23 Comments:

• I remember many a summer night with the rest of the Chestnut St. boys riding our bikes to HiWay39, turning the back row speakers up real loud and watching the movies from the roof of the apartment parking garages. Good stuff! B.D.

  By  Anonymous, at March 10, 2007 4:08 PM  

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• I remember Hwy 39 well. I was in High School when they tore it down. My mom would always take me there and when I was old enough, we'd sit outside in chairs. I remember just cutting my hair short, and watching arachnaphobia thinking spiders were crawling on me. Good times!

  By  Anonymous, at March 12, 2007 10:48 PM  

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• Memories flood back to me seeing the old picture on the back of the screen. Everytime we drove by the 39 I would always lean back out the back of my Dad's '71 Volkwagen Bus and try to see one of the movies playing. My parents used to date here, then took my older brothers when they were kids (and they had to sleep in the back of the bus after the first feature), and then me when I was a kid. We used to sit on top of the bus and watch. There was a little playground too. The last movie I saw there was Apollo 13, and then bye bye. I was so sad to see it go, I realized it's value even though I was only 15. Even now, like one other person said, I expect to see the big screen when I pass by there, but all I see is a big discount store which I refused to shop at then, and still have never shopped at to this day. It's just a shame, I wish we didn't just easliy throw out the little history we have here in Southern California. I miss that theater... had some great times there...

  By  Ashley, at March 29, 2007 12:15 PM  

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• I remember this theater from when I was a kid (I graduated from high school in 1979). Thanks for the memories!

  By  Melanie, at May 04, 2007 6:22 PM  

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• I was just working on a classic truck, when a piece of paper fell out from behind the dashboard. After looking more closely I realized it was a ticket for the drive-in. Had to check it out! Still wrenching in MN

  By  Anonymous, at May 07, 2007 3:03 PM  

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• I remember Hwy 39.I was in high school(the 60's) (Westminster) and a bunch of us girls would pile in our friends car and head to the "Drive-In". What a blast we had. We'd drive up n down the rolls until we got to the front and then back we'd go. Sitting on the car hood watching the movie was the greatest in the Summertime. What a great place the Hwy 39 Drive-In was. A GREAT MEMORY...

  By  Carole, at May 26, 2007 9:40 AM  

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• can't remember if we went there, we lived closer to la mirada, but i remember it very well.. it was one of the things we saw on the way to the beach..

  By  Anonymous, at May 27, 2007 11:59 PM  

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• I always think I'm about to see it again too when driving down Beach Blvd. (which my Grandma used to habitually call "Highway 39"). The fact that it got replaced with Wal-Mart proves that there is no justice in this world.

  By  ChristianZ, at June 25, 2007 12:10 AM  

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• I took the same picture of the screen.before they tore it down its is in the City of Westminster.

  By  Valerie, at June 27, 2007 10:06 AM  

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• Saw my last movie at the Hiway 39 Drive-In just before I enlisted in the Army in the late Summer of 1969. It was a double feature, "Bullitt" and "Wait Until Dark". Sitting in my 1950 Ford convertible with a pretty young lady. Doesn't get any better...

  By  Anonymous, at July 04, 2007 12:23 PM  

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• i worked the highway 39 in the late 80's and early 90's. the employees enjoyed the 39 as much as the regulars. fringe benefit was free movies...we worked full weeks and on our off days we went and watched movies. southern ca lost out when walmart came in.

  By  Anonymous, at July 05, 2007 5:36 PM  

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• I was born in 1947 so I think I might have seen the first Drive-ins? I love excellent Audio & Video that the In-door Theaters have but “nothing” will ever take the place of The Drive-In Theaters, there were a Family affair, two movies & maybe two Cartoons if you were lucky. A pot of Spaghetti or Mac & Cheese that Mom made at home, and then send Dad to that little shack to pick up some drinks & a few candy bars & who can forget Spotty-Light on the Blank out door screen where Dad had to keep up with that little figure bouncing along? Then go home at 1am & Deep sleep till Sunday morning, get up & skip breakfast if Mom & Dad were still asleep, go find your friends & do as much fun & or trouble as you can get in, what a full weekend then prepare for Monday that dreaded 1st day of the School week, but never fear, Friday will come again& who knows what Mom & Dad has in store..!!

  By  mike, at September 01, 2007 3:05 AM  

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• Ahhh...the memories! Thanks!
  
  I was born in Santa Ana in 1944 and lived there until the late 60s. Remember so many summer nights going to the Hwy. 39, Orange and Paulo drive-ins! After marriage, moved our new young family to the Hemet/San Jacinto Valley in 1968 and found there was also a drive-in theater here where our children were able to continue the tradition of playing on the swings in front of the giant screen, then sit in lawn chairs outside next to the car watching a movie on those warm summer nights, eating huge containers of homemade popcorn and M&Ms while drinking the soft drinks bought at the snack shack that a young family could afford.
  
