Film History Research Proposal: Teens at Cascade Drive-In from 1955 - 1960

Teens at Cascade Drive-In,1955 - 1960

What is the Cascade Drive-In?

The Cascade Drive-In is one of two surviving drive-ins left in the Chicago suburbs. In their heyday in the mid-1950's, the drive-in theater boasted more than 4,000 locations theaters in America, but only 335 drive-ins are still functioning in the U.S. today. The Cascade drive-in in West Chicago has been on its 28 acres since 1952, and continues to serve West Chicago two shows per night from March to November.

Like many other locations which give us movies under the stars, the Cascade has fallen on uncertain times - which has nothing to do with their patronage; business is booming, but complicated land ownership issues are creating tension.

drive-ins face in adjusting to contemporary times and the way that they are still held to contemporary standards, despite their historic grounding. Additionally, it shows that other communities near the Cascade have rallied together to save an important cultural site and is an example of how a community that was informed on the subject would want to protect their drive-in.

(above) The Cascade Drive-In in West Chicago, Illinois (image via waymarking.com).

Where is the Cascade Drive-In?

Section #1: Focus, Context, and Goals

The focus of my research inquiry would be to research the history of the teenage patron at the Cascade Drive-In Theater in West Chicago, Illinois, focusing on the years 1955-1960. This specific theater is now the largest operating drive-in theater in Illinois and one of only 335 drive-in theaters that still operate in the United States (Drive-Ins.com). My research would attempt to establish the Cascade as a site of historical significance by compiling a history of the teen audience’s experience and presence at this specific drive-in theater during the early years of its operation, a period which also coincides with the timeframe during which drive-in theaters were at the height of their popularity.

This project contributes to existing relevant literature by adding specificity to the little historical research which has been done in this area. Because a dearth of research regarding the drive-in theater experience exists, my project adds several levels of new information; it adds a specificity of location by investigating the Cascade theater exclusively and adds a specificity to the audience by looking at a certain audience’s experience of this particular theater. Prior to this project, little has been written about the drive-in movie theater experience, especially regarding specific demographics and the audience perception of this historical viewing trend.

As of now, the major work on this kind of exhibition is Kerry Segrave’s book “Drive-In Theaters: A History from their Inception in 1933,” but even this historical account is often pulled from an ambiguous general public and does not account for the teen’s interaction with the drive-in. In addition, much of the writing that has been done on the subject involves nostalgic accounts of patrons who experienced the drive-in at the height of its popularity, but often ignores the drive-in’s embodiment of several important contextual developments in American culture (such as the automotive culture, growing teen audience, and the gimmicks used to fight against television); instead, the drive-in is usually treated as a marginal and superfluous fad, something that I believe this kind of sociocultural and historical research could help to ameliorate.

The other form of information regarding drive-in theaters is via online resources such as websites dedicated to this form of exhibition. Unfortunately, a great deal of sites that are interested in these theaters supply increasingly dubious, venerable, or insubstantial information. While Drive-Ins.com seems to be one of the more trustworthy sources on the web, and also appears to be the only publically accessible online database concerning drive-in theaters in the United States, it still does not have any more information on the Cascade than simply listing nominal facts such as hours, number of screens, and notes that pets are admitted (Drive-Ins.com). Though Cascade is listed in the database, nothing more than superficial, contemporary, and functional data is listed, and gives no insight into the historical or sociocultural relevance of the Cascade. Drive-Ins.com is not the only source on the web which mentions the Cascade, but hardly any of the few sites which deal with drive-in history focus on a single theater’s particular story. This is where my research comes in.

The Cascade was opened in 1952, but like the vast majority of drive-ins, has faced the threat of imminent closure. As recently as January 2016, West Chicago’s development committee rejected a plan to raze the drive-in and replace it with a semitailer parking facility (Sanchez). Although the drive-in will continue to operate “for now”, the reason that the committee rejected the proposal did not concern any consideration of the location’s importance in film history, but because local residents were concerned that there would be an increase in truck traffic (Sanchez). This story relates one instance of a widespread problem, namely that both the general public and scholars of media history have wrongly marginalized the importance and influence of the drive-in theater as a historic movie exhibition trend in both cultural and social history.

The first goal I have for this project is to bring recognition to the historical importance of the drive-in theater, arguing for this drive-in’s protection from demolition.It is my goal in proposing this project to bring local recognition to the fact that even this drive-in, which is currently “one of the busiest movie theaters in the country”, is facing total annihilation regardless of its business performance (Sanchez). I hope that this will be a step towards the recognition of all drive-in locations being preserved as historical landmarks.

The second goal I have for this project is to compile the history of the Cascade in relation to the teenage demographic during the target five years. This sociological and historical approach would allow me to explore the way that teen culture, which reached a new level of power in the 1950’s, experienced this popular trend in film-viewing. A case study of Cascade would give me the ability to focus on a marginalized type of exhibition and the influence/experience of this type of exhibition on a marginalized demographic, providing highly focused information where very little previously exists.

The third goal I have for this research concerns gaining insight into the American film industry during these years as well as insight into the adolescent experience of it.

In short, the Cascade would serve as a case study of a single drive-in in order to open up the conversation about the impact of the drive-in at large in America and why that impact deserves recognition today.

*for more on my proposed methodologies and approaches, contact me!

Want to help save Cascade?

Click here to sign the online petition to save Cascade Drive-In.