Memphis remembers the Bellevue

Vance Lauderdale, a columnist for Memphis magazine, gave us a tease to whet our appetite for an article about the old Summer Drive-In (Memphis TN) in its November issue. (Not Memphis’s current Summer, which is still open, as shown by the Flickr pool photo at the right. Confusing!)

Anyway, this online memory isn’t about any Summer; it’s about the Bellevue, another closed drive-in that was in Memphis. Its centerpiece is the author’s 40-year-old photo of the back of the screen tower, which shows the theater manager’s living quarters at its base. “The Bellevue’s sign was especially nice because that cursive script and the floral decorations were all in neon, and the wide vertical bands are a nice touch.” You really ought to check out the article just for that. And I’ll keep watching for the full article about the Summer. Sounds great!