November 8, 2005

The Winchester Drive-In

The site is history, but many fondly remember
Campbell’s outdoor movie theater

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

If you talk to anyone who spent their formative years living in or near Campbell in the 1950s through the 1980s, you’ll hear stories about the Winchester Drive-In.

One of the last photos of the Winchester Drive-in marquis. Photo courtesy of www.drive-ins.com

Urban lore about how young married couples would bundle up the kids in pajamas, blankets and head for the outdoor drive-in for an evening out. Young couples would nuzzle behind steamed windows creating memories to last a lifetime. Teenagers would pack two by six’s in the trunk to cover the spikes at the exits to sneak in when no one was watching.

More adventurous souls would hop the fence or hide in the trunk of the car to gain free access. Many a speaker accidentally ripped from the skinny metal stands as drivers drove off with them attached to the car windows. The Winchester Drive-In was no different than the rest of America’s fascination with the outdoor movie theater but it was in our own backyard.

“I remember when I was about 13,” recalled Campbell Times Executive Editor Julie Davis Berry, “a group of us piled into our dad’s Dodge Charger with my big sister at the wheel and headed to the Winchester Drive-In. At 17 she wasn’t the most confident driver and it didn’t help that we had a couple of people hiding in the trunk.”
“We yelled at them not to make a sound until we were safely through paying at the ticket booth,” continued Berry. “My sister was so nervous she ran right into the side of the tiny building and scraped up the side of our dad’s car. The ticket taker wasn’t ruffled though. She said people did it all the time. My sister didn’t enjoy the movie that night wondering what my dad would say—but we sure did!”

Two big screens
Winchester Drive-In’s two big screens were built in the 1950’s. City of Campbell Councilmem-ber Don Burr recalled that the Campbell Planning Commission and the City Council originally turned down the outdoor theater project. But when it came before voters, the drive-in was approved.

“Traffic was an issue, but it was managed, and the theater attracted people from all over the area,” said Burr.

Outdoor theaters were the rage at the time. The Winchester Drive-In would become known as the “passion pit” to teens all over the valley as well as an economical movie night out for families. It was the hey-day of the drive-in with over 4,000 built in the United States and Canada.

The in-car heaters were standard issue and the playgrounds were the scene of many a scratched knee. Trailers of coming attractions, Road Runner cartoons and, of course, the clock counting down the time were as appreciated as the main feature.

And then there were the films of the 1950’s. Movies offered lighthearted fair, a sign of the times: Doris Day and Rock Hudson in “Pillow Talk” and Martin and Lewis before they split up. In the 1960’s more provocative fare presented Elizabeth Taylor in “Butterfield 8” and the occasional creature feature like “Night of the Living Dead.”

And the teens lined up for summer hits like “Blue Hawaii” and “Beach Blanket Bingo.” But there were more than the films Winchester moviegoers remembered—there were the memories.

“Once when we were watching a movie with a love scene in it, just before the kiss, my dad ordered us kids out of the car to the playground so we’d miss the make out session,” said former Campbell resident Nancy Yeager. “We didn’t care because there were a lot of other kids to play with there whose parents had kicked them out of the car, too!”

“When my husband and I first bought our minivan, we bundled up the kids in blankets and headed over to the Winchester Drive-In,” said her sister Lori Militante. “We found the perfect spot and hung the speaker on our window and then headed to the snack bar. When we got back my husband hit the wrong button to unlock the door and the alarm went off. Because the van was new, we couldn’t figure how to turn it off. We finally took out the owner’s manual but by that time everyone was glaring at us. It was really embarrassing—but it was pretty funny, too.”

Drive-in food
Rations at the snack bar provided the hungry with soggy hamburgers [actually the burgers were precooked, placed in frozen buns, bagged and then popped in a steamer], seared hot dogs dripping in mustard and popcorn with some strange yellow goop which was passed off as butter.

Many a cola [remember Tab?] didn’t arrive at the auto but spilled on the tumultuous journey over uneven asphalt. Ah, and the candy. Junior Mints, Red Devils and licorice that would leave your tongue black. But many a frugal mom brought their own supplies.

Aerial photo shot from the Pruneyard Towers looking south with the Winchester Drive-In in the background. Circa 1974. Photo courtesy of Campbell Historic Museums.

