Fun and Games

MOVIE THEATERS:
Most folks born after 1970 cannot comprehend the idea that movie theaters in the 'good old days' featured just one (1) screen.  One (1) movie.  If you didn't like what's showing, you just hoofed it down the street to another theater.  Chances are, at least one of the downtown movie houses was playin' something you wanted to see.

Theaters, like motels and many restaurants, made works of art out of their marquee.  Birmingham had more than her share of neon beauty.  Pictured are but a sampling, provided to BIRMINGHAM REWOUND through the high generosity of the Dixie Neon Company, who created all this eye candy.......

SHOWPLACE OF THE SOUTH

No section on movie theaters is complete without a nod to a certain downtown theatrical landmark.  This picture is dated April 10, 1942, and is of the side entrance.

Turn down all sounds in your house, and put your ear to the monitor .... you just might be able to hear Stanleigh Malotte playing the Mighty Wurlitzer (the organ's real name is Wurlitzer Opus 1783).

Today, it's the Carver Performing Arts Center.  It's also the home of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.

Before its renovation and repurposing, it was the Carver Theater, bringing first-run movies to the African-American population in the days before integration.

According to this entry in Wikipedia, the Carver first opened its doors in 1935.  The picture to the right is from 1941.

NORTH BIRMINGHAM THEATER 
(MARCH 3, 1941)

Not much is known about this theater.  I can only venture a guess that it opened in 1941 (unless it had an earlier sign).   If anyone has further info, please enlighten us!

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL DRIVE IN...

Dixie Neon Company is busy installing the sign for the new Auto Movies #1 on the Bessemer Super Highway. 

AUTO MOVIES #1  (1948)

(Auto Movies #2 was in Montgomery)

I read somewhere that this drive-in had metal stalls for each vehicle to block the light and glare from Bessemer Super Highway, which in those pre-interstate days was a busy stretch of asphalt.

THE FAIR PARK DRIVE-IN (MAY 10, 1949)

I believe this was part of the Waters chain (Newman Waters, who later conceived and built Eastwood Mall). 

This website says a tornado took out the screen tower in 1967, although the theater itself survived. 

MARCH 21, 1951: THE STARLITE

It would open later in the year.  Newman Waters owned the theater and the adjoining property ... on which he built Eastwood Mall next door in 1960.  Today, Kmart and the rest of Eastwood Plaza occupy this site.

Picasso couldn't have created an artistic masterpiece this good.  The neon companies of the day had some incredibly creative minds at the helm. 

My spousal unit would have to mop my buttery remains off the floor if I were to see color film footage of this sign all lit up at night.

THE AIRPORT DRIVE-IN, MARCH 1965
"No, this movie isn't in THX, that's a DC-9  taking off above us"

Early 1965 brought the arrival of a new drive-in.  The Airport existed until about 1973, when it was demolished to make way for expansion of the Birmingham Airport.

Hmmmm, Strange Bedfellows was also showing at the Eastwood Mall Theater at the same time.

This must be "eye candy"; my eyes are having a mean sugar rush right about now. 

THE MELBA

One of the downtown movie houses which opened in the immediate post-war period, it lasted until some time in the early '80s. 

Judging by the movie showing, this would be from 1966.

AND WE HAD FUN, FUN, FUN 'TILL DEVELOPMENT TOOK THE T-BIRD AWAY

The Thunderbird Drive-In opened October 4, 1968 on US-31 between Hoover and Vestavia.  This is looking northward on 31.  For being the main drag (the picture is dated July 1969) and I-65 not even a twinkle in a bulldozer's eye, there wasn't a lot of commerce along this stretch yet. 

It closed along about 1974-75.  Today, there are motels, strip centers and gawd knows what else where this drive-in used to sit.

THE JIMMY MORGAN ZOO
& BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL GARDENS
One of Birmingham's crown jewels back in the day was having claim to the South's finest zoo.  There's much more competition these days, but the Jimmy Morgan Zoo holds its own even today.


Beware of THE TUNNEL......    A happy group on the zoo train waves to the camera.



A postcard view of the Zoo trains as they looked, brand new, in 1957.  According to contributor Bryan Black of Marietta, Ga. (who assumed ownership of these trains after they were retired in 1976), they're in line to be restored at the Southeastern Railway Museum near Atlanta.  Many thanks to Mr. Black for sharing this incredible picture.

[all photos in the following section courtesy of Tim Hollis]
The famous MONKEY ISLAND at the zoo as shown on this circa-1956 linen postcard.
Polar bears at the Jimmy Morgan Zoo, 1967
The Botanical Gardens in 1975.  The clock seems to be long gone...
The Mill, 1967.
The fountain, also in 1967.
Make a wish....

Maybe you too can be transported back in time.


You didn't need to carry a timepiece when you visited the Gardens.
 
 

VARIOUS OTHER FUN & LEISURE:


PARK YOUR CHILDREN HERE??
"Now little Bobby and Sally, we'll just 'park' you here while Mommy and Daddy go down the street to Sears."

Good gravy, it's a wonder folks my parents' age survived to have kids like me.

In all seriousness, this is probably from the '40s, and from a day when liability insurance agents were lonelier than the Maytag repairman.
(Dixie Neon company)

RACKIN'-FRACKIN'-@#$%....  JUST ONE LOUSY PIN SHORT OF A 300 GAME!

Fultondale and Gardendale area residents flocked to the Pine Bowl for fun, frolic and 7-10 splits. 

I have fond memories of seeing this sign lit up at night on trips into Birmingham from Madison during my early childhood. 

Years ago it was an AMF alley, but not by the time this picture was taken ... probably the early '80s, since there's also a sign announcing its new game room with "Donkey Kong" and "Pac-Man." 

Well, gag me with a Rubik's Cube.................
 

(Tim Hollis collection)


(Tim Hollis collection)

Today, it's Rickwood Caverns State Park and has been in the park system since about 1975.  Before Daddy Yellowhammer became its foster parent, Rickwood was one of the more prominent of the private tourist attractions.  No one traveling I-65 or US 31 north of Birmingham could escape the billboards.  There were dozens of 'em. 

The "miracle mile" lives on ... oh, and so does the Olympic-sized swimming pool, at one time the largest in Alabama.

KIDDIELAND!

Yet another Dixie Neon masterpiece, the dancing couple on the sign were animated at night.

Feature: Kiddieland's 60th anniversary

Insignia for the Dixie Roller Club from Lowe's Skating Rink ... circa 1950s.

(Tim Hollis)

Not sure whether this should be pigeon-holed under FUN AND GAMES or ROADSIDE .... eh, since devouring chocolate is many folks' idea of "fun and games", I chose to put it here. 

This was the Russell Stover outlet in Roebuck as it looked in the early '60s.

(courtesy of Dixie Neon Company archive)



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