Then
and Now Then...
Outdoor
Movie—"Carved out of the forest, right in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains.
Enchanting in its natural woodland beauty, it has become widely acclaimed as one
of the most picturesque drive-in theaters in America." This is the information
found on the back of this actual hand colored photo of the Family Drive-in at
Mundys Corner. This postal card came out in 1952 shortly after the theater opened
in August 1948, when it was jointly owned by Jimmy Demauro, Sam Bluebell, Gus
Vaveris, Gus Contackas, and Mike Vizzini. The theater did a brisk business for
many years. In the early 1980's the theater was taken over by Ed Troll and then
several years later, when for some unknown reason attendance at drive-ins dropped
drastically, the business and land were sold to James Lambing, whose family owned
the adjoining property. The owners knew full well that numerous young people could
and did sneak into the drive-in through the adjoining woods and installed some
board seats between the trees. There was also a playground area down near the
screen. With the arrival of "Cinemascope" (wide screen) films, the family kept
pace and added to the width of the drive-in's screen. Lambing tried to operate
the theater, but showed only Christian and family-oriented movies. The theater
finally went out of business in 1985-86 and the site was developed as a fuel oil
depot.
Now...
Overgrown with grass and weeds, this is how the Family Drive-in site looks today. This photo was taken from the former location of the hillside benches built for the 'walk-in crowd.' The speakers, screen, playground and concession stand are gone. The concrete slab, (the light area in the center of the photo) was the site of the concession stand. The structure in the background is part of the Warren Oil Company complex.
Greetings from Home Page Country!
Nanty Glo resident John "Chuck" Fornari takes in some sightseeing and some warm UV rays during a recent outing at Duman Lake near Belsano. "Hi everyone." Funny Bones
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