The Y&W Drive-In Theater

Here's the entrance to the Y&W Drive-In in August 1953, and roughly the same area in Sept. 2015:



(Click on images to enlarge)

It's not an exact duplicate shot — that would have required me to walk out into the weeds, and I wasn't in a weed-walking mood the day I took that photo.

The top image comes from a slide, one of five that I bought some time ago. They came to me with no date; that I had to determine based on the movies on the marquee. Here is the corresponding ad from the Gary Post-Tribune of Friday, August 14, 1953:



These two movies would run together through Thursday, August 20. Our photos must date to sometime during those seven days.

The Y&W had its grand opening on May 29, 1953. Here is its ad for that event, from the Gary Post-Tribune of Thursday, May 28, 1953:




And scans of the other four slides:









… No, we don't know who those men are.

The slides themselves are now the property of the Merrillville/Ross Township Historical Society.