Finally, some good news! Not only will the Aut-O-Rama Twin Drive In of North Ridgeville OH reopen this year, it plans to expand its season. It’ll reopen on Friday, March 25, and depending on weather, owners Tim and Del Sherman hope to keep their theater open until Christmas. That uplifting story comes to us from WJW, Cleveland’s News Leader, which also furnished a fine video.
Perhaps the longer season will be a way for the Shermans to recoup some of their expenses this year. They’ll be replacing both of the screens at the Aut-O-Rama, one at a time. Not only does it cost money to install new screens, the drive-in’s income will be reduced during each side’s down period.
For a lot more Aut-O-Rama history, and yet another video, check out what I posted in 2017 as part of my Drive-In-a-Day Odyssey. And let’s hope we get more positive stories like this one as drive-in season returns thus year.
Longtime readers know that I love any drive-in video that I can embed for you. In this case, the story is a windstorm that damaged the former main screen of the Sky Vue Drive-In in Winchester KY.
You can see by this not-that-old photo at CinemaTreasures that the Sky Vue’s big screen and sign were still in good shape when it closed in 2015, one of the few casualties of the conversion to digital movies. Reportedly, there were fans who were trying to find a way to reopen the drive-in. Sadly, any of those plans just got more complicated.
Thanks to WLEX, Lexington’s News Leader, for giving us all a glimpse of what’s left of the Sky Vue. I wonder whether any of those marquee letters are still laying there along US 60.
Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle showing off one of beloved 78 rpm records on a century-old Victor Talking Machine.
After I put Drive-Ins of New Mexico to bed (mostly) last week, I had the rare opportunity to visit one of the best sources for my research. The Internet Archive is accessible through the internet from anywhere, but to tour the physical plant, you need to be in the right place on a Friday afternoon.
And that’s not all. Browsing around a couple of years ago, I found a collection of Motion Picture Heralds from 1950 to 1954. Another section includes bound copies of California Highways and Public Works, another 1950s publication full of aerial photos in the public domain. There are probably more research resources that I haven’t discovered yet.
Then there’s the content. There’s a section of Drive-In Movie Ads to use for your own intermission trailers. There are thousands of Feature Films to put together your own double features around the intemissions. Or if you want someone else to do all that for you, there’s a series of prepackaged Shocker Internet Drive-Ins.
If you want something that’s not drive-in related, the Archive has over two million books available. For music, you can choose from over 100,000 LPs. And then there’s the collection that I think is founder Brewster Kahle’s favorite: over 400,000 78 rpm and cylinder records.
Really, I’ve just scratched the surface in this post. Go wander around the Archive the way you would any other extensive library. I’m sure that you’ll find something you didn’t expect, and something that you’ll love.
