Drive-In Movie Theaters Gaining New Interest These Days . . .

Don't know how common drive-in movie theaters (the kind where you view a movie while in your car in a big parking lot) were outside of the U.S./North America back-in-the-day, but evidently they seem to be a solution for people who want to go out to see a movie in these days of COVID-19.

There was an article about the revival of interest in them in Parade Magazine today, a supplement in some Sunday newspapers here in the U.S.

(Hopefully this link will work for anybody interested: https://parade.com/1062069/nicolepajer/why-we-love-drive-in-movies/)

And, yes, I remember going to the occasional drive-in movie when I was younger.
(I think the last time I went to one was back in 1980 where I saw one of those lame Clint Eastwood movies where he co-starred with an orangutan. Oh, and it was raining, too.)

MajorHoy wrote:And, yes, I remember going to the occasional drive-in movie when I was younger.

I remember going when I was in high school. They were fun. I hope they do get revived, I'd love to go to one again.

Mbast1 wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:And, yes, I remember going to the occasional drive-in movie when I was younger.

I remember going when I was in high school. They were fun. I hope they do get revived, I'd love to go to one again.

Sometimes, though, it's a question of space and land costs.
The one that was nearest to where I grew up in New Jersey was at the edge of a major shopping mall (The Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ), and that land eventually got taken over by mall expansion and a regular multiplex indoor movie theater. (Ironically, one of the stores that opened in that area where the drive-in had been was The Sports Authority which went bankrupt and closed all of its locations in the past couple of years.)

Drive-in movie theaters never really catch up in Italy but there were various attempts at the time in the holiday resorts and in the larger cities. Today "normal" outdoor arenas are being used to project the spring films, which we could not see during the lockdown.

Barry_Allen wrote:Drive-in movie theaters never really catch up in Italy but there were various attempts at the time in the holiday resorts and in the larger cities. Today "normal" outdoor arenas are being used to project the spring films, which we could not see during the lockdown.

How common are "drive-thru" service windows for things like banks, fast-food restaurants, coffee chain stores (like Starbucks here in the US), drugstore/pharmacy chain stores, etc. over in Italy / Europe?
The USA became very car-oriented in much of the country back in the last century, and the convenience of / desire for drive-thru service is still prevalent these days (especially with the social distancing requirements in the days of COVID-19).

MajorHoy wrote: How common are "drive-thru" service windows for things like banks, fast-food restaurants, coffee chain stores (like Starbucks here in the US), drugstore/pharmacy chain stores, etc. over in Italy / Europe?
The USA became very car-oriented in much of the country back in the last century, and the convenience of/desire for drive-thru service is still prevalent these days (especially with the social distancing requirements in the days of COVID-19).

Despite Italy being very car-oriented too, starting in the Sixties, the only "drive-thru" service windows which have been highly succesful here (and France, I don't know about Uk, our Tony could help about  his country   ) has been fast-food restaurant chains, like McD and Burger King, both of which are present in my town, btw   .
Of course, as you said, during the months of lockdown, but also during these difficult times, the choice of a drive-thru service is still very practical, I remember the long car queues at local McDrive but, for other services like banks, coffee chains (there are some Starbucks in Italy but they are "normal" bars), drugstore/pharmacy chains, "drive-thru" services have never caught on here, and rather each pharmacy has its own vending machine for various products (ehmmm... ), often two.
Btw, yesterday, at our local movie arena there was that Korean Oscar winning movie, Parasite

By the way, I don't know how common these are even around here, but a library in a neighboring town actually has a drive-thru window for checking out books (as long as you've reserved them in advance). It's a service I've been making use of to borrow books for my Mother. (She turned 90 a month ago yesterday.)

Sure it is a very useful iniziative by a library, never heard of something similar in Italy; in small villages there are initiatives such as a small itinerant libraries, with, as ways of transport, as the one in photo, model Piaggio Ape (Bee in english) Furgonato (Box):
Many wishes to your mother hope she's in good shape too, it's great that she'll still reading books too!

Barry_Allen wrote:Sure it is a very useful iniziative by a library, never heard of something similar in Italy; in small villages there are initiatives such as a small itinerant libraries, with, as ways of transport, as the one in photo, model Piaggio Ape (Bee in english) Furgonato (Box):

There are many places where they have "book mobiles" here in the U.S. (though I'm not aware of any in my immediate area), plus there are places that have what are called "little libraries" (https://littlefreelibrary.org/) that are smaller, usually outdoor boxes where people can take books for free and leave books for others to take.
But the drive-thru window is one I'm not really aware of elsewhere.
Other libraries have been offering "curb-side service" due to  COVID-19, and we're getting back to the point where some libraries here in Connecticut have started opening up again for people to actually go inside and use them. (As far as I'm aware, all public library buildings here in Connecticut have not been open for public use from +/-mid-March until at least sometime this month?) The libraries had still been offering access to digital books while they were closed, but my Mom doesn't really care to try anything like that and doesn't use any device where she'd be able to read a book digitally. (She hasn't bothered to use the computer in years.)

