Reportedly inspired by his mother’s struggle to sit comfortably in traditional movie theater seats, Hollingshead came up with the idea of an open-air theater where patrons watched movies in the comfort of their own automobiles. He then experimented in the driveway of his own house with different projection and sound techniques, mounting a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car, pinning a screen to some trees, and placing a radio behind the screen for sound. He also tested ways to guard against rain and other inclement weather, and devised the ideal spacing arrangement for a number of cars so that all would have a view of the screen.
The first drive-in movie theater built by Camden, NJ industrialist Richard M. Hollingshead. in Pennsauken, near Camden, New Jersey. It had a 40 x 50 ft (12 x 15 meter) screen and could accommodate 400 cars. The admission was $0.25 per car plus $0.25 per person. Hollingsworth patented the concept May 16, 1933, it opened June 6, 1933 and the first film shown was Adolphe Menjou's Wife Beware. Within a few years drive-ins were being built all over the USA.
According to history
