Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Your guide to London's culture and transport news and events taking place across the city.

Pizza, hot dogs, and snow cones: How the drive-in theatre revolutionised the concession stand

This event has finished Took place on: Thursday, 18th Mar 2021

 Free

This is an online video event, please check the organiser for details about how to watch.

Film exhibition changed tremendously in the post war era. While indoor movie-theatres continued to operate as they had previously, this was a period which saw the emergence of a very different exhibition model: the drive-in theatre.

While not always able to offer the newest film releases, drive-ins created a new moviegoing experience which appealed to Americans (specifically, young families) in the post war years – an experience in which the sale and consumption of refreshments was central. The key characteristic of the drive-in theatre, which distinguished it from the conventional indoor model, was the manner in which the film was consumed. Rather than an auditorium, a public space governed by strict behavioural rules, audiences were free to enjoy films within their cars: a space which was both public and private, and importantly, ungoverned by the same behavioural expectations. A critical distinction, it was this aspect of the drive-in which enabled it to challenge and redefine not only the moviegoing experience but also the concession stand.

No longer constrained by worrying about the potential mess from greasy foods, exhibitors were free to push the boundaries of movie-theatre refreshments. It was at the drive-in, for example, that many Americans first experienced pizza and other ‘exotic’ fried and frozen foods. Influenced by the newly emerging fast food industry and tailored specifically at young families, it was the concession stand which lured audiences to the drive-in during its heyday years of the 1950s.

This paper will explore the many revolutionary developments which occurred within the drive-in theatre concession stand, but also discuss its lasting influence on movie-theatre refreshments today.


Contact and Booking Details

This event has finished Took place on: Thursday, 18th Mar 2021

 Free

Booking details and information at this website.

Disclaimer: All information given is correct at the time of compiling the listings. Any questions about the event should be directed to the event organiser. Photos and images used in this listing are supplied by the organiser.

2021-03-18 2021-03-18 Europe/London Pizza, hot dogs, and snow cones: How the drive-in theatre revolutionised the concession stand This paper will explore the many revolutionary developments which occurred within the drive-in theatre concession stand, but also discuss its lasting influence on movie-theatre refreshments today. https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/calendar/2021/03/18/pizza-hot-dogs-and-snow-cones-how-the-drive-in-theatre-revolutionised-the-concession-stand-251938 ,,,

This is an online video event, please check the organiser for details about how to watch.

What else is hapening in London on 18th Mar 2021

NEWSLETTER

Be the first to know what's on in London, and the latest news published on ianVisits.

You can unsubscribe at any time from my weekly emails.