Need To Set Clocks Back One Hour For Drive-In Killer This Weekend

This weekend marks that special time of year when we all get an "extra" hour of sleep. Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to sleep on Saturday.

Besides being a pain in the neck twice a year, Daylight Saving Time also has a nasty reputation among drive-in theater owners and enthusiasts. According to them, Daylight Saving Time killed the drive-in.

The Beginnings Of Daylight Saving In The U.S.

The U.S. enacted Daylight Saving Time during both of the World Wars. However, it didn't stick afterward.

It wouldn't become a mainstay until the 1960s.

Daylight Saving Becomes The Norm Across The Nation

In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act thus ensuring all of us a lifetime of trying to remember to set our clocks. It was pain until cellphones got smart and stayed connected to the Internet 24/7.

It was nice knowing that at least once a year you had a built in excuse to be late to something. All you had to say was, "I forgot to set my clock," when you showed up an hour late. People were annoyed, but pretty understanding.

Technology has robbed us of that.

Extra Daylight Was Bad For At Least One Kind Of Business

Some industries loved the "extra hour" of daylight. For others, it would cause some major problems. For drive-in theaters, it would be a big problem.

Movies Aren't That Great In Sunlight

Movies are best when you watch them with dim lights at worst, lights out at best. To play a movie outdoors, with the sun shining, is ludicrous. For drive-in operators, that meant starting later.

No More Drive-In On A School Night

Starting later created a problem for suburban families who enjoyed taking their school-aged children to the drive-in. It wouldn't take long for attendance at the nation's drive-ins to start tapering off.

The Texas panhandle used to be a hotbed for drive-ins. In true Texas style, they tried to outdo every other drive-in around by being bigger, better, and even having more screens than their counterparts in other parts of the country.

Is this what really killed the drive-in? It definitely didn't help. Read below to see the history of drive-in theaters in the Texas panhandle, and what led to their demise.