Barry_Allen wrote:Many wishes to your mother hope she's in good shape too, it's great that she'll still reading books too!

Thanks.
She's got her fair share of medical issues, but in general she's able to do many things.  Even before the COVID-19 outbreak she didn't go out of the house too often (for anything besides medical appointments), but she still gets around indoors and can do many things for herself. I got her started on reading of what are called "cozy mysteries" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_mystery) a couple of years ago, so I've been borrowing those from a few libraries for her. They're usually pretty light reading, but she seems to enjoy most of the ones I've borrowed (and occasionally bought) for her.

MajorHoy wrote:
plus there are places that have what are called "little libraries" (https://littlefreelibrary.org/) that are smaller, usually outdoor boxes where people can take books for free and leave books for others to take.
But the drive-thru window is one I'm not really aware of elsewhere.

Hey, we have little free libraries also in my neighborhood, although they are often vandalized by gangs of young men who don't know how to spend their time...  

MajorHoy wrote: Other libraries have been offering "curb-side service" due to  COVID-19, and we're getting back to the point where some libraries here in Connecticut have started opening up again for people to actually go inside and use them. (As far as I'm aware, all public library buildings here in Connecticut have not been open for public use from +/-mid-March until at least sometime this month?) The libraries had still been offering access to digital books while they were closed, but my Mom doesn't really care to try anything like that and doesn't use any device where she'd be able to read a book digitally.

Currently here the libraries have re-opened gradually with all Covid-19 prevention measures, they had still been offering access to digital books while they were closed too, but of course elder people have more difficulties in use digital devices, moreover digital readers like the Kindle never had a strong spread in Italy.

MajorHoy wrote:
She's got her fair share of medical issues, but in general she's able to do many things. Even before the COVID-19 outbreak she didn't go out of the house too often (for anything besides medical appointments), but she still gets around indoors and can do many things for herself. I got her started on reading of what are called " (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_mystery) a couple of years ago, so I've been borrowing those from a few libraries for her. They're usually pretty light reading, but she seems to enjoy most of the ones I've borrowed (and occasionally bought) for her.

I hadn't realized before about these "cozy mysteries" but, since there are many little specialized publishers in Italy, I suppose they are published here too; here the mysteries genre is called "Giallo" (Yellow) from the color of the cover of the Digest published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore which, since 1929, have published mysteries novels from Agatha Christie to Ellery Queen, from Raymond Chandler to Rex Stout and James Hadley Chase, from Ruth Rendell to Cornell Woolrich and James Ellroy and is still sold on newstands; sure in the past have been even weekly, now is monthly but with season supplements too.

Barry_Allen wrote: . . . I hadn't realized before about these "cozy mysteries" but, since there are many little specialized publishers in Italy, I suppose they are published here too; here the mysteries genre is called "Giallo" (Yellow) from the color of the cover of the Digest published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore which, since 1929, have published mysteries novels from Agatha Christie to Ellery Queen, from Raymond Chandler to Rex Stout and James Hadley Chase, from Ruth Rendell to Cornell Woolrich and James Ellroy and is still sold on newstands; sure in the past have been even weekly, now is monthly but with season supplements too.

These days I tend to prefer the mysteries by writers like Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner (the Perry Mason books), Ross Macdonald, etc., but those older mysteries aren't always available on shelves at bookstores. Maybe 2-or-3 titles are in stock for some writers (like Chandler and Hammett), but in general the mystery sections are crowded out by newer output that I really haven't had much interest in trying myself.

I understand that, in Italy Mondadori publishes also the monthlies "Classici del Giallo" and "Il Giallo Mondadori Sherlock", dedicated to classic novels and novellas written by masters of the genre.
Back to topic, curiously two local chains just started (both on 30 July) a new and unseen here, real Drive-In Service!
One is a sales chain for household appliances and various accessories, called UniEuro; they started a service called UniAuto where you can order (and pay) online, then you go to their local shop and, from a lateral door, a sales assistance (maybe..) will give the parcel directly to you!
The other service is Pesce Azzurro Drive, created by a local fish restaurant chain, called Pesce Azzurro which just started a real Drive-in service, unkwown in our regions (except for MacD, of course), where you can go with cars, motorcycles and even Car Campers to pick up your takeaway meal!

[quote="MajorHoy"]Sometimes, though, it's a question of space and land costs.[/quote

I'm sure that's true, but it may be worth it. I wonder how much money it would cost to set one up temporarily.

Mbast1 wrote:

MajorHoy wrote:Sometimes, though, it's a question of space and land costs.

I'm sure that's true, but it may be worth it. I wonder how much money it would cost to set one up temporarily.

Don't know about that.
Another factor is you probably have to set it up in a way that non-paying people can't also see the movie for free (even if it's without sound).

I once was watching part of "Star Wars" (not during the original run) in an empty mall parking lot near a drive-in theater. It was interesting to watch the Death Star exploding in space without a sound.

Our local open air arena is permanent, used last years for a few theatre spectacles and especially folklore fests and dancing (not possible this year), so now it has been converted in a full time Open air Cinema with a movie or two every evening and also some theatre spectacles and local events too.