Bud Davis Drive In Theatre

Who remembers the Bud Davis Drive In Theatre, on 15th Street? 15th Street was the north border of town in those days, mostly woods, and nearly all woods on the north side of the road. I remember when 15th Street was two sets of ruts one for cars headed east and one for those headed west. What's in that location today?

Saw many movies there with family, the five of us, in the late 1940s, and then in the 1950s, many evenings there with date, and double-date, and triple-date.

The car in front undoubtedly belongs to Bud Davis. It's a Cadillac sedan, either 1948 or 1949, the only two years GM used that body style for Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac. By the wraparound chrome under the headlights, I'm saying 1949.

In a drive in theater, behind the screen was a large field, in the center of the field was the projection booth, with concession stand. It wasn't unusual for patrons to bring picnic supper to make an evening of it. For cars to come in and park to watch the movies, there was row after row of slanted parking, slanted for cars to position looking up at the movie screen. Each parking place had its own car-window-high post, on which hung a speaker box. The driver was to lift the speaker box and hang it inside his window, which (as I recall) had to be rolled up slightly so the speaker box could hang onto it.

Movies started once the sun had set and it was dark.

For teenagers in cars, it was a great and safe place to go for smooch &c dates, and it wasn't unusual to hear passionate climactic sounds coming from the dark car parked next to you, as all windows were usually rolled down unless it was cold.

Looking at the picture below, you drove in by the ticket booth on the right side of the screen, and the exit was on the left side. Depending on the film, day of the week, weather, and other factors, traffic going in was usually lined up both ways on 15th Street. When the show ended, traffic leaving the drive in theater was - - well, I'm reminded of it every year as, here from 7H, we watch boats speeding crazily away after the Fourth of July fireworks display on St Andrews Bay, rushed and horns honking and wise to wait until most of it cleared before trying to leave.

After Bud Davis opened his theater, we soon had a second drive in theater, seems to me it was in Springfield (?), called the Isle of View.

Obviously, all this was before air conditioned cars, and in the summertime it could be pretty warm in the parked car. Cooler weather, bring a blanket.

A different America we grew up in. I wouldn't go back, but I wouldn't change a thing either.

Thanks to Mike McKenzie in Atlanta for sending me this pic and the two earlier newspaper pages from a century ago!