With the coronavirus pandemic closing most conventional movie houses, there has been a resurgence in movies shown on a drive-in basis.
Unfortunately, none of the three drive-in movie theaters that Lincoln once had remain, and makeshift arrangements have had to be made.
One outdoor theater in Lincoln was the 84th and O Drive-In. It was still in operation in the 1970s, and our family often loaded into the car with the three children in the back seat and headed out there. Usually about halfway through the movie, the children would fall asleep and the adults could enjoy an “evening out†without the expense of a babysitter.
Most drive-ins had playground equipment in front near the screen, which the children could use before the movie to run off energy. A clock on the screen ticked down to the movie start time, reminding everyone when it was time to visit the concession stand before the movie began.
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Another drive-in theater was the Starview Drive-In at 52nd and Vine streets, which was more in the center of Lincoln. It shut down in 1987.
Lincoln’s third drive-in theater was just west of Coddington Avenue and south of O Street. It was appropriately named the West O Drive-In.
This drive-in had a unique location. It was likely sited there because of an abundance of bare land available for a low price. The zoning was proper, and access into and out of the facility was easy with West O being a major, four-lane street.
Looking back, this was probably not a good location for a drive-in movie theater. It was just north of the busy Burlington Railroad hump yard, which was used to sort freight cars. Cars were shoved over the “hump†by a “hump engine,†and when reaching the crest of the hump were uncoupled as singles, two cars or sets of three or four cars. These cars rolled over the hump crest and through a series of “retarders,†which were metal devices along the rails that pinched the wheel flanges and slowed the cars so they would couple gently to other cars already in the “bowl tracks.â€
A series of track switches east of the hump routed the cars, and these switches, as well as the retarders, were controlled by hump tower operators using a compressed air system. After each car passed through a retarder and some switches, it was repositioned with a loud “swoosh†of released compressed air.
The retarders used during this time period had metal bars that contacted the steel wheels of the freight cars, causing a loud squeal. Sometimes the hump tower operators would misfigure the rolling speed, and cars would couple into standing cars with a loud “BANG.â€
In addition, the hump master at the crest of the hump called the car cuts to a “pin puller†over a loudspeaker: “Single, two cars, another single, four cars, string of six,†as a train of 60 or more cars was “humped.â€
Cindy Lange-Kubick: Walking through downtown Lincoln on a beautiful fall day in the time of COVID-19
All this sound carried over to the autos at the drive-in theater, and was especially loud when the wind was from the south, which it often was during the temperate months when the drive-ins were open.
Attending a show at the West O Drive-In would sound something like this: “Oh, Steve, you know I love you (‘Single, set of two’), and I always will …†(swoosh, swoosh, squeal). “Oh Brenda, you know I … (BANG) and always will (‘couple of twos’), of that I have no …†(squeal, swoosh, swoosh, BANG).
Add to this mix the sounds of periodic freight train diesel sets arriving or departing the yard, and sirens of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances traveling down O Street, and understanding the movie dialogue could be difficult.
As if this wasn’t enough, the West O Drive-In was near the flight path for airplanes landing and taking off from the Lincoln Airport, which came with the noise of jets and piston airplane engines.
All in all, it was a horrible location for a drive-in movie theater. But surprisingly, the operation lasted until June 23, 1985. When it closed, it left a big chunk of ground that was soon redeveloped as a motel and other businesses.
The same thing happened at 84th and O, where the former drive-in theater land became the new Gotfredson’s car dealership and today is home to the multi-story Cornhusker Bank office, Don & Millie’s and Kohl’s.
The West O Drive-In opened May 25, 1951, with a capacity for 450 vehicles. Admission was a reasonable 60 cents per person. On weekends, the drive-in would fill up. As time went by and TV viewing became more widespread, patronage at traditional movie theaters and the drive-ins began to decline. The Dubinsky Bros. theater chain tried promotions to encourage patronage. One ploy was changing to an admission price per vehicle regardless of the number of people in it. Not only did couples go to the drive-ins, but also groups of college students.
Noted Lincoln historian Jim McKee, who furnished many helpful details for this article, recalls that many students would head out to the drive-in with a couple of people hiding in the trunk. Once past the entrance, they were let out and sat around the car to enjoy the movie.
The huge screens at the drive-ins were like gigantic sails that caught the wind. The West O Drive-In screen suffered major wind damage in 1985, and the patronage at that time did not justify the cost of repair, so the West O Drive-In shut down permanently.
The last operating drive-in was 84th and O, which lasted until 1989, ending an era. However, recently it was announced that a couple planned to open a new drive-in movie operation near Valley, Nebraska, as a result of the pandemic. Could we see a comeback for drive-ins?
The drive-in movie theater wave started well before the inroads of television. In addition to the drive-ins in Lincoln, Omaha had several, and drive-ins were in many Nebraska towns. Schuyler had a drive-in west of town that lasted fairly late in the period. Hebron, which was not very large, had both a downtown movie house and a drive-in.
Sadly, today we are left with only memories of the drive-ins. At the West O Drive-In, many of those memories include noises like swoosh, swoosh, squeal, BANG, “two singles and a set of three,†the roar of a jet heading for the Lincoln airport, sirens passing by on West O Street, “set of four and two singles,†swoosh, squeeeeeal, BANG.
You’ve gotta love those memories!