Whatever became of all those drive-ins?

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days. Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days, Thursday, Friday, Happy Days. Saturday, what a day! Rockin' all week with you. -Theme from Happy Days TV show Back in the 1950's, going to the drive-in theater was a coming-of-age experience for American teenagers. The ability to watch a movie encased in the privacy of a car made drive-ins a popular date place and its own unique experience. 1958 was the peak of the outdoor movie experience. Nearly 5,000 drive-ins were open around the country then and the mostly teen audience couldn't get enough. Young parents also found the drive-in a great place to find entertainment. Young children had a playground, usually in front, where parents could keep an eye on them easily without having to actually be with them, a blessing for a family who couldn't afford a babysitter. Then came the 1960s, with its air conditioned indoor theaters, Vietnam, rejection of the "traditional" culture and other factors affect attendance. Drive-ins closed and the quality of the movies shown declined. A decade that started with nearly 5,000 drive-ins ended with less than 3,800. In the 1970s the number of theaters remained fairly stable, drive-ins evolved, or devolved, but the numbers didn't decline as quickly as the 1960s. Drive-ins started taking out the playground equipment began to be vandalized more often than used by kids. The 1980s were a terrible decade for drive-ins. The number of theaters plummet from around 3,500 at the start to under 1,000 by the end of the decade. Industry analysts noted that urban sprawl, which caused land values to skyrocket; light pollution (the light from nearby buildings and parking lots) video games and other high tech innovations contribute to the decline. In the 1990s there was a turnaround. Theater closings slowed and some were even opened. Existing theaters added screens and families seemed to rediscover the convenience of watching the movie without the hassle of carrying babies and their accouterments into a crowded indoor theater. Nostalgia also played a part as those teenagers of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s come back to enjoy the remembered experience of watching a movie without worrying about the person in front wearing a hat or the couple next to them carrying on a loud conversation during the movie. Today there seems to be a modest revival going on as more and more people -- some who grew up after drive-ins became passé--and never experience one before, seek out the experience. The Internet has several Web sites dedicated to drive-ins, and memorabilia is becoming popular. Jennifer Sherer, CEO Drive-On-In, Inc., thinks drive-ins are a place to escape the complex and dangerous times we live in. "In a time when the unemployment rate and war stories dominate the news, people see the drive-in as an escape. The drive-in represents a simpler time, even to people who did not experience the drive-in heyday first hand. For me, the drive-in conjures up images like ones in 'Happy Days.' As our world becomes more hectic and less safe, the more the drive-in becomes a wholesome retreat from it."