Turnpike Drive-In
East Brunswick, New Jersey1958-1984
Order Turnpike Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Turnpike opened in 1958 at Route 18 and Tices Lane in East Brunswick, New Jersey, and a 1,000 seat indoor theater joined it on the same lot in 1963. Until 1968 the two ran the same double feature on a reversed schedule. Browse the styles below, and the full Turnpike history is further down. Down Home Apparel is an American small business remembering the best places and teams of yesteryear, and every shirt is printed to order in the USA.
4 products
Turnpike Drive-In History
The Turnpike Drive-In in East Brunswick, New Jersey, opened on March 19, 1958, with Glenn Ford in The Cowboy and Ralph Meeker in Battle Shock. It stood at Route 18 and Tices Lane, close to the New Jersey Turnpike, with room for about 1,600 cars. Drew Eberson was the architect of the whole project, which called from the start for a second theater on the same lot.
That one arrived on October 20, 1963: a 1,000-seat indoor theater beside the outdoor screen. Until 1968 the two ran the same double feature on a reversed schedule. The indoor house went its own way in 1969 and was split into two in 1978. United Artists ran the operation in its later years.
The entrance sign stacked three panels under a huge curved arrow. A board below it advertised a giant free playland, and a miniature train ran a figure-eight near the marquee where drivers could see it from the road. Commenters remember the train rusting in a shed by the late 1970s.
The indoor theaters closed in 1983. The drive-in ran its last show on September 3, 1984. Condominiums now cover the land.