WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE TRAVEL
THREE STATES TO WORK FOR MINIMUM WAGE?
by Justin West

This article could have been titled, "My Summer at the Drive-In," or some such similarly mundane appellation but it would belie the reality of the summer that I had. While the numbers of drive-in theatres have shrunk through the years, most Americans are still able to travel a reasonable distance in order to reach their nearest ozoner. As for me, however, I took the long way to achieve my goal of experiencing the operation of an outdoor theatre. I can tell you, it was worth it.

Growing up in a city (Peoria, Illinois) that once had several drive-in theatres, I was a child of a generation that took it for granted that they'd always be around. Unfortunately, as my childhood has gone further and further into my past, so, too, have the drive-ins disappeared. As I became computer literate and joined the web, drive-in theatre web sites reinvigorated my memories and I started to actively participate on a couple sites. I sought out theatre histories and hunted for drive-ins (open and closed) and gleaned details of the industry that are more nuts and bolts than most theatre-goers cared to learn.

I also conversed (via the internet) with hobbyists who shared the same interests; like, Evil Sam Graham, Darren Snow, Wesley Horton, and some guy named "Tim Reed." Tim runs the "Drive-In Theatre Workshop" website which offers info on many aspects of drive-in theatre operation and he and I would chat periodically about running a theatre. Then I made the mistake of telling Tim of a plan I had: to try to get a summer job working at a drive-in. Oops!

First, I thought I would approach one of the few remaining operating drive-ins in Illinois and offer to work cheap in exchange for learning "the business." It would be closer to home and I was already familiar with them. I took a shot by writing the owner of the DI I consider the best overall in Illinois (a rural DI with a grass lot and in-car speaker-only sound) but I got rebuffed. I think I was a little too open with that owner and he took my approach to be as if I were doing it to write a book rather than doing it simply to EXPERIENCE it. With that disappointment behind me, I wrote the owner of an Illinois two-screener. He wrote back a nice letter stating that he had already gotten all the help he needed...yet he enclosed a couple free movie passes (which I did get to use one Saturday night). Maybe the mistake here was telling Tim of my lack of progress because the next thing out of his mouth was a half-joking request if I'd like to work down in Louisville, at the DI where he would be working, for the summer. The funny thing was: I took him up on it!

The Hazzard County Drive-In, located on the edge of Louisville, Kentucky had received a reprieve of sorts to operate one final season in 1998. The theatre was one of two ozoners remaining in town and it had been sold to a group that planned to develop the property into commercial warehousing. If not for financial and zoning delays, 1997 would have been the last breath of life at the Hazzard County but...such was not to be. Tim got me in touch with the theatre manager, Roscoe P. Coletrain, who held an attachment to drive-ins and was eager to let me join and so I started my odyssey.

Only able to work weekends, I would commute. The fastest route was to take Interstate all the way, heading East to Indianapolis and then, south to Louisville. Occasionally I would detour on the return trip to take I-64 West back to southern Illinois and head north on various state and US routes. I enjoyed driving and absorbing the scenery so the 5 1/2 hours (one-way) went well. The directions Tim gave were right on the money and I had no difficulties finding the DI. As I approached the Turnpike exit from the expressway, out of the hills and trees appeared the giant screentower...Lafayette, we are here!

The Hazzard County was a DI with a large gravel lot full of posts and speaker-only sound. Nothing really stood out as special about the place but, as the season went on, I recognized the place had a following...and even some regulars. Early on in the season, I started out at the box office, selling tickets and handling the cash along with an older married couple who had worked the area drive-in circuit for quite a while. As business picked up, when school was out, I was assigned to help at the counter in the snack bar. I learned a few things at the ticket booth but most of what I found important to note hit me while working the snack bar (which is the profit center, or supposed to be, of any drive-in).

What did I pick up at the ticket booth? For one thing, make sure you have plenty of change, including ones. Another is to keep a schedule of total prices for various combinations of adult and child tickets sold (this is especially handy if the ticket prices are not even money). It is good to have the ticket prices visible for all to see...oh, and remind truck and camper drivers that they need to park in the rear of the theatre or other specially designated areas. Unless someone grossly under-estimated the age of a child, admissions tended to run smoothly.

Working the snack bar was another monster all-together. It was a family-affair (almost) for most of the people staffing the snack bar were related in some way. I got along with most of them but I can assure you that nepotism is not the best way to run a business. I like for food to be fresh. I also like to err on the side of the customer, have extra product on hand for sale, just in case the demand arises.  Those preferences, I learned, are not standards of this industry and, perhaps, that has assisted in the downfall of so many drive-ins.

Let's talk about freshness of food: cooking burgers and dogs, wrapping them in their foil pouches, and putting them out on the line under the heat lamps AN HOUR AND A HALF before showtime is disgusting! Wait, I'll take that back: the disgusting thing is that you might expect that dog or burger to be out there all night long.  Want to hear something worse? At the end of the night, take what dogs and burgers are left off the line and store them in the fridge to use the following night. Eech! What about popcorn? Whatever popcorn remains is scooped into a giant trash bag and kept for the following night. (Hmmm, I thought the boxes said "Fresh Popcorn" on them?) Management tried to save the "hot pretzels" for the following night but that didn't work- they were hard as rocks (hooray!). Hey, I am talking from experience.

As far as stocking the line goes, I noted that certain items sold depending upon the weather. For instance, on cool nights coffee and hot chocolate were in demand (why not have a pot of coffee ready to go at intermission). On hot, humid nights have plenty of bottled water and iced tea chilling at the counter. Another thing: if you are going to run intermission clocks advertising ice cream treats, make sure you have something in the nature of ice cream available at the refreshment stand. Again, the snack bar is supposed to be where the theatre owner will make his profit for the night; make sure you've got product (make that good product) to sell.

Now, I'd like to have a talk about sanitation. I have had experience in the restaurant industry and one thing I've always remembered is that when prepping and handling food, one can never wash ones hands too often. Make sure that workers wash their hands! I also recommend that if the workers want to fill their cups with soda at the dispenser, that they do NOT take their dirty cups out to the line and use them to scoop ice out of the ice bin at lineside and proceed to fill their cups with soda. Ugh! Another thing: don't eat popcorn straight out of the popcorn bin! Hey, I'm on a roll here...how about this: I recall the time a worker was carrying an unsteady load of frozen pretzels towards the oven and they fell to the floor. She picked them up, brushed them off with her hand, and put them on the tray to bake. Nope, sanitation may not have been a priority but we know what was: money.

Theatre management may have saved a nickel by being chintzy on how much food they prepped or by their disregard for food freshness but I believe that they lost out on dollars that they could have made by supplying a better product. They counted cups and saved every popcorn bag in typical theatre accounting style but they missed out on sales simply because they had an attitude that if the customer wanted it, he'd wait for it and a belief that the customer would pay whatever price for the food sold, no matter how bad it was. What a stale line of thought!

After the final intermission, when counting and clean-up was completed, I would head over to the projection booth and shoot the breeze with Tim and give him my analysis of the events of the night. Tim would keep me up to speed on the latest theatre info. It was an enjoyable time and a summer I won't forget: an experience I hope to put to use in the future. Thanks for asking, Tim! How about NEXT summer?

Author's postscript: The actual names of the drive-in and its' manager have been changed. As this DI closed and was demolished, it fell in line with the hundreds of others that closed before it.  My concern, as a hobbyist, is that careless attitudes in the theatre industry have assisted in the decline...attitudes that must change if the drive-in is to succeed in the 21st century. The facts should not be considered a reflection upon the manager of the theatre but, moreso, a reflection upon the industry as a whole, up to this point.