Richard Hollingshead, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

Richard Hollingshead

American inventor of the drive-in theatre

Date of Birth: 25-Feb-1900

Date of Death: 13-May-1975

Profession: businessperson, inventor

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Pisces


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About Richard Hollingshead

  • Richard Milton Hollingshead, Jr.
  • (February 25, 1900 - May 13, 1975) was the inventor of the drive-in theater. In the early 1930s, he was working as a sales manager in his father's auto parts company, Whiz Auto Products.
  • According to one story, his mother was a large woman who was uncomfortable sitting in a regular movie theater.
  • So he began experimenting at his home in Camden, New Jersey, using his car, a 1928 Kodak movie projector, and two sheets nailed between two trees for a screen.
  • Eventually, he came up with a ramp in each parking space, so that patrons could elevate the front of their cars to see the screen without being blocked by other vehicles.
  • He applied for a patent on August 6, 1932 and was granted number 1,909,537 on May 16, 1933. With three investors, his cousin John Smith, Edward Ellies, and Oliver Willets, he formed a company called Park-It Theatres, Inc.
  • Their 400-acre (1.6 km2) "Automobile Movie Theatre" opened on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden on June 6, 1933.
  • RCA Victor provided three six foot (1.8 m) by six foot speakers to go with the 40 foot (12 m) by 50 foot (15 m) screen.
  • The first movie shown was Wives Beware, starring Adolphe Menjou.
  • The charge was $0.25 per person and $0.25 per automobile, with a maximum cost of $1.
  • Hollingshead sold the theatre in 1935 and opened another one. Park-It Theatres licensed the concept to Loews Drive-In Theatres, Inc., but had trouble collecting royalties in 1937.
  • Eventually, after Loews was taken to court, Hollingshead's patent was ruled invalid in 1950.

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