Spade Drive-In
Levelland, Texas1948-1960s
Shop Spade Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The brick screen tower spelled SPADE from top to bottom in huge neon letters, crossed by a neon garden spade and ringed with the neon brands of ranches in the district. It was a small house a mile outside Levelland on the Lubbock highway, parking about 250 cars in 1956. Pick a style below, then read the full Spade history further down. We are an American small business bringing back the signs and logos of places and teams that are long gone but remembered fondly.
4 products
Spade Drive-In History
The Spade Drive-In in Levelland, Texas, was designed and built in 1948 by Royce and Wesley Blankenship for their father's Wallace Theatres circuit of Lubbock. The Exhibitor reported it that year, one mile outside Levelland on the Lubbock highway, and Boxoffice called it the pride of the circuit. Wesley had an electrical engineering degree from Texas Tech.
The screen tower was brick block, stair-stepped down each side. On its road side the word SPADE ran from top to bottom in huge neon letters, crossed by a neon garden spade. Around them, also in neon, were the brands of well-known ranches in the district. The Exhibitor singled out those brands in a 1949 feature on the circuit. No source says outright where the name came from, though the Ellwood family's Spade Ranch ran pasture in eastern Hockley County, and the same circuit later had drive-ins named XIT and L.F.D. in Littlefield.
In October 1950 The Exhibitor named Dorsey Oliphant, formerly assistant manager of the Floydada theatres, as assistant to Jeff Hardin, the Wallace manager at the Spade. It was a small house, parking about 250 cars in 1956, when W.B. Blankenship is listed as owner. A commenter's photos show a staff party in August 1951 and the marquee in June 1955. Trade directories carry it through 1964, and a coming attractions poster survives from June 1966, with the town's name misspelled. Nothing found gives a closing date. The tower has been demolished.