Pennsylvania couple purchases world’s oldest drive-in theater

NY Post ^ | 9/06/25 | Associated Press

[Libloather]

OREFIELD, Pa. (AP) — In a romance and adventure worthy of the big screen, a Pennsylvania couple is preserving the past and forging a future as the owners of the world’s oldest operating drive-in movie theater.

Lauren McChesney got more than admission to a double feature when she handed her ticket to Matt McClanahan at a different drive-in he managed in 2018. They started dating a year later, and, in August, got engaged. In between, they purchased Shankweiler’s Drive-In Theatre, which was Pennsylvania’s first drive-in and only the nation’s second when it opened in 1934.

The couple began brainstorming about drive-ins during a cross-country road trip that included stops at both operational and abandoned theaters. Their original goal was to open a new drive-in, but when they learned Shankweiler’s might get sold to developers, “the light bulb went off,” McClanahan said.

**SNIP**

The drive-in movie theater industry began in Camden, New Jersey, in 1933 and peaked in the late 1950s, with more than 4,000 drive-ins, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. The numbers dropped rapidly in the 1970s and 80s as other entertainment options increased, along with land values that made selling for redevelopment attractive. Though popular during the pandemic, by 2024, there were only 283 left, according to the association.

[Mr. Blond]

Last one I went to had short-wave FM. Probably uses bluetooth now.

[kvanbrunt2]

Imagine seeing “Gorgo” and then the Follow up “Flower Drum song” as a kid. wow

[hecticskeptic]

How do keep the car accessories from not shutting down by default after 5 minutes? Or is it old enough that all that new fangled crap isn’t built into the car?

[T.B. Yoits]

How do things work in the drive-in theatres that are still around?

Most use FM transmitters:
https://www.decadetransmitters.com/en/drive-in-theatres.htm

They also offer Wifi to transmit to phones or tablets:
https://www.audiofetch.com/venues/drive-in-audio/

[Larry Lucido]

The Night of the Living Dead

When I joined Dallas PD in the 80s there was a drive in still operating in the Pleasant Grove area next to a cemetery. My training officer made sure to tell me exactly where to park on weekends to watch their x rated offerings. I was too creeped out to go back there specifically because I had visions of Night of the Living Dead in that cemetery. Loved the movie but I didn’t want to actually experience it.

[Mr. Blond]

I’ve never known the radio to do that. Their power draw is negligible.

[Maine Mariner]

Nicely said!

Our theaters did not show x rated movies as I recall.

[Celtic Conservative]

Short range FM transmitters.

CC

[Disambiguator]

There’s one out in Parma, Idaho. They show double features, but they start late in the summer so it’s dark enough. That means you get done at 2:00 am and still have to drive home (Parma is 45 minutes away from where I am). It’s basically an all-nighter.

[Jane Long]

The snack bar will close in 10 minutes.....and, don't forget your speakers.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

#18: "How do things work in the drive-in theatres that are still around?"

They use telepathic mediums to channel thoughts and images into your head.

[rlmorel]

Ah yes. I loved the Drive In, I still go once every few years.

Back in the Seventies, my parents had a Finnish exchange student who stayed at our house. Very nice, very smart, and became one of our family.

The last time she visited before my mother passed on, I dropped by during the visit to say hello, and met her young son who may have been ten or twelve.

She said that she was trying to think of something completely American to have him see or experience, the light bulb went on in my head, and I said "I have just the thing!"

Drive in Movie.

So, we looked to see what was playing (there were two screens, two movies at each one!) One of the main features was "The Simpson's Movie" and with no hesitation, they both chose that one! Heh, now THAT'S where people around the world get their impressions of America!

They were both delighted with the whole experience. The only thing missing was the speakers you used to have to put on the car window...:) (Having it on the car radio IS an improvement, however! But for nostalgic purposes...

I love Drive In's. The bad, bad fried food and the smell from the Snack Bar...all the stale looking commercials for local businesses, intertwined with the absolutely tacky, immortal, and delightful cartoons imploring you to visit the Snack Bar!

And while they were showing those, they often had a small playground right up underneath the screen with kids. The sun has just gone down...there is still light, and you can hear the kids and see the swings going back and forth, occasionally punctuated by the headlights of cars on the screen and they enter on their way to a parking space to view the movie from.

Then, when I was a teenager and young adult, going to the Drive-In, hiding kids in the trunk, setting out the old aluminum yard chairs with the green and white plastic webbing...

Boy, that makes me very nostalgic. Those were good times.

[kiryandil]

Those were the days... 😁

[rlmorel]

My best friend’s uncle was a manager for one, so he got free passes, and we used to jam as many people as we could in the car. We would all set up our chairs in front of the car.

I remember seeing “Barbarella” (I know, I know) and “Heavy Metal” at those Drive In theaters.

We once went in February to one up here in New England in Natick, MA, and a bunch of us went in my 1966 Dodge Van. I had a Coleman catalytic heater, but you could also rent one from the Drive In.

We saw “Jaws”! One or our guys was the clown of our group, aways kept us in stitches, and near the end I had to use the mens room.

When I was walking back, the shark had just eaten Quint and the drive in was silent as a tomb, except...

My clownish buddy. I could hear his voice echoing throughout the drive in...”Quint? Quint?”

My dad was stationed at the Naval Annex in Washington DC back in the mid-Sixties, and there was a big drive in that my parents would bring all six of us kids to in the station wagon.

All the seats were down flat, blankets spread, and some of us in in pajamas. My mother would make popcorn and serve it to us in a large brown grocery bag while my dad sat behind the wheel smoking his unfiltered Pall Malls.

I remember one movie, “The Batman Movie” and the only thing I remembered about it was Batman hanging on a rope ladder from under a helicopter.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about this and wondered if I remembered that correctly, so I looked it up on YouTube...it was pretty hokey. Robin was trying to lower Batman to a yacht, and dunked him in the water where a large rubber shark latched onto him!

Always loved drive in movies!

[Inyo-Mono]

Loved going to the drive-in theater in my parents car back in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, but the last time I went was on a blind date in 1968 and it was a horrible experience, the film was “Rosemary’s Baby” the worst movie of all time. What a downer that was.

[wjcsux]

The Midway Drive in Theater in my hometown of Tucson was our favorite place to spend Saturday nights.

[fso301]

Seems to me that in certain locations, summertime mosquitoes would make a drive-in unfeasible.

[Keyhopper]

Borrow a pickup and put a mattress in the back. Pillows, comforter, extra covers......cozy

[Keyhopper]

Bring a portable boom box

[Sacajaweau]

lol i can remember one of my kids saying....there’s no one in that car....