Parkaire Drive-In
Fort Worth, Texas1951-1976
Order Parkaire Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Fort Worth drive-in opened on March 15, 1951, on University Drive with In the Foreign Legion, under a free-standing sign lit with neon tubing and rows of bulbs. In 1954 its manager told Billboard about teenage cars that charged in after the last show started, circled bumper to bumper, honked and threw gravel. Browse the styles below, and the full Parkaire history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Parkaire Drive-In History
The Parkaire Drive-In in Fort Worth, Texas, opened on March 15, 1951, at 1400 University Drive. The first feature was the Abbott and Costello comedy In the Foreign Legion. It was listed at 535 cars and was run by the Parkaire Drive-In Theatre Corp. By 1952 an operator named L. C. Tidball was listed for it.
The theater had a large free-standing sign and marquee lit with neon tubing and rows of bulbs. In March 1954 the trade paper Billboard quoted its manager, Earl Powell, on a problem he shared with other Texas drive-in operators: groups of about 20 teenage cars would charge into the lot after the last show started, circle bumper to bumper, honk, and throw gravel.
The Parkaire closed in 1976. One later account puts it in late January or early February of that year. It was torn down some time afterward and the site is now a shopping center. This is not the Parkaire in San Antonio, which was a different theater.