History Book: Drive-in movies turn 90

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, June 5th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Next up, the World History Book. Today, the first drive-in movie theater, plus a milestone for a beloved preacher. But first, the death of a persecutor in the early church. Here’s WORLD’s Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: We begin today with June 9th, in the year 68 AD. The tyrannical Roman Emperor Nero commits suicide.

He came to the throne at age 17 and proved ruthless—poisoning his up-start step-brother, staging his mother’s suicide, and executing his first wife.

Famous for his self-indulgent appetites he married a former male slave in a public ceremony at age 27. Nero wore a scarlet wedding veil—taking the role of bride.

The Roman empire crumbled under Nero. It didn’t take long to lose the support of the people and its leaders. In an attempt to win over critics, he blamed a devastating fire in Rome on Christians—and ordered imperial persecution.

EDWARD ADAMS: So as far as the church is concerned, there’s no goodness in Nero, he is an anti-Christ figure.

New Testament professor Edward Adams from a 2002 BBC documentary.

ADAMS: He is the embodiment of evil. Nero treated Christians with particular cruelty and barbarity. Tacitus tells us that he had them rounded up, he had them dressed in animal skins and attacked by dogs. He had some crucified.

Nero seemed particularly fond of burning Christians—symbolic punishment for the accused burning of Rome. Church historians believe that both the Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul were killed during Nero’s reign.

Next we head to June 7th, 1891. English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon delivers his last sermon at London's Metropolitan Tabernacle.

VIDEO CLIP: Young men, if you could see our Captain, you would get down on your knees and beg him to let you into the ranks of those who follow him.

A reenactment of that last sermon from a 2010 documentary: The Life of Charles Spurgeon.

VIDEO CLIP: It is heaven to serve Jesus. I am his recruiting sergeant these 40 years and more have I served him? Blessed be his name and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to serve him another 40 years. His service, his life, peace, joy, all that you would enlist under the banner of Christ this very day. Amen.

After this message Spurgeon was unable to preach due to his gout, rheumatism and Bright’s disease—a severe kidney condition. When Spurgeon died in January, 1892, he was only 57 years old. Yet during his more than 30 years of ministry, he founded churches, trained pastors, and published more than 150 books.

He preached to large crowds everywhere he went. He intentionally spoke to the everyday person instead of the educated.

In 2013, John Piper delivered the inaugural Spurgeon lecture at Orlando’s Reformed Theological Seminary: He spoke of Spurgeon’s gospel legacy:

JOHN PIPER: Spurgeon stands as a witness to what happens when love for God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated truth feeds the flame of love for people—an explosion of zeal and energy and creativity in the church. All of it aiming to glorify God and bring sinners into the fullness of joy in him.

When Spurgeon died, more than 100-thousand people lined the streets for his funeral procession. Every shop along the route closed to honor the “Prince of Preachers.”

We end today on a lighter note: June 6th, 1933. Richard Hollingshead opens the very first drive-in movie theater in Camden, New Jersey. Conventional movie theater seating at the time was very uncomfortable for Hollingshead’s mother, so he came up with the idea of an open-air theater where people could sit comfortably in their cars and enjoy the show.

He worked out the ideal arrangement and number of cars for the best viewing. He secured a patent and invested 30-thousand dollars to open his first location. Hollingshead charged 25 cents per car, and an additional quarter for every person in the car. But it was the concessions sold during intermission that were the key to profitability.

INTERMISSION COMMERCIAL: Golden, pure creamery butter, rich flavorful satisfying. That's what it takes for the finest buttered popcorn and that's what we use.

Drive-in popularity spiked in the early 60s, with more than five thousand theaters across the country.

COMMERCIAL: Choose a JVC video home system and you'll get a picture as true and as reliable as JVC technology can make.

But as viewers were given more home theater entertainment options, interest soon waned and drive-ins mostly disappeared. According to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association, as of November 2022, there were just over 300 active theaters nationwide.

That’s this week’s World History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

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