New Jersey, the state that gave the world the drive-in movie theater, will see the end of a slice of history this week when the Route 35 Drive-In closes down, bowing to modern tastes.
The last shows are scheduled Wednesday night with a nostalgic double-bill featuring a Jayne Mansfield picture and the original version of "The Fly." Both date back to the great days of the drive-in, the era when the Route 35 theater opened in 1956.Before the show, National Amusements, which owns New Jersey's last drive-in, will break ground for a 12-screen movie theater.
The world's first drive-in opened in 1933 in Camden County, which was also the site of the nation's first traffic circle.
Drive-ins began declining in the 1960s. Television was one factor, and another was rising land prices.