Twinkle Star Drive-In
Auburndale, Florida1952-1962
Browse Twinkle Star Drive-In tees, long sleeve tees and hoodies. The Twinkle Star opened in the fall of 1952 near U.S. 92 and Dairy Road with room for 328 cars. A surviving Labor Day poster marked it for colored patrons only and sold Where's My Man To-Nite at 65 cents, with children under 12 free with an adult. The styles are below, and the full Twinkle Star history is further down. Every shirt is printed to order in the USA and carries the memories of bygone places and teams.
4 products
Twinkle Star Drive-In History
The Twinkle Star Drive-In in Auburndale, Florida, opened in the fall of 1952 and catered to Black moviegoers in the segregated South. The Exhibitor reported it open that October, with room for 328 cars and Munsey Smith of Winter Haven as owner. In October 1953 D.C. Laird sold it to Talgar Theatres of Lakeland, a chain that also ran Lakeland's Roxy for Black audiences, and in May 1956 Talgar sold both to Bailey Theatres of Atlanta. It stood near U.S. 92 and Dairy Road, in what a local researcher describes as the historically Black side of town.
A surviving poster for a Labor Day bill shows how it was run. The header gives the name beside the words Drive-In Theatre, with a note that it was for colored patrons only. The feature was Where's My Man To-Nite, sold on its Original Brownskin Models, at 65 cents, with children under 12 free with an adult.
A commenter found an ad showing it open as late as 1959, and in the spring of 1962 Bailey set its closing for May 6. Widening of U.S. 92 later took one entrance. A woman who has worked in drive-in theaters since 1958 confirmed the location for a Cinema Treasures contributor. The lot is an open field today, and the ramps can still be seen from above.