Boxoffice-December.02.1950

This view of the romp area of the Cedar
Valley shows the original concession
building at midfield and the remodeled
stable at the back romp. With slightly
different menus for each unit, both are
doing a successful business.
DRIVE-IN PATRON APPETITES DEMAND
SECOND REFRESHMENT SERVICE UNIT
Remodeled Stable at Back Ramp of Cedar Valley
Drive-in Fits
Atmosphere of Southern Charm
X* PPROXIMATELY A YEAR AGO The
Modern Theatre heralded the opening of
one of the south's most luxurious and impressive
drive-in theatres, the Cedar Valley
situation of the Lam Amusement Co.,
located just outside Rome, Ga.
With a full season's operation of the
Cedar Valley under his belt, Thomas Lam,
manager of the theatre, has learned several
rather unusual facts concerning the
eating habits of drive-in patrons. These
facts have been very adeptly turned to
greater refreshment service profits for the
theatre, as illustrated in the pictures on
this page.
For the 500-car situation the Lams originally
provided the usual concession-projection
building in midfield, with walk-in
accommodations and a refreshment patio in
front of the building. In short order the
management discovered that these facilities
were inadequate to handle the fullgrown
appetites of its patronage.
Casting about for a solution they noticed
the neglected stable near the back
property line of the ramp area. Some architectural
ingenuity, a little carpentry,
some paint and display lighting effects . . .
and a second concessions building, in the
southern colonial style of the screen tower,
blossomed to take care of the overflow
from the original unit.
Actually, as it was planned, the new
building provided an entirely new operation
serving different needs from the original
unit. As the refreshment service operation
is now divided, the first building,
at midfield, sells hot dogs, popcorn and soft
drinks.
The remodeled stable, however, represents
some new concepts in drive-in food
merchandising. Designed so that it can
be operated on a cafeteria style, the back
unit makes a specialty of two box lunches.
One contains a half of a southern fried
chicken, french fried potatoes and hot rolls.
An alternate lunch contains french fried
shrimp instead of the chicken. Although
a variety of hot and cold soft drinks are
available, they must be purchased separately.
Either of the box lunch packages
sells for 95 cents.
In addition to the box lunches, hamburgers,
malted milks, coffee and milkshakes
are offered at the new building.
Possibly one reason for the great popularity
of this added service, which is directly
attributable to the delicious food itself, is
the fact that Mrs. Thomas Lam personally
supervises its operation.
One of the nice touches that often separates
a routine situation from an outstanding
one is the imprinting of paper
cups used in the operation. Both the
Cedar Valley name and an illustration of
the screen tower appear in light green ink
on each cup.
In remodeling the stable to create the
second refreshment service unit, restrooms
were built into each end of the structure.
From beginning to end, the services and
facilities of the Cedar Valley operation bespeak
showmanship in the best sense of
the word.
The size of food sales at the remodeled
This closeup view of the stable which became a cafeteria-style concession building shows how
the building lines fitted into the southern colonial styling of the entire drive-in.
stable on the rear of the Cedar Volley Drivein
Theatre may be figured from the completeness
of equipment employed. Shown above is
the double hamburger grill, left, and the double
french friers with their wire baskets at
the right French friers are made by the Griswold
Mfg. Co. Si/ex coffee makers are used
and hamburger grills are made by Hotpoint.
14 The MODERN THEATRE SECTION