One bit of nostalgia for many middleaged and older Tennesseans is their recollections of time spent at drive-in movie theaters.

And now, according to the United Drive-in Theater Owners Association (UDTOA), new generations may also store up similar memories, because, the association contends, drive-in movies are coming back.

"Over the past four years I know of 15 drive-ins that have reopened," said Jon Walker, president of the association. "Not just reopenings, but there have been several brand-new drive-ins built in the past few years."

Tim Thompson of Elkton, Ky., who has studied American drive-in theaters for more than 30 years, said one drive-in theater near Fort Lauderdale has 13 screens. Another near Detroit has 12 screens.

In East Tennessee, there are still active drive-in movie theaters at Bristol, Athens, Dunlap, Elizabethton, Midtown (30 miles southwest of Knoxville near Exit 350 off Interstate 40) and Maryville (Parkway Drive-in on U. S. 321 between Maryville and Townsend).

At one time in the 1950s there were literally dozens of drive-in theaters in East Tennessee, including the Oak Ridge-Knoxville-Maryville region.

Oak Ridge had the Skyway Drive-in, Oliver Springs had the Carefree Drive-in, Loudon had the Cole Drive-in, Dixie Lee Junction (near Lenoir City) had the Dixie Lee Drive-in, Maryville had the Druid Hills Drive-in and Alcoa had the Lakemont Drive-in. Knoxville's "dead" drive-ins include the Chapman High, the Family, Knoxville, River Breeze and Twin Aire drive-ins.

By 1958, said Thompson, there were more than 5,000 drive-in theaters in the U. S. That total is now about 800 and growing, he said.

"I have been told by many owners they have to close the gates early because the drive-ins are filling up before sundown," said Thompson. "Apparently, a new generation of Americans is discovering the fun of drive-in movies."

Thompson said several foreign countries (including, would you believe, Russia) have built drive-in theaters in recent years. "Several others in foreign countries, such as Spain, have reopened," he said.

"If you look at the drive-in theater crowds of today you see mostly families with young children, just like the majority of the crowds of the 1950s."

For many older folks drive-in theaters of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s bring back memories of teenage dating years. Going to a drive-in theater was a popular form of dating activity during those years, giving rise to the old "passion pit" designation.

The first drive-in theater in America opened on June 3, 1933 in Camden, New Jersey, showing the film "Wife Beware."

The concept was dreamed up by Richard Hollingshead of Camden. He initially hung a sheet between trees in his back yard and placed a 1928 Kodak projector onto the hood of his car to show a film. He placed a radio behind the screen for sound. He then sat in his car and watched the film.

He tested under various conditions -- windows up, windows down, various lighting, even various weather conditions (he used his lawn sprinkler to simulate a rainstorm).

Hollingshead discovered there would be a problem lining up cars end to end because those in the latter cars could not see the screen very well. So, he propped the cars up on blocks and spaced them intermittingly to provide good views. He then used that idea to develop proper angles to build ramps for multiple cars lined up to watch a film.

He got a patent for his invention on May 16, 1933. He held the patent for 17 years before the Delaware District U. S. Court declared it invalid in May of 1950, opening the doors for anyone to build any kind of drive-in.

The idea of drive-in theaters caught on and within a year from the first theater development there were drive-in movies coast to coast.

The All-Weather Drive-in at Copiaque, New York, was possibly the largest ever built, providing parking spaces for 2,500 cars (and an indoor area seating 1,200) on a 28-acre site. But the largest drive-in as far as total cars acommodated was the Troy Drive-in of Detroit and Panther Drive-in of Lufkin, Texas, each having spaces for 3,000 vehicles. Among huge drive-ins was the 110 Drive-in of Melville, New York (2,500 cars), the Newark, N. J., dDrive-in (2,400 cars) and the Belair Drive-in of Cicero, Ill. (2,300 cars).

For more information on American drive-ins go to these Internet web sites: [email protected] or driveintheater-ownersassociation.org.

This story was published on 22 May 2002.