuff.
We didn't spend a fortune
and they have an arcade.
You got, you all got to go to the blue.
Awesome, a huge fan.
Yeah I'm also gonna try out the wheel
in motor movie near Port Townsend.
Yep, it's a family owned operation
right outside of town of Port Townsend.
It's been there I think since the
early 1950s. Very rudimentary.
It's all surrounded by trees.
It feels like a place where
a horror movie could happen.
That's what I like about.
Like if you're watching a horror movie there,
it's the best of both worlds.
Look at that. How cute is that?
Place that cool howdy partner, I love that.
OK we have got to try that one and then
there's a rodeo drive-in near Bremerton
and also dates to the early 1950s family run.
Just kind of a real throwback.
Real community treasure.
People who live nearby go there
like it's a regular theater,
not like it's a special event
like living in Seattle where I do.
It's you have to make an effort
to get to a drive-in theater,
but in these communities where
they still have their drive-ins,
it's just a thing. And I envy that.
That's very cool.
I envy that too.
Do you think that these three
that we've talked about will last?
I mean, it's gotta be
hard. Yeah, I think the secret is they have
to own their own real estate, so nobody's
trying to raise the rent or anything.
And then you have to have a
commitment to almost a lost art,
yeah, but it comes back.
And, you know, we have parks around here
doing temporary drive-in movie theaters
like at Marymoor Park and things like that.
So there is a there is a need for it.
Cars are more comfortable than they were.
I mean, the cars.
I went to the drive in in the 1970s.
The seats were terrible.
Yeah, now modern cars,
the seats all recline,
you have headrests and everything
and you have great stereo
systems to get the audio so.
I think it's something that always
will have a place for the the right
in the under the right circumstances.
Own the real estate and a commitment
to something that's just a a lost art.
A love of of motion pictures
and American car culture.
I hope it never goes away.
I hope it doesn't go away either.
What was the first movie you ever saw out
of driving? I know as a little kid
I went to a revival of the Sound of
Music at the last night of the driving
over in Kirkland was shut down,
probably 1972, nineteen,
73 when my family and our old mercury
station wagon and I probably fell
asleep 10 minutes into the movie.
Of course. Yeah, yeah, that's great.
My first movie was. This Top
Gun in the San Fernando Valley
wow I saw Jaws at the old
Kenmore Drive in 1976. Yeah,
I'll tell you what real
quick about Jaws they have.
The old movies they play up
here sometimes in Capitol Hill.
Lower Lower Queen Anne. I'm sorry.
Seeing Jaws on the big screen even
though I've seen in my whole life.
It's terrifying. It is great.
What a great movie still
stands up Spielberg's a genius.
He ought to get into filmmaking.
Thank you so much.