Where was the first drive-in movie theater opened up?
The drive-in theater was the creation of Camden, New Jersey, chemical company magnate Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr., whose family owned and operated the R.M. Hollingshead Corporation chemical plant in Camden. In 1932, Hollingshead conducted outdoor theater tests in his driveway at 212 Thomas Avenue in Camden. After nailing a screen to trees in his backyard, he set a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and put a radio behind the screen, testing different sound levels with his car windows down and up. Blocks under vehicles in the driveway enabled him to determine the size and spacing of ramps so all automobiles could have a clear view of the screen. Following these experiments, he applied August 6, 1932 for a patent of his invention, and he was given patent number 1,909,537 on May 16, 1933. (Seventeen years later, that patent was declared invalid by the Delaware District Court.) Hollingshead’s drive-in opened in New Jersey June 6, 1933 on Admiral Wilson Boulevard at the Airport Ci
