The first reported Drive-In is said to have opened in the summer of 1933 in New Jersey. Before coming to its perfection, the concept was constructed using a Kodak projector and a hanging sheet in the backyard of Richard Hollingshead's home. After much trial and error, the idea was patented and Hollingshead's outdoor theater was built, displaying its first movie on June 6th, 1933. The movie was "Wife Beware", cars were charged $.25, as well as $.25 per person. 

Almost 20 theaters were built from its initial introduction until the end of the 1930'. The war slowed down the building of any new drive-ins, but post war times built many more in the United States, as the idea flurished.

Consessions, a staple for drive in theaters, complimented the ideology behind driveins: an experience for the whole family.. During the 1940s and the baby boom, more families were found at the drive-ins. This prompted the placement of play grounds on the premises. Following exhaustive play before the movies, parents would bring their children to the concessions stands for treats! Consessions, as with most films, were almost as much fun as the movie themselves

In the 1950s these playgrounds would become even more spectacular, with the addition of pony and boat rides, as well as mini golf! As more families began to frequent drive-ins for the prospect of family entertainment, drive-in theaters also began to grow in size, not just popularity. One of the largest noted Drive-Ins was the Johnny All Weather Drive-In (1957 - 1984), located in Copiague, NY. At it's finest it could park 2,500 cars! It also featured an indoor theater that protected viewers incase of unfavorable weather. It was both heated as well as air conditioned!

The 1960s and 1970s did not fare so well for Drive-Ins. The growth began to slow, only a few new theaters having been built. The 1980's, the hayday of cable TV and VCRs, saw the unfortunate downturn of Drive-In theaters. Making their future even more doomed, America was admist a building boom. The large plots of land that housed these Drive-Ins were finding more money in the sale of their land than from the weekly profits from movie operations. These, and many other reasons, caused the eventual decay of countless previous drive-ins. You can view their abandonment in the vacant fields and overgrown parking lots all around the country in the present day, although some remain as a novelty.