Rene Torres is a retired assistant professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. He has a long history in the Rio Grande Valley as an educator, sports historian, and humanitarian, with extensive community service.
As WWII ended, drive-in theaters reached their golden age. By 1933, more than 4,000 outdoor screens existed across the country.
Fueled by baby boomers and car culture, the 1950s gave every citizen the opportunity to own a car and to enjoy the period’s most popular entertainment, the drive-in theater, as rationing ended.
The country embraced the new phenomenon in an era when “it was in to be out.” Cotton was king in the 1950s, giving families extra money to go to the drive-in theater.
There were several ways to watch a drive-in movie, including watching from the car, sneaking in under the fence, hiding in the trunk of the car, and, if you lived close enough to the theater, using binoculars.
During dollar carload night, in most cases, five people were stuffed into the passenger compartment; and since child obesity was not a problem back then, three to four kids hid in the trunk without anyone suffocating.
Family environment…
For some, the drive-in was where they had their first date and/or kiss.
Beyond the screen, the children ventured to the playground and skipped the movie, while their parents enjoyed the evening by watching a double feature from their lawn chairs.
Beyond the silver screen, various attractions kept kids and adults entertained. Some theaters featured caged animals (monkeys, lions, and tigers), mini-trains, and a playground to keep kids engaged.
On special nights, espetaculos de talentos (talent shows) were part of the entertainment.
The concession stand was part of movie culture, but to cut costs, parents brought their favorite sandwiches, candy, and soda. Oh, what a night!
From Starr County to Brownsville, the RGV was not left behind. Drive-in theaters fit right into the fabric of this new trend.
Mission (the Buck Horn); Edinburg (Pan Am Twin, perhaps the largest, serving 1,000 cars); McAllen (Palm); Pharr (Cactus); Wes-Mer (between Mercedes and Weslaco); Harlingen (Star); Raymondville (Corral); San Benito (Citrus); and Brownsville (El Charro, El Ruenes), and perhaps others, established theaters to meet their needs.
“Build it, and they will come,” and they did. Some theaters featured Spanish-language releases, including this writer’s favorite, the Cantinflas movies.
Most RGV theaters were successful for decades, from the late 40s to the 70s. But when ticket sales took a dive, stag films came into the scene, and with that, a new phenomenon appeared — the gathering of la palomilla (a group of young friends) who gathered outside the theater, in the cotton fields, to watch their first X-rated movie.
Today, the RGV is fortunate to have the Valley’s Drive-In in McAllen at 31 Ash Ave. and the Wes-Mer in Mercedes at 2090 Business Hwy 83. Both preserve the family atmosphere, where generations of local families return to the same place their parents once visited and paid peanuts to see their first Drive-In movie.
In closing, it was a joyous evening at the movies, and perhaps for a couple of hours, the family escaped their daily woes. They repeated the routine the following weekend.
