Ever Hunt An Old Drive In? Neat Find.

[midnightguy]

Hi All, Got out today before the rain hit. Decided to give the Old Drive In one more try before tick season. It closed in the mid 1980's and so far it's only provided some clad and a wheat. Just can't seem to find the old play area near where the screen used to be. When it closed everything was torn down and removed.
As far as my question goes, has anyone enjoyed the absolute trashiness of an old Drive In? Talk about pull tabs and old soda twist off tops. I don't think anyone even tried to throw these things out properly. I have learned that if it's within 1 inch depth its usually a pull tab. There must be thousands of these things just sitting on the surface of the old gravel pavement.
Anyway I did manage to come across this very nice old theater speaker. It was sitting beneath some tall grass next to where I was swinging. Should clean up well. Total: 0 coins , Gazillion pull tabs and tops, 1 speaker. Aw well. At least I wasn't shut out for the day..

 

[allenb]

Funny you ask, I just stumbled upon one a few weeks ago. I was SOOOOO excited. I get there and put the coil down and I swear I looked up to see if there were an electrical tower hovering over me. My machine went crazy over the trash in this place. It was litterally impossible to hunt. But that is one very very cool find. Those are the first things to go.
Allen

 

[KenPa]

Treasure tails has a great point about the play area. I remember going to the drive-in many moons ago and the playground was where I stayed for the whole movie with my brother and sisters. I'm sure we lost some coins there LOL

 

[Danimal]

I agree with Slabman to the Nth degree. The ONLY way to effectively hunt old drive ins is with patience and determination. Grid off a likely area and strip it slowly of ALL metal targets. Good coins ARE there but under a maddening blanket of trash.
I have hunted several successfully. One was about to be torn down for housing and I nabbed a BUNCH of the speakers and junction boxes (the part that was on the top of the pole the speakers were cradled on) and sold them on Ebay. I made a downpayment on my new car with them. Single speakers like you found (made by Projected Sound) will go for about $20-35 with the volume knob intact if the speaker's case isn't cracked. A pair of them with the J-Box will often auction for $60 or more.

 

[romeo-1]

That's one of the coolest contemporary relics I have seen here!

 

[midnightguy]

Hi , Thanks to all who made some very good suggestions. Thanks go out to Shootist who relayed the Old Drive In web site. I looked up this Drive In and found an old satellite photo from the mid 1990's that showed how the two screens were set up. Turns out my memory wasn't so good as too the layout of the screens. I was actually searching the parking lot for the second screen. The first screen area, the first screen parking lot, the main concession stand, the play ground and ticket booth are now all gone. Buried under a large warehouse and parking lot. Figures...
I think that for now the speaker would look nice in my garage. It's intact and still solid and should still work I would think. I might go back to hunt it, but the area is awash in ticks and it gets dicey hunting in the warm weather. Thanks Again MidnightGuy

 

[tinkb]

I thought about what someone said about using them for wall speakers, but i my work shop. looked on ebay and they are all that much to buy. So looks like I might be getting some and trying them out.

Nice find on a peice of local history.

http://search.ebay.com/drive-in-the...QsatitleZQ22driveQ20inQ22Q20theaterQ20speaker

 

[ModernMiner]

Wow, what a piece of nostalgia you found. Those were great times back then at the drive-in. Some of my best memories of making out took place there, but of course I was by myself.
Now that you posted that speaker up, I got to have one. E-bay here I come!
-MM-

 

[eagle77]

I recall going to the drive-in on July 4th, families would go and have a picnic between the projector room and the playground. I have heard that it closed several years ago, maybe I will have to plan a trip back home

Later on they sold all the speakers and went to a AM/FM sytem - you had to wrap a wire on your car antenna and tune into a specific frequency on the radio. Apparently they got tired of replacing speakers.

 

[Wasabi]

Hey what's aluminum going for these days.
Maybe you could make a mini fortune in recycling all thos pull tabs.
Sounds like you had some fun.

 

[midnightguy]

Hi, Tried the speaker out by hooking it up to an old radio and it works. Nothing to write home about just some faint static but I was thinking that If I get a second one and upgrade the speakers they would make nice surround sound units. Would look great too up on a wall or bookshelf. Just think how they would be watching a nice B movie like The Thing or Them.. Gotta check out Ebay and fix this one....

 

[TreasureTales]

IMO reusing a relic from any era in any way is a great way to enjoy the item. Hope you find one to match it and can use them as you propose. Good luck!

 

[godisnum1]

Yeah, there's a drive-in down the road from me that's been closed since before I moved up here to Springfield for college... I've always wanted to search that place out, but the lack of a metal detector has kinda squashed that one. Maybe one day... AFTER I've gotten all my college debt paid off.

Bran <><