“I remember that our parents wouldn’t tell me and my brother and sister when we were going to the drive-in but we’d know because our mom would haul out this big black cast iron pot and make a huge batch of popcorn,” said Yeager. “We’d all jump up and down with excitement because we loved going to the drive-in!”

A steady decline of the drive-in began as the century mark drew closer. Many blamed the advent of Daylight Savings Time, the baby boom era ending and fewer large families looking for inexpensive entertainment. But for the open theater viewing public no one noticed or cared. They had a drive-in close by for a Friday or Saturday night at the movies.

Campbell’s drive-in was originally on Winchester Boulevard. It relocated in 1967 to McGlincy Lane and Union Avenue still within eyeshot of Highway 17. Business was good in 1971 and Syufy Enterprises/Century Theaters added a third screen. By the mid-1970’s there were a total of six screens for viewing pleasure and parking for 900 cars. And many a whiplash occurred while turning to follow a more interesting movie on another screen.

Working at the drive-in
“I applied at the Winchester Drive-In in 1984 and got the job,” said Lyle Stewart who also remembered attending as a child with his parents and seeing “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and the more adult fare of “Live and Let Die.”

“We were supposed to wear these awful polyester vests but we only wore the name tags. The company hadn’t put any money into the theater in years and knew it was heading for closure. It was in a state of disrepair, speakers were missing or didn’t work, fences were in pretty sad shape and plants were unattended.”

“The tire spikes that were in the exits were easily lifted up and removed so people could get in for free,” continued Stewart. “The food bar and bathrooms probably wouldn’t have passed a health inspection and the screens themselves had started getting ratty. Still, we managed to keep the place running, and at the time saw a very healthy business.”

Stewart remembered watching movies such as “Purple Rain,” “Gremlins,” Never Ending Story,” “Woman in Red,” “Dead Zone,” “Ghostbusters” and “Starman” while working. He says he saw Disney’s “Jungle Book” over and over again as he was working the ticket booth during its run.

Stewart recalled pranksters scrambling up the pole that held the movie titles; changing the letters and creating messages for Highway 17 travelers. “Woman in Red” became “Woman in Bed” and others that he said couldn’t be printed in a community newspaper. The manager would become incensed and the sign would be changed back within the hour.

“He couldn’t understand how we didn’t see what was going on while it was being done,” said Stewart. “You really couldn’t see the sign from where the booths were. Anyhow, I’d have to give the person credit for their creativity and brass tacks, since that sign was REALLY high off the ground.”

There was even an investigation the last year in business. Cars were counted via a wire under the pavement just past the ticket booth. A car would pay, pass the wire and the counter would click off one car. Over the years the car to total ticket average went down so Syufy headquarters was suspicious.

A senior cashier was questioned—even given a lie detector test. Stewart, his girlfriend and other employees were questioned as well. Stewart believes that the drive-in had become so dilapidated that the car counter just didn’t work anymore and says to his knowledge no one was stealing.

“There’s nothing like a drive-in in the summer,” said Stewart. “It’s a cross between going to an outdoor concert and a movie at the same time. When the drive-ins vanish from this country it will be a sad day indeed. Winchester Drive-In could have been a fantastic gem hidden in the middle of Campbell but I guess office space is more important.”

Closing time
In the summer of 1984, the Winchester Drive-In closed its doors forever and became a monument to the past. This is where our story could end but doesn’t.

The 24 acres soon became part of the Central Campbell Redevelopment project. Ram-pant with weeds, broken asphalt, buildings in disrepair; it became a blighted, urban wasteland but the marquee could still be seen by cars zipping down Highway 17. In 1994, the city purchased the site for $3.8 million.

In 1997, the 24 acres sold for $8 million to WTA Technical Park Inc. The Palo Alto development company planned to build 20 acres for a research and development park and four acres of city park. Campbell residents filed lawsuits and appealed to the Supreme Court for a Youth Park and athletic fields but to no avail. Twenty acres became high tech companies housed in steel and glass enclosed buildings, while only four acres became Edith Morley Park.

Some say cable television, VCR’s and the multiplexes that now occupy every mall brought the demise of the drive-in. Maybe they did and with the cost of California real estate it is understandable why the site was eventually sold and developed.

But many still have fond memories of another time and a laid-back place called the Winchester Drive-In.

Copyright 2005 Jeanne Carbone Lewis