If you live long enough and you are a hoarder you may come across some items that I have found and want to share with you. In the picture you will see an admission ticket for the Ellis Drive-In movie theater. The ticket was from about 1958 and was to admit one person for the price of 60 cents. This makes the ticket about 65 years old.
The Ellis Drive-In was located on Bridgeport Hill and operated every night. Located in front of the drive-in was the Ellis Restaurant which was rated as a fine dining establishment which served delicious food, especially Italian foods.
The restaurant and drive-in was owned and operated by the Ellis Brothers. The establishment was also known for its curbside service. Curb girls were hired and took the orders of those who stopped by in their vehicles to enjoy some food.
Now we are going to get back to the drive-in. It was located behind the restaurant and was sort of on a hill sloping down toward the screen. Located in the lot were stands that had speakers attached and each vehicle would get one speaker for their car after they had parked. The speakers controlled the sound in the car.
Located in the middle of the lot was a concession stand that served an array of food during the intermission. Some of the featured items were barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and soft drinks. The concession stand was open during the entire movie but the rush for food was during intermission.
Now that I have furnished you a little history about the drive-in I will fill you in about the ticket. This ticket was from the first time that Fray Queen and I attended the movie. This would be about April of 1958. At the time I was working from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Clarksburg Cable Company and he would pick me up and we would head to the drive-in for something to eat and to watch a movie. During the week the movies were older ones but on the weekends the popular current ones would show. The movie always started with a newsreel followed by a cartoon or two and then the main feature. Sometimes if it was really hot we would take a blanket and sit on the ground in front of our car. Since we did not have much cash and were saving to get married, this was just about the cheapest date we could have. Consequently we may have attended three or four times a week if a different movie was showing.
At the time the other drive-ins in the area were the Skyline, the Park and the Sunset. The last one still in the area is the Sunset.
Now you know how a lot of the kids spent their date nights. By the way the minimum wage at the time was $1 an hour. So $1.20 , two or three nights a week with a little food was a part of our budget.
Well, currently I do not know what I will do with this stub but you now know the story of the drive-in.
Be sure to stop by Elwoods Pizzeria in Glen Elk for a good piece of pizza. They are now open and located in Glen Elk across from the bakery.
Take care and until next week “Now You Have Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
