The "Highest and Best Use."

The cause of death of the Drive-In Movie Theater in America can be blamed upon a Real Estate term of art called, 

      "The Highest and Best Use."

Those in the R. E. bizz will recognize that term instantly.  But for those unfamiliar, an almost inviolable rule has it that a piece of property, a farm, or gas station, or a house, will always rise to its most profitable usage.

Like cream rises to the top of a pale of milk.

For example, you wouldn't see a carnival on a hillside in Malibu.  Or, you wouldn't for very long, that is.  Because some enterprizing soul would snap that land up and build a house.  Or a store.  Or a mall.  Or something that returned more income against the overall investment than would that theoretical carnival. 

That's called ROI.  "Return on Investment."

And it's for that reason that we no longer have Drive-In-movies.  They've all been bought up and turned into Targets.  Or Sam's Clubs.  Or Costcos.  Or strip malls.  Or hospitals.  Anything that will generate more $Dollars per square foot than a yuuuuuge Drive-In movie theater.  Which can cover acres.  Usually situated at the edge of town.  But as the town creeps toward the Drive-Ins through growth, the theater owners cash out and the people who loved them are left out of the equation.   

  And dammm, what we're missing!  

For those unlucky enough to have never experieced Drive-Ins, they had little hills between the rows.  So you could drive between them and then park your car uphill!  Cool!  Easier to look through the windshield, especially if you had your seat back and your girl on your lap.  

So she could see the screen better, doncha' know...

And then there's that cool, 16-pound speaker on a wire you hung on your car door.  Which delivered perhaps the very worst audio experience since the dawn of man.  No one stole those speakers, BTW, because nobody would want them.

In fact, the memory of your convertible top down and the cool summer evening air wafting through your hair, smelling of freshly-cut grass and new mown hay.  And hot popcorn, of course, from the ever-present snack bar.  The memory brings a smile to my grizzled countenance.  If you had a million dollars there's no better place you could have been.  

BTW, we were all excited when bucket seats became all the rage.  Real sporty, and all.  We were dumb.  A "bench" seat is sooooo much better when you have Little Suzie by your side.  Because with buckets, you had to put a pillow on the hard console.  So little Suzie would be comfy sitting beside you.  Except now little Suzie was sitting a foot higher.   

There was always a drive-in nearby during all the years I was growing up.  And I went the Drive-In every chance I got.  I remember that Thursday was "Buck Nite."  Everyone you could pack in your car for a single dollar.  A "Buck."  Just think about that.  You could get 8 in the car, and if you and your friends were so inclined, another 3 or 4 in the trunk (trunks were yuuuge back then!).  

One of our buddies saw that sign one night and asked, "Who's this actor Buck Nite?  Never heard of him."  Yeah, we were that kind of people...

I watched the premiere of "Dirty Dancing" at a Drive-In.  I saw "War of the Worlds" at a Drive-In.  I saw "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" at a Drive-In.  And although they usually showed second-run, or "B" movies, it really didn't matter.  We were at a Drive-In movie...

There were some among us, I must admit, that were not there for the movie.  You could tell which ones they were because the windows were all rolled up.  And steamed up.  And you couldn't see inside.  I always wondered why they did that...

I recall swapping my '62 Chevy 409 one night with a buddy for his '48 Nash Ambassador, 4-door sedan.  Whose seats folded down into a queen-sized bed.  I always knew I shoulda' bought that car.

Oh yeah, and for those with kids there were swings and slides to play on while their parents were canoodling.  Everybody wins on D.I. Movie night!

I've wondered also just what percentage of our 50 and 60 year-olds were conceived at a Drive-In movie.  I'll bet it was a lot...