It was born in 1932 in Riverton, N.J. — 212 Thomas Ave., to be exact.

After many months of labor, Richard Hollingshead, a movie devotee and sales manager for his father’s company, Whiz Auto Products, gave life to his idea of an open-air theater where patrons could watch movies from their automobiles.

He brought his brainchild into experimental existence by nailing two bedsheets between trees in this yard, setting a 1928 Kodak projector on his car’s hood, placing a speaker behind the sheets and enjoying the silver screen in his own driveway.

Throughout the summer he tested various configurations of parking automobiles to maximize unobstructed viewership. He finally hit on the concept of terracing the rows of cars, similar to indoor theater seating.

With aspirations of commercializing his idea, Hollingshead applied for a patent. It was granted in May 1933.

Hollingshead wasted no time implementing his concept. After three weeks of construction work and an investment of $30,000, he opened the world’s first drive-in theater in nearby Camden.

It beckoned patrons with the somewhat clunky slogan “the whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are,” and charged 25 cents per car and 25 cents per person — but no more than a dollar per group.

Opening night was Tuesday, June 6, 1933. Thus, we celebrate National Drive-In Movie Day every June 6, which this year happens to fall on the industry’s most historically lucrative night: Saturday.

Although the original drive-in movie lasted only three years, the concept quickly caught fire and lasted as long as the shifting culture of America allowed.

Within a decade, nearly 100 outdoor theaters were scattered across 27 states. The industry reached its peak in 1958, with just over 4,000 theaters. It has steadily declined since then.

The history of the drive-in theater is a chronicle of the tug of war between advancing technology, changing consumer habits and creative adaptation among the theater owners.

Now, fewer than 400 drive-in venues remain, most of them nostalgic remnants of days gone by.

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