The "Takin' Your Sweetheart To The Drive-In!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Going through an old box in the space above our garage when I came upon a small metal device.  Ah!  I thought I had thrown that away years ago.  It was a metal speaker about the size of a small box of candy.  But, did it bring back memories from over 50 years ago!  The device was a speaker that sat on the front window of my car when Carol and I had gone to the Comet Drive-In Theater one evening in the mid-1960s.  If my memory serves me right...the weather had turned nasty and a downpour finally arrived.  We decided it was time to head home, so I started the car and headed to the exit.  Only thing I didn't do was put the speaker back on the post in the spot where the car had been sitting.  Ripped the cord right off the post that held it.  Thought I would be in trouble if I returned it the next day, so I put it in the box above the garage and finally found it today.  The Comet Drive-In Theater was one of three drive-in movies that I can remember that filled the night sky with movie action.  The nation's first drive-in opened in 1933 in Camden, New Jersey, but the owner was way ahead of his time.  Never caught on due to the Great Depression and WWII.  But, after the war all our soldiers returned, started families and began living the lifestyle we now know as "the 50s."  

It was actually in 1949 that Mr. Harry Chertcoff planned to build a 1,000 car drive-in about four miles east of Lancaster along the Lincoln Highway.  Was going to cost him about a quarter of a million dollars.  But, it never happened.  Three more outdoor theaters were proposed in the next few years, but the only one that was ever built was that original one that Mr. Chertcoff proposed.  On May 23, 1950 the "Sky-Due" theater opended on Lincoln Highway East, at the site of what is now Tanger Outlets.  A full-page ad in the newspaper told of the opening with a playground for kids and a refreshment stand.  

Opening of the Sky-Vue

The first movie shown in the outdoor theatre was "The Green Grass of Wyoming."  There was heavy rain the first night, but that still didn't stop about 400 cars from parking in the theater to allegedly watch the movie.  By the early 1950s there were close to 1,000 drive-ins across the country.  Then in 1955, Chertcoff opened his second drive-in theater along what is not Route 283, near Flory's Mill and Cloister Drive.  Called it the "Comet" and it opened on June 22, 1955.  

Another full-page ad was posted in the local newspaper.  This time the movie was "Rhapsody" which starred Elizabeth Taylor.  Then in 1956 a Maryland-based partnership began to build a theater along Route 462 just east of Columbia.  It opened on August 9, 1956 with the movie "A Man Called Peter".  When baby-boomers reached their teen years, the number of drive-ins had grown to an all-time high in the USA of 4,063 in 1958.  A few years later I turned 16 and before long I had a 1958 Chevy Impala convertible which was a real hit at the drive-in.  

Put the top down on it and I could sit three in the front and four in the back.  Didn't make for a very romantic evening at the outdoor movies, but that was reserved for another evening the following week with my special girl.  In 1962 a battle raged in Lancaster over the long standing "Blue Laws" that forbid entertainment venues from operating on Sundays unless township residents voted to allow such operation.  Didn't bother the drive-in owners, since they probably factored in the fines in their ticket price for the Sunday movies.  

The screen of the Columbia Drive-In could be seen from
the road.  X-rated movies slowed the traffic.

Then in the early 1970s, the drive-in theater's popularity began to wane, so the owner of the Columbia Drive-In decided to show X-rated movies on his outdoor screen.  Thing about that was you could see the screen from the Route 30 Bypass.  Many would stop along side of the bypass to watch some of the movie with their binoculars.  A few accidents began to take place so the police put up signs that you couldn't park there.  Still slowed down the traffic along the highway!  It also upset the neighbors who might of had a view of the screen from their homes.  Some protested to the police department  and eventually the owner stopped showing the movies.  

In 1979, the Comet Drive-In showed its last movie on September 13.  Two days later the property was sold to a trucking company.  Two years later the Sky-Vue showed their last movie..."The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."  That land is now the home to Lancaster Outlet City, the county's first outlet shopping mall.  In December of 1994 the Columbia announced they may close.  It wasn't until 2005 that the last drive-in movie was shown at the Columbia Theater.  But, along comes 2020 and once again three businesses in Lancaster are once again planning on beginning out-door movies.  But, for now, with the pandemic still causing problems, we will have to wait and see.  Just hope they buy a few extra speakers to hang on your car window for those careless people that are also forgetful.  It was another extaordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.