The technology we use today is something of a marvel. We have state-of-the-art cellphones, laptops, AirPods, speakers, gaming systems, and just about everything else under the sun. But not so many decades in the past, technology looked a lot different. If you’re a baby boomer, you will likely recognize some of the following images.
Although drive-in movie theatres still exist, they are not so common as they were back in the 1940s and 1950s. During these two decades, couples, families, and single people piled into cars for a night out at the big screen.
If you go to the drive-in today, you’ll still get that wave of nostalgia. Most drive-ins are still in the exact same spot, old screens and retro-style concession stands included. Nowadays, you hear the movie by tuning into a certain station on your car’s radio. But back in the day, the audio system was quite different.
Drive-in movie goers of the past would pull up beside a metal post sprouting from the ground. At the top of this post would be two speakers on cords. You would grab the speaker closest to your car window and pull it into your car (or as far as it could reach) in order to listen to the movie’s sound.
Laugh all you want, but this was pretty advanced technology for the time! I still love going to the drive-in and seeing photos like these brings me right on back to the good old days.