Highlights Archives
The Magic of Summer Nights
Few things in life are as pleasant as an evening under the stars on a warm summer night. From summer theater and evening cruises to beer gardens and toasted marshmallows, summer nights in Wisconsin are filled with possibilities.
Outdoor beer gardens have long been a popular gathering place on warm summer nights in Wisconsin. Beer gardens came to Wisconsin in the 19th century with German immigrants and were an important gathering place for families, politicians, artists and celebrities. The Schlitz Palm Garden opened in Milwaukee in 1886 and was one of the most opulent in the city. Besides beer drinking, beer gardens and parks hosted dances, picnics, bands, boxing matches and operas, as this article fondly recalls. Beer gardens were so popular that, in the 1890s, Frederick Pabst traveled to New York to set one up in Times Square so New Yorkers could learn how Milwaukee beer was properly consumed. Elaborate beer gardens began to fall from favor in the 20th century, making way, in some cases, for a more modern form of entertainment.
In the mid-20th century, drive-in movie theaters became a fixture on the landscape, marrying Americans' love of movies and cars. Wisconsin was home to more than 75 drive-in theaters. The nation's first drive-in movie theater opened in New Jersey in 1933 and, soon, drive-in theaters opened around the country. Wisconsin's first drive-in, the Bluemound Drive-In Theater, opened in 1939 on Bluemound Road in Brookfield. A second, the 41 Twin Outdoor Theatre, opened on July 1, 1948, in Franklin and was one of the few drive-ins in the country to have a double-sided screen tower. The Starlite Theater was in Green Bay.
Although drive-ins were particularly popular among teenagers, many tried to be family friendly and offered playgrounds, baby-bottle warmers, fireworks, a concession stand, even laundry services. The Badger Outdoor Theater in Madison, for example, advertised free pony rides and fireworks on the 4th of July. The popularity of drive-ins peaked in the late 1950s, rapidly going out of fashion in the 1960s and '70s with the development of the multiplex theater.
You can learn more about Wisconsin's drive-in theaters, past and present, on July 18th when the Wisconsin Historical Museum welcomes historian Charles Bruss for a lunchtime talk titled Wisconsin Drive-in Theaters: Past, Present & Future. And remember to soak up these summer pleasures while you can because we all know what season lies just around the corner...
:: Posted July 14, 2006
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