  As our children became teenagers, going to the local drive-in with their friends continued to be a favorite summer evening for them as it had been for their parents in OC during the 50s and 60s at the Hwy. 39, Orange and Paulo drive-ins.
  
  Thanks again for the memories and photo of the Hwy. 39 drive-in!

  By  Lynda, at September 09, 2007 11:20 AM  

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• From Linda W.
  I used to work at the HiWay39 drive-in from 1970 thru 1972. I loved working there and we all had a blast! Once, some guys came up to the snack bar and ordered everything under the sun. As I turned my back to get their drinks, they grabbed everything and ran. We all just starred in shock. Remember the cotton candy during that time? I do as I couldn't keep up with the demand. Oh, and the french fries. I remember baking them on cookie sheets and running out all the time as they were in even bigger demand. We got free tickets to the movies there and at the other sister drive-ins. All the popcorn and coke we could eat was free and half-price on the food and candy. I also worked at our sister drive-ins. They would ship us out to work there when a "hit movie" was on the screen and were in dire need of help... Fountain Valley, Buena Park, Harbor, Warner, Lemon, to name a few. I did, really enjoy working there.
  
  If anyone remembers me, you can email me at: blue.eyeslinda@yahoo.com. Would love to hear about your memories.

  By  linda, at September 20, 2007 11:34 AM  

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• What memories this brings back of me and my girlfriends going to the drive-in and hiding in the trunk or under covers in the back seat. We would all get as much food as we could at the snack bar and then go back, talk and just have a great time at the drive in on a hot summer night. I remember going on a double date there once with my friend and when I came back from the bathroom I accidentally got into the wrong car! Boy, was the guy I sat next to in shock! I guess his girlfriend decided to go at the same time and I took her place. My friends were watching me the whole time, while laughing their heads off at me. Good times!!

  By  Anonymous, at October 04, 2007 10:58 PM  

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• I moved out to Fountain Valley in the late '70s.
  My mom was dating a man who owned a condo there.
  He ended up moving out and some months later we heard police sirens and shots fired on Brookhurst.
  Turns out that the Warner (HWY39) drive-in was robbed and the guy who did it was my mom's ex. We watched him get shot by FVPD from the window of his old condo.

  By  Anonymous, at November 10, 2007 10:50 AM  

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• i remember the huge metal speakers you had to hang on your window to hear the movcie! the kiddie park and sandbox was right under the mainscreen...the whole family used to go in our wood paneled station wagon and eat kentucky fried chicken, under those scratchy plaid wool picnic blankets.
  
  Didn't the drive in become a swap meet for a while too?

  By  Anonymous, at December 23, 2007 10:27 PM  

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• I worked there for about 2 weeks. I was in the snack bar when the asst. mgr threw the keys down on the floor after locking the doors for the last time. We all laughed and thought that was the end of a crappy job. We all didn't really know how much it affected us until we left and couldn't come back. We all took something from High39 exit signs, tables and a huge piece of our childhood.

  By  Anonymous, at December 31, 2007 8:46 AM  

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• Yep, I had a 1970 Fleetwood Caddy and that worked great for getting friends in the trunk! Now that I look back, I dont think they really cared that people were in the trunk.
  ...Leo

  By  leogent, at January 04, 2008 3:53 PM  

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• How about the Anaheim drivein, on Lemon next to the old Zody's! Or the Stadium Drive. I think it was like 4 drive-in theaters. You could go to one and "peek" at the other one for free!!

  By  Anonymous, at February 09, 2008 12:01 PM  

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• The "Lemon St" or Anaheim Drive-In, was the first one I ever went to. Went in my pajamas, would swing on the swings until the cartoons started, and of course could never stay awake long enough to see the whole feature. I started going to the Hi-Way 39 in my teens and have lots of fond memories of it. I was so upset when I learned they were tearing it down to make room for Wal Mart. We even spent every Fri & Sat nite at the old Palm Springs & Cathedral City Drive-Ins when we lived in the desert in the mid-60's. The Palm Springs location even had a place to ride your horse in, hitch it to the hitching post and watch the movie! Last year I drove by that location and all that's left is the concrete where the speaker posts were, and they built a big WalMart next to it. I guess WalMart is now the new entertainment for today's families. How sad.

  By  Cindy, at March 17, 2008 8:50 AM  

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• I used to live in Huntington Beach and my family used to go every month or so in the 70's and early 80's. I loved the mural on the front of the drive in very 'California' like. Unfortunately, like everything else, they tear down another piece of history...long live the Hi Way 39

  By  Anonymous, at June 29, 2008 4:37 PM  

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• Both Hwy 39 and La Mirada have a special place in my heart. Kissed my first girl at Hwy 39 and steamed up the windows of my old Plymouth in the back row of La Mirada many of times. It is a shame that we have to loose such wonderful parts of ourpast
  
  -Danny

  By  Anonymous, at July 03, 2008 9:13 AM  

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