Kay Drive-In
Shelbyville, Illinois1950-1980s
Shop Kay Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Kay in Shelbyville, Illinois, opened in 1950 with one screen and room for about 350 to 400 cars, and the family living across the road got lifetime free passes to make up for the noise and dust. A two-sided enamel sign survives, with a little drawing of a screen and three cars. Pick a style below, then read the full Kay history further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Kay Drive-In History
The Kay Drive-In in Shelbyville, Illinois, opened on June 1, 1950, with Robert Montgomery in Once More, My Darling, plus cartoons and two-reel comedies. It stood on Route 16 outside town, with one screen about 40 feet by 48 and room for about 350 to 400 cars. Merle Stewartson was its first listed operator.
Charley Beninati of Carlyle ran it for about three years in the late 1950s. In November 1959 Boxoffice reported that the Frisina Amusement Company had taken over the Kay and the Roxy Theatre in town. Frisina is the last operator on record.
The Biehler family lived directly across the road. The theater paid them for the noise and dust with lifetime free passes.
The Kay was torn down in the late 1980s. No exact closing date has turned up. By 1998 a trucking dispatch company had the site, and a truck repair shop later took it. A two-sided enamel advertising sign survives, with the town's name over the theater's and a little drawing of a screen and three cars.