- Who
- Shankweiler's Drive-In Theater
- Where
- United States (Orefield)
- When
The oldest drive-in still in operation is Shankweiler's Drive-In Theater in Orefield, Pennsylvania, USA. This outdoor cinema opened on 15 April 1934, less than a year after the world's first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, New Jersey. It is still open and showing movies as of 22 July 2019, making it 85 years 98 days old.
The theatre was established by Wilson Shankweiler, the owner of the adjacent Shankweiler's Hotel & Restaurant (which closed in 1993). At the time, the hotel was the social hub of the town, hosting weddings, concerts and the local baseball team, the Shankweiler AA. Shankweiler was inspired by a visit to the first ever drive-in while on a business trip to New Jersey the previous year.
The earliest published references to movie showings (adverts in the local paper) date from the summer of 1935 and at that time the theatre seems to have consisted of a temporary screen that was put up each Friday on the Shankweiler AA's baseball diamond behind the hotel. There was no cover charge and the baseball team continued to play on that diamond for several more years, so no permanent structures could have been built.
On 1 May 1937, however, the Allentown Morning Call announced the grand opening of the new "Shankweiler's Open Air Theater". This seems to be the point at which the theatre became a fully-fledged cinema, with proper projection equipment and speakers for playing feature-length "talkies".
As of 22 July 2019, Shankweiler's Drive-in is still open, with a modern digital projection system and an FM transmitter for in-car audio. The current owners are looking to retire, and the business is for sale for $1.1 million.
