Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre
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| Location | Orefield, Pennsylvania, United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°38′42.11″N 75°35′40.32″W / 40.6450306°N 75.5945333°W |
| Capacity | 300 cars |
| Opened | April 15, 1934 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre is a single-screen drive-in movie theater located off of Route 309 in Orefield, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the oldest operational drive-in theater in the world[1][2] It generally operates during weekends in the colder months, while playing films seven days per week during the summer season.[3] Admission gives patrons access to both nightly movie showings.
History
[edit]
Shankweiler's was opened by Wilson Shankweiler on April 15, 1934, making it the first drive-in theater to open in the state of Pennsylvania and the second drive-in theater to open in the entire United States.[1][4] Originally located behind his restaurant and inn, the original drive-in was described as a "bedsheet hung between two poles."[5] It opened less than one year after the first-ever American drive-in theater opened in Camden, New Jersey.[4][6]
In 1948, Shankweiler's installed speaker poles and car speakers.[4] Hurricane Diane in 1955 caused severe damage to the screen and projection booth at Shankweiler's, prompting the construction of a new snack bar/projection booth and installation of a new CinemaScope movie screen.[4]
Shankweiler sold his drive-in in 1965 to Robert Malkames.[7] Under Malkames' ownership, the theater in 1982 adopted micro-vicinity AM radio broadcasting to deliver movie soundtracks to patrons, though the car speakers remained in place.[4]
Malkames sold Shankweiler's to Paul and Susan Geissinger in 1984.[7] Paul Geissinger had worked at Shankweiler's in 1971.[8] In 1986, Shankweiler's was an early adopter of delivering movie sound via FM broadcast stereo, stating on their website to be "the 1st Drive-in to feature audio in FM broadcast Stereo", in 1986; Dromana 3 Drive-In in Melbourne, Australia used FM stereo in 1984.[4][9] Later, Shankweiler's sound system was upgraded in 2002, and featured fully digital video projection and sound equipment in 2013.[4][7] The 2013 conversion to digital cost $120,000 and was necessary to continue showing new releases, which would no longer be distributed in 35 mm.[8]
In 2015, the Geissingers listed Shankweiler's Drive-In for sale, and then re-listed it for sale in 2018, with an asking price of $1.2 million.[7]
In November 2022, the theater was sold to Matthew McClanahan and Lauren McChesney, of The Moving Picture Cinema, a mobile movie theater based out of Allentown, Pennsylvania.[10][11] The theater resumed operations and is now open year-round.[12] In April, 2024 the drive-in celebrated its 90th anniversary.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Potter, Christy (2015-06-06). "Lehigh Valley's historic drive-ins and movie theaters". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ "Oldest drive-in cinema". Guinness World Records. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ "Events". Shankweiler's Drive-In. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre > History". www.shankweilers.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ a b Althouse, Michaela (2024-04-02). "America's oldest drive-in movie theater to celebrate its 90th anniversary". PhillyVoice. Retrieved 2024-05-29.
- ^ "The History of Drive-In Movie Theaters (and Where They Are Now)". New York Film Academy. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ a b c d Wagaman, Andrew (2018-01-18). "Shankweiler's Drive-in, oldest drive-in theater in the country, is for sale". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ a b Tatu, Christina (2019-06-22). "Reeling in the film fans: Mahoning Drive-In is last in the U.S. showing 35 mm films every weekend". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ Cardilini, Les (19 January 2024). "Enjoy the drive-in with true stereo". The Age. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ WFMZ-TV (2022-11-05). "Shankweiler's Drive-In sold to new owners". WFMZ.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ "The Moving Picture Cinema". The Moving Picture Cinema. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
- ^ Itzcovitz, Rose (2022-11-11). "Opening night at Shankweiler's Drive-in makes a splash as folks watch movies under the stars, raindrops". WFMZ.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.