#1 THE DRIVE-IN:

Oh, how I absolutely LOVED going to the Drive-In as a kid! If you are too young to have any idea what a “Drive-In” is, it is an outdoor movie theater, and was immensely popular for many years. Most are closed down now, due to the availability of movies and television shows at home, or on our many devices. I have done a little research and found that there are still a few in operation, and even some “pop-ups” that move from location to location.

We always went to the “Coliseum Drive-In,” near the Oakland Coliseum, which was at that time home of the Golden State Warriors. How many times a month we went is a mystery. No matter, we considered these trips a special treat. The first command we would receive: “Hide in the back!” This was us kids’ cue to disappear from sight as we passed by the admissions booth. The less people in your vehicle, the less you had to pay to get in. They would actually flash a light into your car, but never did the beam come across our concealed little bodies.

In those days, our vehicle was an old milk or bread truck, poorly painted orange, and converted into a sleeper for two. There were seven of us, and this contraption was also our home. I find it amusing that these days living in such conditions is a cool thing! Once we passed the check-point, we’d find some choice real estate on the lot, then it would be one lucky person’s duty to jump out, grab the speaker that projected the audio from the movie, and secure it to the window. Yes, this was eons before someone came up with the bright idea to broadcast the signal by radio.

I have many movie-memories from this era: We saw the first three installments of the “Star Wars” franchise, and I fondly remember my twin brother and I reenacting scenes from the epic “life-saver” battle between Luke Skywalker and “Dark Vader” with sticks. Bruce Lee, and the whole martial arts movement was in high gear during the late 1970’s and exceedingly early 1980’s, and I believe that many a younger sibling suffered as practice dummy for our recently acquired technique.

I don’t quite recall whether there was a break during the movie, or between movies, but I picture in my mind an animated clip and hear the familiar “It’s intermission time! Time to hop out and over to the Snack Bar…” This was the time when most folks who had disposable income would head over to the main building and make purchases from the grand assortment of goodies on sale. For us who were not so fortunate, this was when we made due with whatever my mom had bought at the local Alpha Beta, a now defunct bay area grocery chain whose former stores have all been purchased by other grocery chains and rebranded. Laura Scudder’s BBQ chips were a personal fav of mine, and their not-so P.C. “Wampum” corn chips. Mind you, this is when Doritos had like 2 flavors: Plain, and Taco. Then it was back to your hopefully reserved spot for the rest of the show.

The worst part of the whole experience was the restrooms. They were around back of the main building, which was a walk of about 50 yards in the dark of night. Unattended, poorly lit, fowl-smelling and filthy. After seeing the movie “Alien” I never set foot in there again for fear of becoming the egg sac of some extra-terrestrial. I’d sneak around behind our vehicle and let loose right there. Oh… never told anyone that secret.

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Historical Information about Coliseum Drive-In

5401 Coliseum Way Oakland, CA 94601

The Coliseum Drive-In was a drive-in movie theater near I-880 and opened in May 1964. The opening features were "PT 109" with Cliff Robertson, "Spencer's Mountain" with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara, and "McClintock!" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. There was much controversy surrounding its opening.

The Coliseum Drive-in closed (Date and Year???) and is now used as a location for a swap meet. Three of the four screens have been torn down, but one remains. Hopefully at some point, someone will come along and re-open the remaining screen. We can hope at least.

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Historical Information about Laura Scudder's

In the early days, potato chips were distributed in bulk from barrels or glass display cases, or tins, which left chips at the bottom stale and crumbled. Laura Scudder started paying her workers to take home sheets of wax paper and iron them into the form of bags, which were filled with chips at her factory the next day. This innovation kept the chips fresh and crisp longer and, along with the invention of cellophane, allowed potato chips to become a mass market product. Other potato chip makers soon began to package their chips in bags (source: Wikipedia )