by Andrew Henderson

The New York State Legislature proclaimed the weekend of June 7-8 as Drive-In Theatre Weekend—an effort spearheaded by Fulton’s John Nagelschmidt, owner of the Midway Drive-In Theatre in Minetto.

In addition, the state Assembly passed a resolution in recognition of Midway Drive-In’s 60th anniversary. That bill was introduced by area Assembly members Will Barclay, Bob Oaks, and Dave Towensend.

Nagelschmidt, a former teacher in Fulton for 30 years, initiated the effort with the help of a former student, Dan Farfaglia, who works in the N.Y. State Assembly for Assemblyman Steven Englebright.

“He said he wanted to do a resolution and I told him more importantly that it was the 75th anniversary of the drive-in and he managed to do both resolutions and it passed the legislature unanimously,” said Nagelschmidt.

The legislature’s proclamation commemorates the 75th anniversary of inventor Richard Hollingshead’s debut of this alternative way of watching movies.

Hollingshead mounted a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car and used it to project onto a screen that he had nailed to trees in his backyard with a loud speaker behind it for sound.

In June of 1933, Hollingshead opened the first drive-in theatre in Camden, N.J., using a ramp system that enabled cars parked behind each other to see the whole picture. The first drive-in theatre in New York State opened Aug. 10, 1938 in the Town of Valley Stream.

By January of 1942, drive-in theatres had begun to spread across the country. At that time, there were 95 of them in 27 states.

During World War II, the construction of drive-in theatres slowed with only six additional theatres built. After the war, though, popularity increased as the number of drive-ins increased to 820 by 1948.

The 1950s was the boom decade for drive-in theatres. By 1958, there were at least 4,067 in the United States, including 154 in New York State. Overall, there have been a total of 186 drive-in theatres operating in the state from 1938 to 2008.

Those numbers, however, rapidly dwindled with the creation of shopping malls and movies complexes in the 1980s and 1990s. Currently, there are 387 drive-ins left in the nation.

“It’s holding right around 400 and it has for the past five years or so,” said Nagelschmidt.

There are only 30 drive-in theatres left in New York State. Midway is the third oldest drive-in remaining in the state. It was opened in 1948 by Ruben and Irving Cantar. In the 1960s it was sold to A.T. Kolinski and C. Girard. Nagelschmidt purchased the theatre in 1987.

“We’re fortunate that the Midway sits out in the middle of nowhere so there is no demand on the property,” said Nagelschmidt. “The vast majority of drive-ins were outside the cities and the properties became too valuable. You really can’t set it aside for a four-month business.”

As for the future of drive-ins, Nagelschmidt is closely watching the movie industry and its planned switch to all-digital movies.

“I think if 35mm film were to stay around, drive-ins will stay around forever because they have their own niche of people,” he said. “Within the next 10 years, 35mm will be gone. Originally, there was little thought to the drive-ins with the projectors and the ability to (convert to digital). Things are looking positive, but we know it’s going to be expensive. The question is: Is it worth the expense?”