Horror at the Peninsula Drive In

The image flickers on the screen as you sit in the relative safety of your vehicle. Then it happens...a blood-curdling scream shrieks through the little silver box attached to your window. You cover your eyes and peak through your fingers. That's the price your pay for viewing horror movies like "The Fun House" at the drive-in theater. 

The Peninsula Drive-In was located at 301 Peninsula Drive, where the Tom Ridge Environmental sits today. Shows started at dusk, and there was usually a double or triple feature. Sometimes the early show was aimed at a young audience (think Herbie the Love Bug), and other times the movies were strictly for a mature audience. 

There was generally a long line of cars waiting to get in to the Peninsula Drive-in, which opened around 8 p.m. Cars would snake their way along the gravel covered lanes, which made a distinctive sound when you drove over them. The lot wasn't flat; it was quite a bumpy ride over the humps in the road. Station wagons would bottom out if there was a pothole in the lot. 

Enjoy more historical facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

Ten Reasons to Visit Dipson's Sky-Way Drive-In

-ad in Erie Dispatch, May 3, 1953.

Top Ten Reasons to Visit Dipson's Sky-Way Drive-In:

1. No parking worries
2. Smoke if you like
3. No babysitters
4. Dress as you please
5. No annoyances
6. Giant screen
7. Perfect sound
8. Two shows nightly
9. Movies under the stars
10. Extra added color cartoon

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Dipson's Eastway Twin Theatres in Harborcreek, PA in 1972

Dipson's Eastway Movie Theaters in Harborcreek, PA in 1972

Dioson's & Blatt Bros. ad in Erie Daily Times June 21, 1972.

Dipson's Theatre was an anchor in the West Erie Plaza in Erie County, PA for many years. The theater sat on the north end of the plaza near West 8th Street. But, did you know that Dipson's also owned the theater in the Eastway Plaza on Buffalo Road in Harborcreek? Here's the proof, an ad in the Erie Daily Times on June 21, 1972 announced the upcoming opening of the twin theater.

The Eastway Twin Theatre, at the very east end of the Eastway Plaza, closed a few years ago. The Eastway Plaza has been refurbished and renamed the Giant Eagle Plaza.

Dipson's also ran the Skyway Drive-In Theatre at 5133 West Lake Road, just west of the airport in Millcreek Township, PA. The movies 'Airport' and 'Andromeda Strain' played at the Skyway in June of 1972.

Blatt Bros. ran the Star Drive-In Theatre at 2515 West 12th Street. Before it closed, it was located across the street from the current location of the Regional Cancer Center. This drive-in featured two Disney hits, 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' and 'The Wild County.'

Here is a map showing the location of  Dipson's Dipson's Theatre in the West Erie Plaza.

Enjoy more fun historic facts, ads and photos of Erie, PA at Old Time Erie