The American Drive-In Movie Theatre - Hardcover

Don Sanders; Susan Sanders

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0760304254 ISBN 13: 9780760304259

Publisher: Motorbooks Intl, 1997

Synopsis

Traces the history of American drive-ins from the 1930s to the present, reliving the rituals and excitement associated with these theaters

About this title

Review:

Tracing the history, geography, and ideology of the American drive-in movie theater, authors Don and Susan Sanders present a densely illustrated look at American culture at its most shallow, sensual, and delightful. Noting the need of the newly created class of motorized, moneyed teenagers of the 1940s and '50s to find a dark and private place for their pubescent pastimes, the Sanders place the origin of this outdoor entertainment form in the birth of popular culture. The sections on the amusement park-style rides, refreshments, and attractions that were used to lure the bored and their cash to this form of voyeurism are especially delightful (the "Mono-Rocket" ride and the new high-speed food dispensers provide intriguing images of capitalist inventiveness). In spite of its Pollyanna-ish tone, The American Drive-In Movie Theater works as both a celebration and an insightful analysis of this passing phase of pre-couch potato folly.

About the Author:

Don and Susan Sanders of Dallas are ardent enthusiasts of the American Road.  With an intense interest in roadside Americana, they travel the nation's forgotten highways searching for historic icons of American's past.

About this edition

• Publisher: Motorbooks Intl
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0760304254
• ISBN 13: 9780760304259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 159